It’s 4:30 am Sat morning and I finished the very last crumb of that delicious book of yours, The Art of War.

You uncovered the wares of the enemy, Resistance, and my appetite to battle it out is no longer a weak tummy ache.

For me, starting before you are ready is a DECLARATION OF WAR against the enemy.

I’m claiming my position on the wall, “I’m not the one who is broken. These voices of self-destruction are only that. Voices and nothing more.”

It took our young nation seven years more of life-threatening battle — after declaring Independance in 1776 — to achieve freedom from tyranny and see peace finally inked into a treaty.

I finally started writing just one year ago and have felt defeated everyday I wrote. Would I never be free?

On my 1 year anniversary, I went to Borders this morning and bought a 165 page paperback that told me the time to start fighting is NOW.

Steven, thank you for not listening to the voices of Resistance, and writing TWOA.

Because now that I’ve read it, I can turn my eyes away from the enemy and onto the target. Square, in the middle.

Spontaneity might make for a good few laughs on an improv show but if a teacher tries that everyday in his classroom, his pupils aren’t going to learn very much. Ditto a businessman who wings it everyday when he rolls into the office.

You can’t constructively or creatively disregard the rules until you know what they are and how (not) to play by them.

The idea that creativity is something entirely inspirational and comes from nowhere is false. Some kind of structured creativity which takes into account what’s happened before and where you’re going is much more fruitful.

I don’t think the Rommel example holds out either: clearly this is a case of him reassessing his strategy in light of new information. In this case, the mission (something along the lines of ‘”kill the British”) didn’t change but his strategy did when he hopped into his light aircraft and discovered new information—that the reality on the ground was different from what they had previously thought it to be.

Ergo a change of plan and tempo, not a change of mission. The Germans were famous for this ‘mission command’ approach to military planning and the orders process—something which the British and Americans belatedly copied decades later. We Brits didn’t pick up on it properly until after the Falklands war, I believe. I bet he made sure he had enough diesel and shells for his tanks as well.

I agree that you shouldn’t plan everything ad infinitum and never actually DO anything, but we should be careful not to equate changing the plan with a lack of proper preparation.

“Throw it all over the wall and get on with it” is alright but not if you forget your essential widgets or have no clue about why you’re jumping over the wall in the first place. Especially if you have no idea at all what’s on the other side.

This morning, I realized that acting in starting a business or a writing project was no different than my deciding to have a double mastectomy at 38.

Let me explain…I knew it needed to be done…3 aunts had the disease and only one made it past 45. My mom had also had it. I was sure of what I was doing and why…yet, the morning of the surgery, every fiber of my being wanted to run out of the hospital…it was a matter of noticing that this was a natural response (not a “sign”) and leaving no room for internal debate.

Sounds odd – but I’m seeing that ACTing is separate from feeling and thinking. Like you said, “Open the box.”

Thank you for the insightful perpsective on resistance. I had come to associate the pain of resistance with the work – when truth is, the work is fun.