Do The Work – It’s That Simple

I just finished reading Do The Work by Steven Pressfield for the second time.

My copy is dog-eared and tattered.

But anytime I need a good kick in the butt this is where I turn.

You see, I often get frustrated with my blogging progress.

And then Steven Pressfield puts me in my place.

The world is not out to get me. I am getting in the way of my blogging success and the solution is simple: Do The Work.

Why Some Blogger’s Succeed And Others Don’t

Do you ever wonder why some bloggers are crushing it and you just can’t get ahead?

I always feel that way, no matter how well I’m doing.

That green-eyed monster just rears it’s ugly head. Call it jealousy, defeat, procrastination, or distraction. It’s there to send me off track.

And too often I let it.

In Do The Work, Pressfield calls me out on it. Why am I not where I want to be? Because I have to do the work – duh.

The Tools are In Front of Us

Seriously.

The forward for this book was written by none other than  Seth Godin. He says

And here’s a keyboard, connected to the entire world. Here’s a publishing platform you can use to interact with just about anyone, just about anytime, for free. You wanted a level playing field, one where you have just as good a shot as anyone else? Here it is. Do the work.

So here we sit with our computers.

We can get solid WordPress hosting for relatively little per month – and just get started.

And then, resistance kicks in.

Are You Guilty of Not Doing The Work?

One of the bloggers that I truly admire – Michelle Shroeder-Gardner – made $139,233 from her blog in January 2017. In ONE MONTH!

She is my hero.

And yet, I can’t help but feel a little down on myself. After all, I was given the same 31 days in January to do with what I please – and in all transparency, I only made a teeny tiny fraction of her earnings.

What went wrong? I need to do the work.

Do The Work Does Not Mean Work Harder

So, throughout the month of January when Michelle was making her thousands of dollars, I certainly was not sitting on the couch eating bon bons.

I was working too. But, clearly not on all of the right things.

If you read Michelle’s income report – a good portion of her income came from two income streams

• affiliate marketing and
• selling her own course.

Affiliate Marketing

Michelle’s course is called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and she outlines step by step how she uses affiliate marketing to make money blogging.

I own this course and have been through it – but there is so much that I have not implemented, yet.

Do the work – it’s that simple.

Selling a Course

Ironically, I have had a course in me for a long time.

I even have a subscription to the Teachable platform.

But as Steven Pressfield says in Do The Work, resistance has gotten the better of me.

Pressfield even describes how any novel or artistic endeavor can be outlined on one sheet of paper.

Beginning. Middle. End.

So easy.

It’s Time To Push Resistance Aside

If you can relate to the frustration of not reaching your blogging goals – then you are not alone.

We have the tools.

• Computer? Check.
• WordPress? Check.
• Affiliate marketing course that tells you exactly how to do it? Check.

All we need to do is listen to Pressfield and set goals, DO THE WORK, and keep track of our progress.

Who Is This Steven Pressfield?

Of course, I am a little biased towards Steven Pressfield, having already read:

• The War of Art (fabulous, fabulous read) and,
• Turning Pro (see my review here)

If you are not familiar, Steven Pressfield is the champion of artists everywhere. And I would say that it is not a stretch to include bloggers and entrepreneurs in that bunch.

Pressfield recognizes that we are our own worst enemies when it comes to producing content (or artwork).

We procrastinate and give in to a counter force that he calls resistance.

And I totally get it.

Won’t you join me in getting our work done?