Resistance Outwits the Amateur

Came across this little gem on HRmarketer’s blog.  It’s from The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  It reminds me to remind my clients that it’s patients and persistence that win the race.  No “flash in the pan” campaign EVER generates long-term results.

Resistance outwits the amateur with the oldest trick in the book: It uses his own enthusiasm against him. Resistance gets us to plunge into a project with an overambitious and unrealistic timetable for its completion. It knows we can’t sustain that level of intensity. We will hit the wall. We will crash.

The professional, on the other and, understands delayed gratification. He is the ant, not the grasshopper; the tortoise, not the hare. Have you heard the legend of Sylvester Stallone staying up three nights straight to churn out the screenplay for Rocky? I don’t know, it may even be true. But it’s the most pernicious species of myth to set before the awakening writer, because it seduces him into believing he can pull off the big score without pain and without persistence.

More on persistence and campaign strategy a little later.  Stay tuned.

Also, check out HRmarketer’s blog here and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.