A Worthless Loser or a Pro?
There’s a story Steven Pressfield tells in his book The War of Art. He’s written some best sellers including The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire and Tides of War. His books are reportedly used by Oxford history dons.
He was 42 years old and had given up a lot for his craft as a writer: Family, friends, sanity…you know the drill. Now he finally had his name on a big Hollywood production with an A-list star only to have it…flop. Big time. Terribly. Critically and at the box office. He went from a super high to the depths. “I’m a loser, a phony” he thought. “My life is worthless and so am I.”
A friend snapped him out of it. “…be happy” he was told. “You’re where you wanted to be, aren’t you? So you’re taking a few blows, that’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines. Stop complaining and be grateful.”
Pressfield writes “That was when I realized I had become a pro. I had not yet had a success, but I had had a real failure.”
What IS a pro? And do you have story like Pressfield’s? I invite you to inspire others and share some of YOUR journey.
