The Difference Between Pros and Amateurs
While re-reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, the following passage made me stop:
“It doesn't matter what you are trying to become better at, if you only do the work when you’re motivated, then you’ll never be consistent enough to become a professional. The ability to show up everyday, stick to the schedule, and do the work — especially when you don't feel like it — is so valuable that it is literally all you need to become better 99% of the time.”
And we all see this in our own experiences, don’t we? If we don’t miss workouts, we get into the best shapes of our lives. When we write every week, we become better writers. When we regularly take our camera to the streets, we take better pictures.
Simple right? But why is it so damn difficult?
Even if we’d like to see ourselves as hard working and diligent, most of the time we humans are incredibly inconsistent. All the lofty goals and dreams we’d like to achieve are meaningless if we only do the work when it’s convenient or exciting. In my experience, only consistency leads to solid results.
Or in James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) words:
I can guarantee that if you manage to start a habit and keep sticking to it, there will be days when you feel like quitting. When you start a business, there will be days when you don’t feel like showing up. When you're at the gym, there will be sets that you don’t feel like finishing. When it's time to write, there will be days that you don’t feel like typing. But stepping up when it's annoying or painful or draining to do so, that’s what makes the difference between a professional and an amateur.
Professionals stick to the schedule, amateurs let life get in the way. Professionals know what is important to them and work towards it with purpose, amateurs get pulled off course by the urgencies of life.
Both Steven and James are making one thing very clear however: Becoming a pro doesn't mean you're a workaholic. It means that you’re good at making time for what matters to you — especially when you don't feel like it — instead of playing the role of the victim and letting life happen to you.
