Educated by Tara Westover

                                 

Educated (Penguin Random House ,UK,2018, 384 pages) is a memoir  by   twenty nine years old Tara Westover. Born in Idaho to parents who   believe  that  schools , hospitals , medicines and government  have a corrupting influence on the children , she has a  childhood full of struggles and  restraints. She is  a victim of  physical violence by one of her brothers  but  her parents  support her brother against her .Her father has a bipolar disorder  and commits all kinds of brutalities but her mother  supports her husband,  and  practices healing with herbs , energy and oils. Her father makes her work hard , in  very risk prone jobs in his junkyard.

            Tara wants to go to school and then  to college and university but she has to choose between her family and education. She also has to struggle to get herself accepted by her class mates for whom she is an  odd person,  brought up  in an extremely conservative way. During her college days , she is exposed to the study and  evolution of religion and society.  Her memoir  describes Tara’s struggles, defeats and victories, vacillating between  the bonds of family ( however  conservative, cruel and unsafe) and the urge to get education .With many ups and downs , Tara  learns to believe in herself .She manages to win  Gates Scholarship to study at Cambridge and then to study for  getting   Ph. D. from Cambridge University, with the help and support of a few enlightened Professors. Her father disapproves of her going to Cambridge but she goes. Her  parents disown her and tell others that she is possessed  by evil spirits.

    Education becomes  a  means to her transformation and metamorphosis. The book shows how this  transformation comes about  in stages as she progresses in her education .Educated is a powerful story beautifully told,  of a young girl  who tries and succeeds in making a place for herself in the world  , without losing her connection to her family.

      It is worth your time to read it. Highly recommended.

      

Personality ,what makes you the way you are, by Daniel Nettle

This  book on personality by Daniel Nettle , published by Oxford University Press in 2007 (298 pages)  is one of the oxford Landmark Science books. It cer  helps you to know your self , understand  better those around you and also  tries to answer the question if we can change our personality.

        The book starts with  a request to fill up a brief questionnaire  of 12 questions  to assess yourself on the big five  personality  dimensions..(The  Newcastle Personality assessor).The dimensions are:

1.     Extraversion.

2.     Neuroticism.

3.     Conscientiousness.

4.     Agreeableness.

5.     Openness.

You assess your self , with  your scores in respect of each of the five dimensions. Only by the time you reach near the end of the book , you get to realize the full meaning of these dimensions , and  you begin  to look afresh at your self.

         What is personality?  It is not just what we do repeatedly  in the large-scale narratives of our lives- love , career , friendships- which tend to be somewhat consistent over time , it is also what we do in tiny interactions  which shows the same kind of patterns over our whole life. Naturally , we want to know about our own personality, and also about the personality of other people .

     The big  five  personality dimensions are  extraversion, neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and openness.

1.     Extraversion is responsiveness of positive emotions. In the high scorer , the responsiveness is great , and so the person is prepared   to work hard  to get the buzz of company , excitement , achievement , adulation and romance. For an introvert ,  the psychological benefits of getting these things are fewer.

An introvert  is not motivated  to go out , put in efforts or fight out for them.

     2.Neuroticism:Neuroticism is to negative emotions what extraversion is to positive emotions. Negative emotions  are an interconnected group including fear, anxiety, shame, guilt , disgust , and sadness  that are deeply unpleasant to experience. High scorers on neuroticism  have    more groundless worries  and  more negative emotions. They have low self esteem, higher rates of depression. They are workaholics and  get better academic results. Neuroticism is a (weak) positive predictor of success for professional occupations.

3.Conscientiousness: They are able to control impulses. Very low Conscientiousness means an addictive personality  that can’t stop doing  things  even when they are damaging. The smarter people are , the less conscientious they are. It is not true that conscientiousness brings only benefits. High Conscientiousness  in an extreme form  is called obsessive –compulsive personality disorder.( not related to  obsessive-compulsive disorder).It is preoccupation with orderliness,  perfectionism, and mental control  at the expense of flexibility, openness and efficiency. Sticking to the plan and schedule  becomes the main issue and the actual  point of activity is entirely lost. Inter personal relationships are badly affected by OCPD , as a result. There is no spontaneity. Perfectionism is just very high Conscientiousness.

