"The War of Art": An Anticipatory Book Review

I recently began reading Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art", a self proclaimed "examination of the internal obstacles to success". The book aims to identify that inner demon that allows us to, time and again, abandon our own goals in spite of our creative inclinations. Simply put, it is a lengthy embellishment on age-old cliche "Resistance is futile."

As a rule of thumb, I generally don't read books that:

a) Have titles that play on titles of actually literary masterpieces (in this case, 'The Art of War', a military treatise written by SunTzu centuries ago. Yes, I did wikipedia the author, but yes, I was already well aware of this work. Let it be noted that I call this book a 'masterpiece' on the sole basis of reputation; as I find my time much better spent watching Sex and the City than reading military treatises.)
While vaguely clever, the title 'The War of Art' is most likely an attention-grabbing ploy to catch the eye of anyone who has 'The Art of War' buried in their subconscious. And if you paid any attention in high school history class, you probably do.

b) Could possibly be categorized in the self-help section of your local Barnes and Noble. The entire notion of 'self-help' books capitalizes on the very human condition that Pressfield demonizes: Resistance. His fundamental argument (as far as I can tell at this point, as he repeats it nearly every other sentence in the first ten pages of the book), is that we as humans have the passion and imagination to be incredible, visionary self-starters, but that when it actually comes to the grunt work of pursuing our dreams, we make up excuses to postpone them indefinitely.

I don't disagree with this. It's a pretty accurate and, if you'll forgive me, obvious assessment of human nature and particularly of American society, where we're constantly in search of the next best thing.

But did Mr. Pressfield ever consider that reading a book about how to overcome resistance and more efficiently pursue our dreams is, in fact, another form of resistance?

Though I have only recently started the book, thus far it promises to be a 170-page guilt trip for those who suffer the incurable condition of resistance--who never follow through with lofty plans, exercise regimens, entrepreneurial endeavors, artistic ambition.

Is Pressfield's examination of this condition in some people accurate? Sure. But I can't help but think that in a species that has yielded such individuals as Beethoven, the Beatles, daVinci, Steve Jobs, Mother Theresa, and Barack Obama, to name a few, 'resistance' is not quite the epidemic he proclaims it to be.

I will finish the book and see if my opinion changes. But the first few chapters had me too worked up to not begin the discussion.

And I can't help but think that, a mere 4 pounds away from a 38 pound weight loss goal I set for myself 9 months ago, or with a rapid progression on a musical instrument I have always wanted to play, or with each step I take toward being a happy, healthy, and independent young woman, I am not the likely culprit he had in mind.
Some goals were meant to be achieved, some were meant to be reassessed and altered, and some were meant to yield fantastic failure and provide your friends with some good blackmail years down the line. I'd be willing to argue that the true triumph here is the ability to distinguish among them.