http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Art-Through-Creative/dp/193689...

I think you have the right answer - discipline as opposed to motivation. Now you need to develop it.

If you love this article you will love this book.

Of equal value is "the War of Art" by Steven Pressfield.

In my opinion, these are the only two "self help" styled books anyone needs.

If you're struggling to be a creative person, it will help. I think it's better than "The Artist's Way." There's certainly less nonsense.

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

http://a.co/d/dEjPUgf

If you need some help with procrastination and not moving forward, a must read....

I have re-read this book constantly since purchasing it well over 10 years ago. The chapters on facing resistance and how to deal with it constantly resonate with me when working on my own projects.

It's the best book to help you with procrastination. It's very short and only $10 on kindle.

I read this book last year and it greatly motivated me to get things done, fight against procastination and overcome anxiety.

Definitely tons of literature covering this approach.

1. The Pomodoro Technique. http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/get-to-work/

2. Reading The War of Art can help with issues of procrastination if the thing you're having trouble focusing on is a creative endeavor.

What I took away from those two books were that the /only thing/ that will help you is sitting your ass in the chair and doing the fucking work.

- The War of Art - by Steven Pressfield

edit: care to explain the downvote?

http://www.amazon.com/The-War-Art-Through-Creative/dp/193689...

Instead of overanalyzing procrastination, he identifies the invisible but real force of Resistance and how to deal with it.

EDIT: grammar

"The Greatest Salesman on Earth" by Og Mandino

"The Zahir" by Paolo Coelho is about challenging tradition, highly recommend.

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

When I was in high school-
"The Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho

The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield

Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

0. http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/

[1] - http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/19...

http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...

Talks about resistance, and how it stops most of us from doing what we were meant to do.

Highly recommend.

http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2016/04/book-review-war-of-...

http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2016/06/nobody-wants-to-rea...

The Post Capitalist Society - Peter F. Druckert

The War of Art - Pressfield, Steven

Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology (Bradford Books) - Braitenberg, Valentino

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering - Hamming, Richard W. (this book is even better if you are good with math, which I am not) it's still fairly inspirational.

Re-read:

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas
Papert, Seymour A.

The War of Art [1] and Do the Work [2] both are excellent books about making things and why it's hard. I found them motivating not only because of the solutions in the books but also just because someone describing the problems I have with creating, so clearly, is helpful to read. It's nice knowing you're not a crazy person and that these are problems a lot of people go through. They're also very short and easy to read. So give them a shot.

[1] http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/

[2] http://www.stevenpressfield.com/do-the-work/

Interesting observations on the road blocks to creating in the book, The War of Art.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...

- On Writing - Stephen King

- Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott

- Story - Robert McKee (screenwriting)

- Do the work - Stephen Pressfield (he's more famous for The War of Art but I haven't actually read that one yet)

Also there are some great blogs out there

- Terrible Minds by Chuck Wendig

- The Creative Penn - Joanna Penn

- Mary Robinette Kowal's blog

- John August (screenwriting)

But a lot of what stop us is not time, but emotions. Especially if you're trying to do creative ventures. And for that, a great read is "the war of art". my favorite quote: "Hitler found it easier to start WW2 than stare at a blank canvas".

I highly recommend The War of Art, his book on overcoming procrastination for artists. Sit down every day and work.

It's written by someone who mostly writes movies, but it applies to anyone who does anything remotely creative, where your project has a lot of uncertainty and many opportunities to stall or talk yourself into giving up.

Highly recommended.

See:

http://www.43folders.com/2009/01/27/creativity-patterns

http://www.43folders.com/2009/01/13/twylas-box

http://www.43folders.com/2008/11/26/twyla-tharp-failing-well

http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/27/book-heuristics

The book is very good and well worth buying. I'd also recommend the War of Art by Pressman. Both of these books are great for cultivating creativity in a systematic way.

In short, this is Resistance. Do The Work.

It's a very short book, but it may change your life. Read it twice. It is for procrastinators. I'm one of the worst there is, yet this book has helped me tremendously, and helped a ton of others as well.

Good luck

I've read both good and bad things about The War of Art by Pressfield, but I'm at least very curious to some day read it.