4. Agreeableness:   High scorers on agreeableness  are cooperative , trusting  and empathetic , while low scorers are  cold-hearted, hostile and non-compliant. Such    high scorer   people have ‘other-regarding preferences’. They are quick to forgive and slow to anger. At the very extreme low-Agreeableness  are psychopaths  who are completely egocentric , remorseless, dishonest, incapable of love , and disposed to  use others entirely to forward their own ends.  When degree of agreeableness is so high that  a person completely sacrifices  his or her own needs, values, options , pleasures and goals in order to serve the desires of others , it is ‘dependent personality disorder’. Research shows that the less Agreeable  the executive, the better they do; or, nice guys finish last. Personal success  tends to mean low Agreeableness. In general , women are higher in Agreeableness  than men are. This implies that the share of women in top positions  will not be 50 percent but less because of Agreeableness factor.

5. Openness: It  means broad associations of meaning, restless unconventionality, supernatural beliefs  and psychosis-like experiences. Openness  predicts creativity and innovative ness.

     Personality traits have  50 percent heritable component. The other half is environmentally induced  personality  variation. Can we change our personalities , or are we just stuck with them? You can choose to avoid certain people  who bring out the worst in you. You can keep yourself away from contexts where aspects of your personality  that you are unhappy with  will surface.  You  all carry useless and outdated notions  of what we should be and why. From time to time ,  you  should shed these notions.  You  should reframe our story. Also , you need to change your behaviour. But it  does not mean that we can change our personality. It means understanding your personality and using this information to make wise choices.

     Personality is a very clear and comprehensive book .It has certainly helped me to know my self and has increased my self awareness. I highly recommend  the readers to read this book .In fact, you should not miss it.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

                                             

An autobiography of Michelle  Obama , published by  Penguin Random House ( 426 pages;2018)  is  the story  of a woman  who rose from very humble beginnings  to become  the first lady of the USA, overcoming  all obstacles of  race , resources and gender.

                   I admire Michelle for each of her four initiatives which she took as the First lady---Let’s Move! , Reach Higher , Let Girls Learn , and  Joining Forces. Let’s Move! Was a public health campaign led by Michelle .Its aim was to reduce  childhood obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in children.The Reach Higher Initiative  was her effort as a first Lady to inspire  every student in the US to take charge of  her/his future by completing their education past high school, whether at a professional  training programme , a community college , or a four-year college or university.Let Girls Learn was  launched by Michelle Obama ,as  a  US government initiative  aimed at helping adolescent girls  attain a quality education  that empowers them to reach  their full potential.Joining Forces  was a nationwide initiative  by Michelle Obama  and Dr. Jill Biden  calling all Americans to rally around  service members, veterans , and their families  and support them through wellness, education and employment opportunities.

           Michelle  majored from Princeton in sociology and law  , pulling good grades. Her code in life is  to keep making  efforts     till you   get the  answer to the most important question. “Am I good enough? as “Yes, in fact  I am”.

She met Barack at a law firm Sidley and Austin.  Barack wanted to be effective far more than he wanted to be rich. They fell in love there. From Becoming me , came the stage of Becoming Us. Throughout the book, Michelle is full of praise and pride for Obama.”His money largely went towards books” . He often asked: “ Do we settle for the world  as it is ,  or do we work for the world as it should be?”When she was in Sidley and Austin ,she started keeping a journal. It was a habit she picked in part  from Barack ,  who viewed writing as therapeutic  and clarifying,  and had kept journals on and off over the years.    Barack and Michelle got married in October ,1992.

 Barack joined an organization  called Project VOTE!. “There was power in voting. If you wanted change, you couldn’t stay home on Election Day”. In 1993, he wrote and published  a book  “dreams from My Father”. She joined a new job as the executive director for the new Chicago chapter of an organization  called Public Allies. Its purpose was to help more people find their way into careers in public service and non-profit work.

Barack can flip  between the six and seven  books he’s reading simultaneously. He  would inhale books , newspapers  and ideas.  He had a serious faith in democracy. He wrote his second book “The Audacity of Hope” – thinking through his beliefs and his vision  for the country.He called for hope over cynicism. He spoke with hope. Both served on the boards of several nonprofits. Michelle did not have much taste for politics .She brought up their two daughters, Malia and  Sasha,  to grow strong  and also un-accommodating to any form of old-school patriarchy.

       In all , there were  a total of nine Democrats  for the election to President.  Barack  made his announcement on February 10, 2007.Voting took place on November4, 2008.Barack Hussein  Obama became the  forty-fourth president  of the United States (POTUS) and Michelle became the First Lady of the united States.(FOTUS).

