Cultivate a Killer Instinct

This is a concept from Steven Pressfield’s new book: “Put your ass where your heart wants to be.” We are big fans of Steven and the gospel he’s preaching, and this notion is worth reiterating. 

“Put your ass where your heart wants to be” is a very short book—you can say it's almost like a distilled version of his previous works, and circles around the notion that you should make an effort and strive for whatever is in your heart.

A big part of Steven’s message is the notion of resistance.  Resistance is the voice in your head that wants to protect the status quo. This is the voice saying that the dream you have is impossible, it’s been done 1000 times before, you’re too old, too young, too stupid, too fat, or whatever else you need to hear to keep the status quo in place.

The notion of Resistance as a real antagonist is a very powerful way of assessing your dreams, and the action possibilities you have—because it personifies the self-sabotaging tendencies that most of us have and gives you a more tangible external adversary. Another important detail is that the bigger and more important the dream is—the bigger and more intense the resistance will be. So, the antidote is to work like a professional. Sit down every day and work on the thing you want to cultivate—write every day if you want to be a writer, or work on your side project every morning before your normal day job.

The killer instinct is a part of this equation, and a part we think tends to get overlooked—mostly because it’s so banal that no one gives it a second thought. The killer instinct in this context is the ability to get things done. One thing is to have the discipline to sit down every day and do the work--but having the ability to share it with the world is a whole different beast.

Setting a deadline, doing the work consistently, and delivering the work on time is the trademark of a professional. This line of thinking has been the backbone for this blog for the last couple of years—we find a topic, do the research, sit our asses down, write and publish. Now that we think about it… we started this project a couple of months after reading one of Steven’s books.

It can be quite intimidating to share your work with the world, but it’s a necessary part of the learning process. Don’t think in terms of money or passion but see it instead as a part of the learning process—you create something, publish it, get feedback—rinse and repeat.

Amateurs hold on to their passion project and try to get it perfect, whereas professionals do the work, get it out in the world, and move on to the next project.

So, cultivate your killer instinct, finish what you started, and share it with the world. It’s time to go pro.

Until next time,

Scott and Lennart