Really?

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Steven Pressfield et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/1936891026

Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way
by Steven Pressfield et al.
Link: http://amzn.com/1936891379

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
by Seth Godin
Link: http://amzn.com/1591841666

In Defense of Food - Best criticism of the problems with reductionist "nutrition-ism" I've read.

They Made America - Good, quick history of some of America's most revolutionary inventors, businessmen and women.

If you want to learn about overcoming "resistance," read Steven Pressfield, e.g. The War of Art .

The OP touches on both ideas but I don't see how it connects them. It also contains some all-too-commonly unexamined subtext. Is Richard Branson really the "best version" of all of us? Is an appetite for risk the only thing necessary to start and operate many large businesses, or don't you also need to cultivate an interest and aptitude for business, management, and people over the course of your life?

I'd also highly recommend a book called "The War of Art"[2] which was written by a procrastinator who eventually made good.

I'm still struggling with procrastination, but my personal feeling is that the key is probably to create a routine where you just execute your productive work during a set block of time everyday, much like a job. This is just so you don't have to decide whether or not to do the work "now" which will break the procrastination doom loop. Good luck!

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/08/the-pro...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/1...

Essentially,accordingly to Pressfield, those writers who identify strongly with problems the writer has in the article would do well to adopt a "hard hat" mentality of doing creative work; grab your lunch pale, sit in front of the computer and suffer, and don't worry about whether what you write is good or not-just do the damn work. 'Pretend' that you only write for money (you don't, but money is nice).

The problem for me and I think for the writer is identifying one's ego and with one's work. You start to worry you're not cut out, good enough, etc. But when you start thinking of creative endeavors like grabbing your lunch pail and heading off to the construction cite to put in a hard day's work, everything changes. It's kinda zen like in that way. Success or failure-the construction worker doesn't take it personally-he still has a beer at the end of the day and laughs with his family.

That's the way I see it anyway.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/1...

Break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles.

Many books mentioned here are good, this is the only I haven't seen referenced. But this one book really helped me deal with resistance and get stuff done. Seth Godin is a big fan and references it a lot in his material.

Steven Pressfield also wrote 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' and Gates of Fire (Spartan 300 kind of book but way deeper).

Never really been one to enjoy popular books on philosophy (Alchemist was overrated, Monk who sold his Ferrari cliched, The Secret just boring ...IMO) and picked this up at a used book store. The book truly put a new perspective on life for me.

Perhaps it was a combination of the time when I read the book: Undue stress, massive imposter syndrome, that feeling of not moving ahead in life, and the oh-so-messed-up quarter life crisis, but this book was an absolute eyeopener for me.

Find your own meaning in life, and live your own philosophy instead of aping a "master" (spiritual or otherwise) because a "master" is someone who has shaped his own philosophy and that will almost NEVER completely apply to you. In the book, when the titular Siddhartha realises this and starts off on his own journey, something clicked within me and I started making genuine attempts to get past my (mostly) self-imposed problems in life. Can easily say this book helped me get through confusing times and come out better on the other side

Truly a life-changing book for me, and no wonder it's been popular for over half a century!

----

The Art of War, The War of Art (except the final bits of the book) and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance come in a close second, each having shaped the way I look at decision making processes and influenced my general life strategy

+1 to all of this. The War of Art is excellent, as is the advice about "tomorrow".

It seems your fundamental challenge is you aren't getting things done. If you can't accomplish things, this indicates you are missing critical, learnable skills that can change your life for the better.

Don't worry so much about the immediate details of your situation and take steps to address your ability to accomplish what you set out to do.

Perhaps you have untreated ADHD or mild depression. Perhaps you don't actually enjoy coding, but just think you do.

Or if not, very likely you have counterproductive habits, which will take time to change but luckily there are fantastic resources out there.

I would recommend you read all of these:

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big - Scott Adams

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Steven Covey

12 Rules For Life - Jordan Peterson

The War Of Art - Steven Pressfield

So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport

and if those don't help, you might have ADHD:

Driven to Distraction - Edward M. Hallowell

Meanwhile, make as much human connection as feasible, so you remember there's more to life than your career.