        Michelle  is a great advocate of mentoring.”I knew from my own experience  that when some one  shows genuine interest in   your learning and development , even if only for  ten minutes in a busy day , it matters”. With this in mind , she started a leadership and mentoring program  at the White house  for girls. The students were nominated by their Principals. Each student was paired with a female mentor. Mentors  were  volunteers from the  staff.

      During the regime of Obama, Osama bin Laden was killed by an elite team of US Navy  in Abbottabad, Pakistan. According to Michelle , this was  one of the most important events in  Obama’s  first  tenure as President.

Barack was re-elected as president of the USA  on November6, 2012. “We had managed two terms in office  without a major scandal. We had held ourselves and the  people who worked with us  to the highest standards  of ethics and decency , and we had made it all the way through”.They walked out of the White House  on January , 2017, accompanying  Donald and Melania trump to the inauguration ceremony.

Michelle met Nelson Mandela .”There was no one alive who’d a more meaningful impact  on the world  than Nelson  Mandela  had, at least by my measure”. I liked to mention that I was the great-great –granddaughter of a slave  named Jim Robinson. She sees optimism in surprising places.

   She ends the book with these lines:” There’s power in allowing yourself  to be known and heard, in owning your unique story , in using your authentic voice .And there’s grace in being willing to know  and hear others. This , for me, is how we become.”

     I liked  very much reading this inspiring  book by Michelle Obama. I recommend  everyone to read this book , especially the young girls of India.

Inquilab . . . . .Bhagat Singh on Religion and Revolution Edited by S. Irfan Habib

Bhagat Singh was not only a freedom fighter but also  a thinker and an intellectual. S. Irfan Habib has done a  great  service   by bringing us in touch with  Bhagat Singh’s  thoughts and vision  of independent India. And it makes us think: Where have we deviated  after Independence? 

            Bhagat Singh was born on 28^th September , 1907 and  one of the articles included in this book was published in 1924 when  he was just 17 years old. This was on Universal Brotherhood. He was hanged on March 23, 1931    when he was 23  years  6 months old. Most of  the writings were of the period 1928 to 1931 when he was between  21  years to 23  years  .But at such a young age , his intellectual maturity is commendable, to say the least.

       The longest article is “ Why I am  an Atheist ?”(about 15 pages) written in 1930.It  conveys his views on religion and God.

Another   long piece  is about his statement in the Sessions Court  dated 6 June , 1929 and  the statement filed in the Lahore High Court  where he explained  the intentions behind  throwing the bombs .He says :’’ Bombs and pistols do not  make revolution. The sword of revolution  is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas. This is what we wanted to emphasise.. . . . .It was very necessary to give the timely warning  that the unrest of the people is increasing  and that  the malady may take  a serious turn, if not treated in time and properly.”

     This book has 20  writings/articles by   one of the most brilliant and courageous minds India has ever produced. In the last part of the book, some Excerpts from Bhagat Singh”s Jail Notebook have been given .The writing are in 135 pages and the excerpts are in 57 pages.

 S. Irfan Habib , the  editor Has  taken  a commendable  initiative in  compiling and editing these writings of Bhagat Singh which will make every Indian  understand the vision and the thoughts of the great martyr  and freedom fighter.

     I recommend every Indian, especially the youth,  to read this book

Self-Renewal . . . The Individual and The Innovative Society by John W. Gardner

This is a book about the self-renewal of an individual as well as  renewal of organizations and societies. Anything which is susceptible to decay  , is capable of regeneration. How can we design a system  that will continuously renew itself , beginning with specifiable  ills and moving on to ills we cannot foresee.?

 Gardner lists five methods:

1.        The habit of self development   leads to self-renewal. For self-renewing persons , the development of their potentialities and the process of self -discovery never  end.

2.       Self-knowledge is also necessary  to facilitate self-renewal.

     George Herbert said:

“ By all means use some times to be alone. Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth wear?”

This is a goof self-renewal doctrine.

3.        We should be willing to risk. Fear of  failure should not stop us from  exploration and experimentation for self-renewal.

4.       Accept love and give it. This is one attribute of self-renewing people.

5.       The self-renewing person is highly motivated.” Wipe the slate clean and  do one little thing  that you really care about deeply, that you could do with burning conviction.”

Our education should  teach  habits of mind that will be useful in new situations- curiosity, open-mindedness, objectivity, respect for evidence  and the capacity to think critically. Education at its best  develops the inner resources  of young people  the point where they can learn on their own. Many of major changes take place through a series of small innovations. We have to provide for  a hospitable environment  for the release of creativity.

