Do the work

Steven Pressfi

eld

Do Th

e Work!

96

You have joined an elite fraternity,

whether you realize it or not.

By dint of your eff

orts and your perseverance, you have initi-

ated yourself into an invisible freemasonry whose members are awarded no badges or insignia, share no secret handshake, and wear no funny-looking hats.

But the fellows of this society

recognize one another. I recognize

you. I salute you.

You can be proud of yourself. You’ve done something that mil-lions talk about but only a handful actually perform. And if you can do it once, you can do it again.I don’t care if you fail with this project. I don’t care if you fail a thousand times.

You have done what only mothers

and gods do: you have created

new life.

You have done it!

Kudos to You You’ve wrapped. You’ve shipped. You’ve licked this sonofabitch.

Kudos to you!

I salute anybody who took this vessel to sea and brought her safely again into port.

I stand in awe of anyone who

hatches a dream and who shows

the guts to hang tough, all alone,

and see it through to reality.

I tip my hat to you for what you’ve done—for losing forty pounds, for kicking crack cocaine, for surviving the loss of someone you love, for facing any kind of adversity—internal or external—and slogging through. I come to attention when you walk past. I stand up for you like the spectators in the gallery stood up for Atticus Finch in

To Kill A Mockingbird

.

If no one has congratulated you, I do that now.