Changing how you operate to be more effective and aligned with your goals isn't an overnight project, but it is totally possible and you will get there.

--
edited for grammar and formatting

Generally the reason people like these books is because openly advertising you like them makes you sound enlightened.

- Writing Down the Bones

- Bird by Bird

- On Writing Well (nonfiction writing only)

- The War of Art

I generally have tried to follow the feedback of writing consistently, even if you don't feel like it. Stephen King mentions how he would allow him to just sit at his desk without writing if he wanted, but that he always would set aside the time and not do anything else.

What Made this so valuable to me was that it introduced for the first time the concept of what Seth calls the "Resistance", the part of the brain that prevents you from taking risks and putting yourself on the line. I also love it for introducing me to The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

Since reading those books I have been much better at doing important work that actually matters without putting it off or making excuses.

As a bit of a left field set of books, I love getting inspired by amazing fantasy characters. Characters that have superpowers. Kvothe from the King Killer Chronicles, Luo Ji in the The Dark Forest. I always walk away inspired when I read a scene about a character rapidly acquiring skills.

--The War of Art
--Do The Work

Both by Steven Pressfield. They're imperfect -- they call out to imaginary forces uncomfortably too often, and they take a relatively concise bit of content stretching it to book form, leaving it sometimes a bit threadbare, however they're an easy, enjoyable read and I found them useful.

Procrastination is basically a consequence of letting resistance run amok and by dismantling the resistance, all the wind goes out of the procrastination.

Looking for an app or some cutting edge new way to deal with a 10.000 year old problem (that was also solved 10.000 years ago) is pretty much just putting a band-aid on it.

Generally anything worthwhile accomplishing takes serious effort. I've seen sources that suggest 10,000 hours. Eg. learning to play the piano well, sports, etc. Turning PRO is all about commitment - many people with great ability fall short due to the lack of persistence. Devil of an issue about choosing exactly to be a pro in.

> “Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”

> “Every sun casts a shadow, and genius's shadow is Resistance. As powerful as is our soul's call to realization, so potent are the forces of Resistance arrayed against it. Resistance is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, harder to kick than crack cocaine. We're not alone if we've been mowed down by Resistance; millions of good men and women have bitten the dust before us. And here's the biggest bitch: We don't even know what hit us. I never did. From age twenty-four to thirty-two, Resistance kicked my ass from East Coast to West and back again thirteen times and I never even knew it existed. I looked everywhere for the enemy and failed to see it right in front of my face.”

That book is a treasure trove in how to change your thinking and defeat this. But it does require changing your thinking and a great deal of discipline.

https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Steven-Pressfield-ebook/dp/B0...

- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

- Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

- Indistractable by Nir Eyal

- Mastery by Robert Greene

Deep Work - Cal Newport (recommended)

Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert (recommended)

Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals - Heidi Grant-Halvorson (lots of great stuff in here, highly recommended)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Alex Haley (I really like biographies and Malcolm X was a pretty interesting person. recommended)

Making It in Real Estate: Starting Out as a Developer - John McNellis (meh)

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (I'm not big on sci-fi, so this book surprised me with how good it was. recommended)

Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl (I'm not sure how much I got out of it, but worth it just for learning about Frankl's unique experiences and perspectives. recommended)

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (meh)

Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture - David Kushner (One of those books that makes you want to lock yourself in a room and program for hours. Carmack's dedication and intellect is especially awe-inspiring. recommended)

I got the exact opposite advice from "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1319.The_War_of_Art

The entire book is how to overcome what he calls "resistance" which is what prevents you from getting creative work done. He says the belief that you need relaxation is false and just another way your mind keeps you from what you need to get done.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1319.The_War_of_Art

Non-fiction:
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007A4SDCG/

Set a time slot everyday where you will sit down and do nothing but work on creating your art. Doesn't matter if it's good or bad, your only job is to sit there and create for the whole time period. That's the key, is consistently trying to do it.

I highly recommend reading the The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, he goes into this a lot more - https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/1...

He also talks about the concept of "Resistance", which is basically a force of nature that's works against you getting things done, and that gets stronger the closer you are towards doing work that is meaningful to you.