             To achieve renewal, we need to understand  what prevents renewal.  As an organization becomes old, it is governed by rules , customs and procedures , which destroys  zest and creativity. These rigidities need to be broken. As individuals  develop vested interests , the organization  itself rigidifies. Vested interests produce rigidity  and diminish capacity for change.

      Society should recognize the need for renewal. This requires protecting the dissenters. Similarly, writers and artists need freedom in the area of their creative activity, freedom to speculate , inquire and imagine.

     Top executives  should periodically  take a look at unprocessed reality. This will protect them from  filtered experience.

       Self-renewing people never feel that they have   “ arrived”. They know that really important tasks  are never finished—interrupted perhaps but never finished-and all the significant goals  recede before one.

           No society is likely to renew itself  unless its dominant  orientation is to future. In such a society , people not only welcome the future but also  believe  they can have  a hand in shaping  that future. Such people believe that they can make their own history.

      The first step in moral renewal is  the confrontation of precept and practice, and stripping the hypocrisy.

 A society is being continuously  re-created , by its members. Self-renewing individuals make a self-renewing society.

 John Gardner  , with his brilliant career as a civil servant   , and founder of Common cause, has written this masterpiece for self-renewal.   It is stimulating as well as inspirational. I recommend you to read it.

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The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz

                       

The magic of Thinking big was on my book shelf for  about 15 years till recently, when  I decided to read it . I know many people who do not read self help books . Obviously this book  is not for them . But for the rest , let me say that  it is one of the best self help books I have read . Written in 1959, it still continues to be read.

   The best thing that I liked in the book came at the end of the book.  It is the answer to the question:How to think big? The answer:  Have a daily managed  solitude , for at least 30 minutes. This solitude can be   directed or undirected .Both are useful .Directed solitude takes  you for a review of a major problem facing you .The undirected solitude   permits you to let your mind  select  what it wants to think about .This is helpful in doing self-evaluation .Solitude means  no mobile, no TV , no newspaper, no book, no reading material in print or electronic form , and no human being or pet near you.

       A few other tips. The  book  emphasises the value of having the right attitudes  ,  as for example , learning from setbacks. Blend persistence with experimentation .Action cures fear and builds confidence. Don’t be afraid of talking to other people. Underneath, most folks are nice. But don’t do any thing which   you know is wrong. When you  go any where ,  walk a little faster , with your head lifted up.

       Think above petty things and trivialities. Think high standards in every thing that you do. Don’t get involved in petty quarrels and petty things. Think Big. To think big, listen more and talk less. But  remain humble , as pride has a fall. Dress right. 

  Keep company of people with big ideas. Read biographies of great men. Study negators.  Don’t let them destroy your plans for action. Have a broad  group to circulate in. To be enthusiastic about a thing , learn more about it.Dig deeper. The deeper you dig , the more enthusiastic you will become.

  Put service first. This attitude creates  money  also.

Think right towards people. Congratulate when some one  has made some achievement. But don’t give false praise  .  Don’t criticise others. Don’t blame others , nor blame yourself. Don’t be reformer of others. We are lifted to higher levels by those who know us as likeable, personable individuals.  Cross bridges as you come to them. Don’t start worrying about possible  problems and difficulties.

          I found this book excellent. Recommended highly for reading and following.

Tolstoy - A Biography by A.N. Wilson

This biography of Tolstoy   by A.N. Wilson (572 pages)  was first published in 1988.Ninety volumes of  Tolstoy’s work fill the shelves  of the Russian Library. Of all the Russian  novelists who came  after Pushkin , Tolstoy was the greatest. He was born  on August , 1828 into a high , aristocratic family. He served as a soldier in the Crimean war. Tolstoy died on  November 7, 1910.

         Solutions which he  preached to  solve the problems of the nineteenth century were –pacifism, vegetarianism,  reading the gospels and knitting your own clothes. His two greatest achievements were War and Peace , and Anna Karenina. In War and Peace , in telling  the story of Napoleon’s  invasion and retreat from Moscow, Tolstoy had become  a national institution of Russia. War and Peace  is  one of the  great works of literature  of the world.

 “What then must we do?”  is one of Tolstoy’s most impressive  and unforgettable  books.  “What Then Must We Do?”  is an exposure of the  gap between  rich and  poor , and it leaves no reader unaffected. Millions of readers have found in Resurrection    things deeper , both disturbing and consoling  than anything  in Tolstoy’s writings except  War and Peace. Resurrection was more widely disseminated than anything  Tolstoy had previously written . “After the ball” is a great  short story by Tolstoy. The philosopher  Wittgenstein said that “Hadji  Murat”  was one of the few works of Tolstoy  which he could admire.

