Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.
Interpretation
Resistance often signifies the importance of our actions to personal growth.
Steven Pressfield's quote suggests that the level of resistance we encounter in pursuing certain actions or calls in our lives is indicative of their significance to our personal evolution. When we feel the strongest pushback or reluctance, it is often a sign that what we are trying to achieve is crucial for our development and growth as individuals.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming fears, one might use this quote to encourage individuals to pursue their dreams despite the resistance they may feel.
Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life.
The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen... Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
If you don't work on important problems, it's not likely that you'll do important work.
You can never be wise unless you love reading.
"Some would call you a saint, some a chandala; some a lunatic, others a demon. Go on then straight to thy work without heeding either" - thus saith one of our great Sannyasins, an old emperor of India, King Bhartrihari, who joined the order in old times.
For a person to become deeply involved in any activity it is essential that he knows precisely what tasks he must accomplish, moment by moment.
Genius without religion is only a lamp on the outer gate of a palace; it may serve to cast a gleam of light on those that are without, while the inhabitant sits in darkness.
It is true that words have power, and one of the things they are able to do is get out of someone’s mouth before the speaker has the chance to stop them.
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