Read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressman and internalize its message. You can finish it in a day. In a nutshell, the book describes procrastination and some other vices as embodiments of Resistance, an evil spirit that plagues anyone who tries to do anything worthwhile.

The strategy Pressman outlines for fighting Resistance dovetails nicely with the techniques described in the other book I'd recommend, which is "The Creative Habit" by Twyla Tharp. With respect to procrastination, Tharp talks about recognizing (1) that creative work is still work and (2) the importance of developing solid daily routines and rituals so that you stop treating your work as something you do only when you're "inspired." She more or less adds details to the Pressman's description of the "hard hat mentality" necessary to get anything done.

The hard hat mentality is that you don't procrastinate on your job or wait until you "want" to do it, you just put the hard hat on every day and do the work so that you can get paid (whatever "paid" means for you). You're doing it not because you're inspired or motivated; you're doing it because it's your job. Period.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Habit-Learn-Use-Life/dp/07432...

The book The War Of Art has a similar perspective from a dance choreographer about how she breaks through creative blocks.

I certaintly don't know a damn thing about selling books. But I am an avid reader of nonfiction and this is exactly the opposite of how I shop for books myself.

Other than the odd "how-to", I'm skeptical of any book promising me anything other than the author's diligent study and incisive distillation of a topic. I've read many books which caused my mind to grow and really excited me about the world but I've never read a book that "solved my problem". Of which, I assure you, I have many.

The book is composed of quick strategic/tactical lessons for fighting the battle against Resistance - that ever-devious foe that draws its strengths from our weaknesses.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...

I find I probably get an order of magnitude more work done from 8-10 pm compared to 8-10 am, all other things being equal.

Other folks have different drums they march to.

One book I recommend is "the war of art".

The small one-page section called "what I do" is illustrative. He's a writer and describes his daily routine. He starts typing away in earnest about 10:30, and probably 4 hours later he starts making typos, which he realizes is the point of diminishing returns and calls it a day.

Mindfulness, to some extent. Much less than I'd like. So far I found it useful in toning down anxiety attacks.

> I also enjoyed reading "the war of art" and still find solace in its musings when I am faced with resistance.

Seen this book recommended a couple times on HN already; adding to my toread list. Thanks!

Until we act on values other than growth, efficiency, comfort, convenience, extraction, and externalizing costs, we will continue this trend.

Plenty of cultures have thrived with other values. We can too.

People insist that individual actions don't matter and that only governments and corporations can make a difference. We accept this hogwash proven wrong by history over and over to mollify our indulgence. Acting in stewardship doesn't bring deprivation or sacrifice. It brings joy, fun, freedom, community, connection, meaning, and purpose.

The greatest change we make is leading others, because it multiplies our effect, which requires leading ourselves.

Still, logic, facts, and figures don't change behavior. We change when five people around us do, loosely speaking. In that spirit, I'll share that I've dropped my emissions over 90 percent with only improvements to my life. I take two years to fill a load of trash and haven't flown since March 2016, picking up litter daily since 2017, my last electrical bill $1.40 so nearly off-grid living in Manhattan, plus plenty more. All sources of joy, more time with family and friends, more control over my career, saving money, more gratitude from people with less resources who tell me their changes improve their lives and save them time, money, and the other resources they lack.

The main Resistance (capitalized to refer to Steven Pressfield's relevant book The War of Art) comes from people with more resources than me, who say what I did before changing. Strangely, those with the most act like they can change the least. Resources that were supposed to improve our lives make us spoiled, entitled, needy, and dependent, the opposite of free and fun.

To those who insist there's no point, you can argue against me, but now that you know someone who's done it, you're 20 percent there. Find another few who have changed and you'll change too.

It generally takes the form of getting short term satisfaction instead of delaying gratification and putting in a bit more effort. Usually it's in response to some source of anxiety (money, or a task that's been on my plate too long), and trying to avoid it. If you're high, at least you don't have to think about your problems for a little while, right? Doing the least desirable thing on my todo list tends to be a good way to dissolve that anxiety and make me not care about getting high.

More generally speaking, life has an ebb and a flow to it. You will have times of intense work, and you need corresponding times of relaxation. Using a drug to achieve that relaxation is like eating a bag of chips to satisfy hunger - it seems to get the job done but actually doesn't.