          It was hard for Tolstoy  to think that  women have any function  in the world  except as breeding stock. Tolstoy used fiction to purge and to sanitise existence .”I could only preach by deeds; and my deeds are bad”. Father Sergius  ( published after  Tolstoy’s death )  was a vivid dissection of  what was wrong with the whole Tolstoyan way of looking at the world. “The Kingdom of God is Within You”  is an infinitely sad book to read. Also , “ all life is a struggle between  the flesh and the spirit  and gradually the  flesh triumphs  over the spirit”, says Tolstoy.  His later advocacy of anarchism , or his  condemnation of  Shakespeare  are  not shared by many.

     Tolstoy remained a compulsive diarist  until last days of his life. In this diary , centre stage was Tolstoy himself. Dickens was his favourite  author and  David Copperfield his favourite  book. He loved Rousseau’s Emily and  The Confessions  equally. He had sweet and sour relations with Turgenev. For seventeen years , there was no contact between them.   However,  Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky  never met.     Tolstoy did not know “  a better book  in all modern literature than  Dostoyevsky’s “The House of the Dead”. He was a smoker of tobacco and had a habit of non-stop tea drinking.

      Tolstoy was not a prophet and he had many shortcomings and many ideas which are unacceptable. But he was a great writer , with tremendous influence all over the world. Wilson has been able to portray  Tolstoy  truly and in an interesting style. Go ahead and read this book , if you are a fan of Tolstoy.

Uttar Pradesh and the State of the Disabled

Lucknow, the Capital of  Uttar Pradesh , is not  a beautiful city—at least not for the persons  with physical challenges. Today (September20,2018) , I accompanied a  very senior citizen  who is physically challenged and is on wheel chair for locomotion, to the office of Sub-Registrar in connection with the registration of  a sale deed. It was shocking to see the inaccessibility of the office,  for the disabled people. There are  offices of four Sub registrars on first floor and offices of fifth Sub- registrar , AIG and DIG are on second floor. All these offices are located near the office of  District Magistrate , Lucknow .

         There are no ramps for the disabled. There are no lifts for any body. None of the offices has any wheel chair. The stairs to these highly crowded offices are very steep. The  disabled person can reach Sub registrar’s office  only if two or three strong persons physically  lift her . No registration  can be done if you do not reach  the office personally.

                 I find  Lucknow , the capital of Uttar Pradesh so  unfriendly and inaccessible to  the disabled. Good governance is only on paper and in advertisements.I feel ashamed to be living in such a disabled-unfriendly city.

              I appeal to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Aditya Nath Jee  to spare   15 minutes to visit the  offices of Sub registrars himself  , and provide lifts , wheel chairs and ramps there.

On The Shortness of Life by Seneca

“On the Shortness of Life”  by Seneca is a short book (106 pages) published by  Penguin Books – Great ideas. The book has three essays : On the Shortness of Life, Consolation to  Helvia , On Tranquillity of Mind. I could pick up some  advice from this book  as follows.   Seneca writes:”It takes the whole of  life  to learn how to live , and – what will perhaps make you wonder more – it takes the whole of life  to learn how to die.”   Seneca is an educator of  young people. He gives down to earth , practical  everyday advice on  how to live  a wise  and joyful  human life.

          Organize every day as if it were your last.  Make time for philosophy. Share your time with better men than you , men like Socrates, Aristotle , Theophrastus, Epicurus, Zeno, Pythagoras, Democritus ,  Stoics and Cynics. None of these allows  anyone to depart empty-handed. You will have these  friends  whose advice  you can ask  on the most important  or the most trivial matters. The world expands on us  when we participate in the  great wisdom of the  philosophical tradition.

           “ If you have the strength to tackle any one aspect of  misfortune  you can tackle all. When once virtue has toughened  , the mind renders it  invulnerable  on every side. If you consider that sexual desire  was given to man  not for enjoyment but for the propagation of the race, once you are free of this violent and destructive  passion rooted in your vitals, every other desire will leave you  undisturbed.”

         It is better to conquer our grief than to deceive it. We must not evade it.  The grief that has been conquered by reason is calmed  forever.  Grief   which springs  from love  can   be diverted from its anguish  by philosophy or honourable occupation.

         If you write something , write it in a simple style for your own use and not for publication. Less toil is needed if you study only for the day.

Dont travel too frequently.  Many people make one journey after the other. As Lucretius says:” Thus each man ever flees himself”.

