Sunday Snippet: Steven Pressfield on Fear

“Henry Fonda was still throwing up before each stage performance, even when he was seventy-five. In other words, fear doesn’t go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.”

While it may certainly be true that we should be proud of our old successes, we can’t simply rest on our laurels either. Each day presents a new challenge and a new opportunity, giving you another chance to prove yourself once more. And you have to take that chance.

Ironically enough, it may not even be the fear of failure that is holding you back; it could be the fear of success and how you could be met with sweeping life changes. In either case, the fear isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The fear could be what motivates you and what encourages you to fight that battle anew every day. After all, life isn’t easy, nor should it be.

The quote above comes from The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (hat tip to @LesleyChang). It’s a book about overcoming the “Resistance” that prevents creative types from doing what they do. It can take on the form of distraction, procrastination or simple writer’s block. As a freelance writer who has to write new content every day, I can certainly identify with these types of concerns. Especially when you don’t have a deadline or a boss looming over your shoulder, it’s far too easy to make excuses for not producing. But those excuses get you nowhere.

Pressfield reminds us that even the most professional of professionals may never overcome that sense of stage fright. Performance anxiety is normal, whether it means taking the stage or producing something on a computer. You can be nervous, but the key is to channel that nervous energy into something productive.

Someone once told me that it’s not so much about getting rid of those butterflies in your stomach; it’s about teaching them to fly in formation.