I highly recommend talking to a professional even for a short period of time. I found it immensely helpful to have an objective, intelligent person point out my blind spots and habits in terms I hadn't considered before.

Addiction is a difficult problem to solve, and from what I've gathered from personal experience and observation, one that is difficult to overcome alone. It requires many things, including a force of will that is equal to the task of arguing against all the reasons your mind will bring to bear for getting high.

I think the book "The War of Art" has an interesting thesis on why we pursue self-sabotaging habits like drugs, masturbation or food, and I've found it helpful to read it on the bad days.

In the incoming years life might add some constraints you are not experiencing now and they might decide for you, so you should use your currently wider spectrum of choice to decide what you really like to invent for your future life. What opportunities want to optimize and increase chances of making them happen? I always kept a lot of attention on optimizing personal freedom. If you align things you really want with values then you'll probably increase aligning your passion with what you do (and if you do the opposite you screw it).

Final words on this nice conversation: meditate absorving all, then ignore everybody (including this) and please please please read The War of Art from Steven Pressfield. Is the most enlighting, short, provoking and encouraging words I've read to deal with The Resistance.

Deep Work - Cal Newport

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business - Charles Duhigg

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - Angela Duckworth

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise - Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

Do the Work - Steven Pressfield

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future - Ashlee Vance

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike - Phil Knight

The one that surprised me the most was the last one on that list. I don't usually read memoirs but this one was recommended by a few people so I picked it up and found the honesty with which he describes his mistakes refreshing and useful.

It's written for writers but is relevant broadly. The message is pretty simple and you don't really need to read the whole book to get it. It's one of those keep-driving-the-message self help-ish books.

Basically the point is to name and shame "resistance," a catch all term for procrastination, fear and everything else that prevents a writer from writing a book. It also applies to starting a startup, a career, a family, an exercise regime… Like I said, the point is simple and the information could be conveyed in a short essay.

The reason for the repetition is to actually realize how big a demonic bottleneck this resistance is and that overcoming it will take effort and more importantly, strategy. It's probably going to derail your plans unless you plan for it. Personifying (or demonifying) it is part of the approach.

This is getting further from the book's actual content but the analogy for me is addiction. Say you are an alcoholic. It's not enough to decide to stop drinking, this is a fight. You need to realize that addiction will probably win if you fight stupid. You need a plan to beat addiction. It will fight back. You need to put time and resources into it. Everyone knows this and former alcoholics will start pushing you straight into two things, making sure you realize the scale of the problem and making sure you have a plan. They'll probably recommend AA which gives you a formulaic strategy.

Resistance might not be the bottleneck for everyone, but it is for many. For us, we need to make war on it

The War of Art is undoubtedly a self-help book, and so is How to Make Friends and Influence people. Both contain little more than trivial platitudes IMO. I have not read the other books, but from the abstracts it looks like several more can be considered self-help books.

I was hoping for hands-on books like "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz & Hill or similar.

Completely!

Have you tried meditation? It sounds like you are over identifying with your thoughts & emotions. Putting some distance between them and the observer (the third eye, so to speak) has allowed me to recognize something as being anxiety inducing, but not have a panic attack over it. Also, try to reframe things that terrify you as challenges. It changes the narrative from victim to hero.

I also enjoyed reading "the war of art" and still find solace in its musings when I am faced with resistance.

BTW, I read the same ceramics story in "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield (which I note came out a year later). Good book.

Identify what matters to you in life, what you need to do to do it, and then do that. If programming is part of that, move through it. If it's not, do something else.

But don't wait till you "feel like it". that's a crappy driver. Stephen king writes every day, no matter how he feels. That's what separates the amateur from the professional.

A good book on this, is "the war of art" http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/

Get valuable feedback and incorporate it. That means build and use your network for helping shore up your weakness. Ask PMs and founders you currently or will soon know how they do the things you are having trouble with. Have them show you how to do it a little so you get the workflow. Look for meetups related to the issues your having (eg a growth hacking meetup or lean methodology meetup where people talk about what works and can help each other get further, stay on track, see things they missed). Also check out the War of Art, an interesting book about blocks and how to overcome them.

tl;dr

Do more, think less. Get help from real live people on ideas you're kicking around or actual prototypes and products. Don't let fear get the best of you- you can do it.