  What is public service? The man who teaches the young , who instils virtue in their minds, who grips and restrains those  who are rushing  madly after wealth and luxury, and if nothing more, at least  delays them , he too is doing  a public service , though in private life. If you apply yourself to study you will avoid all boredom with life , you will neither be a burden to yourself nor useless to others. But if we shun all society and, abandoning the human race , live for ourselves alone , this isolation , devoid of any interest , will be followed by  a dearth of worthwhile activity. Help your fellow citizens with unspoken support. At banquets , play the part of a good companion. Practice the duties of a man. Encourage others, cheer them on. Get used to your circumstances, complain about them as little as possible, and grasp whatever advantage they have to offer. What can happen to one can happen to all.

     A basic source of anxiety  is to assume a pose and not reveal  yourself openly to any one. Life of those who live behind a mask , is never  pleasant or free from care. Yet , a life which is open  too runs the risk of being scorned. But still , it is better to be despised for simplicity than to suffer agonies from everlasting pretence.

Mingle two things: solitude , and joining a crowd. There is a role of  relaxation , sleep, walks out of doors, fresh air and a clear sky. A wavering mind should be surrounded by attentive and unceasing care.

   Seneca wrote this  book in the year 49 AD , bringing up many Stoic principles. But  most of his advice is valid and practical even today.This is a true sign of a great work.  I recommend you to read it at least once.

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

The War of Art  by Steven Pressfield  (2002 edition;  165 page)  , as the subtitle  indicates , is about breaking through the blocks and winning  your inner battles. The title may   lead you to believe that it is a book about art but it is not so. It is not a book about art only.  It is a book about  Resistance  against  any new thing that you want to start ;how to overcome that Resistance.  Procrastination is the most common  manifestation of Resistance. If not  controlled, it can become a  life long habit.

                The moment you  decide  any of the new activities,  there are inner obstacles or blocks . Steven Pressfield calls them Resistance .  He   gives  a list of activities which most commonly elicit Resistance (read Procrastination):

1.Writing , painting , music , film , dance or any creative art.

2.  Launch of any enterprise, business or non-profit.

3.  Any diet or health regimen.

4.  Any programme for spiritual advancement.

5.  Any program to overcome a habit or addiction .

6. Education of every kind.

7. Any act of courage  including any decision to change our thought or conduct.

8. Any act which needs commitment like  getting married,  deciding  to have a  child or to weather a rocky patch in a relationship.

9.  Taking a principled stand in an adversity.

    Resistance is experienced by every body. Resistance is most powerful at the finish line.

The more energy we spend to get support from our colleagues and loved ones, the weaker we become. Seeking support is also a sign of Resistance.

   Resistance can be beaten. One way to do it is to turn pro ( professional). Pressfield mentions the following  qualities that define a professional:

1.        Show up every day.

2.        Show up no matter what.

3.         Stay on the job all day.

4.         Remain committed over a long haul.

5.         Your stakes are high and real.

6.       You  accept remuneration for your labour.

7.       You  do not over -identify with your jobs.

8.       You master the techniques of your jobs.

9.        You  have a sense of humour about your job.

10.   You  receive praise or blame in the real world.

The professional  prepares mentally to absorb blows and to deliver  results. He or she reminds him/herself that it is better to be in the arena , getting stomped by the bull , than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot. A professional  is resolute in overcoming resistance.

            Pressfield     also recommends  that before you sit down to work, say your prayer to the Muse. The Muses were nine sisters , daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Their names are Clio, Erato,  Thalia, Terpsichore, Calliope, Polyhymnia, Euterpe,  Melpomene , and Urania. Their job is to inspire artists. Also  always  remember Goethe’s couplet: “ Whatever you can do, or dream you can , begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.”

           Carl Jung  defined the Self as a greater entity , which includes ego but also incorporates  the Personal and Collective Unconscious. Our consciousness dwells in the ego but we must make efforts to move consciousness from ego to the Self. Then we discern what is really important,( as we do when we are about to die) . The Ego produces Resistance .It does not want us to evolve. It likes the things just the way they are. We must operate territorially and  not hierarchically.

             This book captured  me slowly . In fact , when I finished its first reading , I  still thought that it is about art. But slowly , it dawned on me that it is about everything important that we do in life. The second reading of the book made it clear to me.

                 It is an extremely useful book. All of us procrastinate but we do not consciously realize what Resistance is working inside us.

           I strongly recommend  you to read this book.It will change  the way you live and work.