Steven Pressfield: Bestselling author of The War of Art, Gates of Fire, and The Legend of Bagger Vance, known for his ideas on creative Resistance and the writer's craft.
What this episode covers
Joe Rogan and Steven Pressfield spend most of the conversation exploring Pressfield's central idea of 'Resistance', the inner force that stops creative people from doing their work, and his theory that it is produced by the fear-driven ego trying to block access to a greater, love-driven self or 'Muse.' They compare creative discipline to Joe's 'Sober October' fitness rituals and the structure religions provide, agreeing that hard, daily work is how you defeat Resistance. The talk widens into psychedelics dissolving the ego, hermetic philosophy from The Kybalion, and evidence for advanced lost civilizations via Graham Hancock's Ancient Apocalypse and the Younger Dryas impact theory. They also touch on past lives, karma, a possible moral dimension to the universe, and the satisfaction of pursuing personal creative 'projects.' The episode closes with practical craft talk on writing books and stand-up comedy, premises, momentum, and never taking real time off between projects.
Recommended on this episode
The Immortality Key
Brian Murarescu
“Brian murarescu who's been on the podcast before wrote a book called The immortality key it's a great book about how these ancient societies”— Joe Rogan
The Kybalion
Three Initiates
“have you heard of a book called A cabalian no well is to be right up your street the hermetics were Egyptians”— Steven Pressfield
Ancient Apocalypse
Graham Hancock
“I don't know if you've seen his Netflix series it's out now it's really amazing I haven't what what's it called it's called ancient apocalypse”— Joe Rogan
The guest's own work
Government Cheese
Steven Pressfield
“government cheese and Memoir is this your Memoir this is my Memoir yeah exciting of my 27 years in the wilderness”— Steven Pressfield
Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be
Steven Pressfield
“put your ass where your heart wants to be this is sort of like a war of art type of book as you can tell from the size of it”— Steven Pressfield
The War of Art
Steven Pressfield
“after writing the war of art... that book The War of art changed so many people”— Joe Rogan
Turning Pro
Steven Pressfield
“you you also wrote turning pro right yeah and a few others yeah but the same on the same along the same vein”— Joe Rogan
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Steven Pressfield
“my first book was about golf right The Legend of Bagger fans then what came after that was Gates of Fire”— Steven Pressfield
Gates of Fire
Steven Pressfield
“what came after that was Gates of Fire book about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae never have thought of either of those books coming out of me”— Steven Pressfield
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Fingerprints of the Gods
Graham Hancock
“when he wrote the first book which was Fingerprints of the Gods he was uh widely criticized for it and dismissed”— Joe Rogan
The Bhagavad Gita
“in the bhagavad-gita there's one great stanza where Krishna was God is saying to Arjuna the great warrior”— Steven Pressfield
Discipline Equals Freedom
Jocko Willink
“my friend Jocko he uh has this quote discipline equals Freedom ah yes it's a great question what's his book”— Joe Rogan
The Odyssey
Homer
“it's the prayer from Homer's Odyssey the opening invocation of the Muse as Homer himself was sitting”— Steven Pressfield
The Iliad
Homer
“they said oh uh Homer's description of Troy in the in the Iliad was a bunch of [ __ ] right it couldn't have been that big”— Steven Pressfield
The Epic of Gilgamesh
“those are the floods that were talked about in stories like the Epic of Gilgamesh Noah's Ark”— Joe Rogan
Dances with Wolves
“like the movie Dances with Wolves exactly you really got it really they really hit that one with the nail on the head”— Joe Rogan
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
“you look back at a thing like Bruce Springsteen's albums... why did that come after you know the River or the Darkness at the edge of town”— Steven Pressfield
The River
Bruce Springsteen
“why did that come after you know Tom chode and you know the River or the Darkness at the edge of town”— Steven Pressfield
Big reveals from this episode
- Pressfield lays out his core theory that Resistance is produced by the ego to stop you from surrendering to the greater creative self.
- Joe describes his 'Sober October' challenge, 100 push-ups and 500 calories burned every day, as a ritual that erases anxiety and Resistance.
- Pressfield recites aloud the prayer to the Muse from the opening of Homer's Odyssey that he says every morning before writing.
- Joe explains that psychedelics dissolve the ego, which helped him stop getting 'in his own way' creatively.
- Pressfield walks through the seven hermetic principles from The Kybalion, including the idea that reality is entirely mental and vibrational.
- Pressfield says he believes in past lives and that souls travel through lifetimes in small groups or 'constellations.'
Worth remembering
- In comedy a 'spot' is a short, low-paid set done around town to sharpen material, while 'work' is the paid road gigs.
- Seth Godin attributes Resistance to the 'lizard brain'/amygdala, whereas Pressfield credits the ego.
- Ancient Spartan armies would turn around and march home if the pre-campaign omens were unfavorable.
- Pressfield quotes Marshall Rosenberg: every criticism and expression of anger is the tragic expression of an unmet need.
- Brian Murarescu's The Immortality Key argues ancient Greek Eleusinian wine was laced with psychedelics, with vessels testing positive for ergot.
- Gobekli Tepe in Turkey is an ~11,000-year-old megalithic site, predating the pyramids, with 3D animal reliefs carved from the surrounding stone.
- Evidence at a site in Israel suggests humans were cooking fish in controlled heat around 780,000 years ago.
- Jack LaLanne reportedly told Eddie Giuliani you can take a day off training, but on that day you're not allowed to eat.