The first part is titled "Resistance: Defining the Enemy" and is a great description of what the resistance is and the ways in which it works to defeat you.

The second part is about how to conquer the resistance by "going pro". There's a lot of pieces to this, but basically, it means figuring out how to show up every day and doing the work, day in and day out, with the explicit goal of conquering the resistance.

The third part is a higher level discussion of the resistance, and at least to me, was not as relevant.

Highly recommended book if you struggle with the resistance when trying to ship.

I find it strange that it's mentioned in the same context as your #1 and #3, which I think are absolutely essential.

Go out to the library, or borders, barnes and nobles (or digitally) and buy this book - http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04.... It's called the War of Art, and a really short read, 150'ish pages (but actually more along the lines of 75 pages). A friend of mine loaned me his copy and it's definitely pulled me up from the doldrums I've been in recently to get some perspective. I suffer from pretty much the same thing and succumb to that resistance, or what other people sometimes call the "lizard brain", in getting something DONE. It's HARD.

Honestly - just read the book. It'll help. I promise.

Don't leap back to school without carefully vetting whatever program has caught your attention. A lot of hoop jumping, and a lot of curriculum that's a decade out of date (or more) out there these days. I've tried to go back a few times, and it's been a complete waste of time/money.

Read Pressfield's "The War of Art." It's cheap, it's short, and it's helpful. There are a few passages that don't quit hit home, but it does one thing really well. It gives you the kind of internal vocabulary you need to get out of the "I'll do it tomorrow" sort of procrastination. "Tomorrow" is really dangerous thinking when there's not an actual deadline. You'll be saying tomorrow for years at a time, without actually moving the needle.

Move the needle every day. Do -something- that counts as forward progress. Momentum goes a long way. Track what you're doing. "What gets measured gets improved" sort of thing.

Be honest with yourself. What have you done that makes you think you should be more than just another office peon? Put in the work. Stop wishing. Earn it.

* Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth - specialisation is for insects.

* Propaganda - 1928 book by the inventor of public relations and modern media. Know how they influence you.

* The war of art - being a professional. Honesty I don't think this book was written by a human this book completely changed my life and any other person I for to read this book had a similar experience.

I have more but I don't want to information overload anyone.

For me, it’s so regular that I can see it creep up on me — all the major features completed, only the polishing and websites to complete, and it starts to hit me, trying to drag me down.

Steven Pressfield wrote a short book called The War of Art that talks about this. It’s common to any creative endeavour, whether you’re writing a novel or building a product. I’ve written a novel as well, and it hit me at the same time and in the same way — near the finish.

You need to power on through and come out the other end. All the problems and issues others have talked about will be there waiting, bit that’s a different can of worms.

This lays bare the root of procrastination. It is also provides forceful, direct ways for dealing with it. I don't know a single person who has read it and not taken something positive away.

And it's a really quick read. I went through it in an evening.

Gates of Fire - same as above, the story of the stand at Thermopylae

Agincourt & 3 part series Archer's tale - Bernard Cornwell - accounts of medievil warfare

StrengthsFinder 2.0 - Tom Rath - take a test and discover your strengths/things you love to do, focus on on doing those

'Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain' http://vimeo.com/5895898

"The Now Habit" http://www.amazon.com/Now-Habit-Overcoming-Procrastination-G...

"The War of Art" http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...

"Linchpin" http://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/...

All of these books have one thing in common and that is getting used to shipping things. I noticed lately that while I was horrible at shipping my little pet projects I could cook and prepare meals for me and my girlfriend without worry that it tasted bad. I just cook it and good or bad we eat it. I've gotten over the fear of failure here.

Now I just need to get over the fear of failure for my projects.

If you're trying to spend more time creating things, I suggest you give The War of Art[1] by Steven Pressfield a read. It put words to a gnawing feeling I've felt since my late teenage years, but never knew how to confront.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Winning-Creative-Battle/dp/15...