Coaching practices for The War of Art for My Teenager

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The War of Art for My Teenager, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• Every time I avoid the work that matters most I pile it onto the heap of evidence that I’m just lazy or not cut out for this
• My whole approach is to wait until I’m in the mood to do the work, and the mood comes maybe one day in ten, so weeks go by with almost nothing made
• I keep promising myself I’ll get to the work that matters once the inbox is clear and the little urgent things are handled
• I try to do my real work in the exact same spot, on the same screen, where I answer email and scroll and take calls
• It’s a small, pleasant, no-pressure thing and yet I find myself dreading it and inventing reasons to skip it

Practices that may help

1. The War of Art, Made Practical
   Steven Pressfield’s "Resistance" is his name for the internal force that opposes any meaningful creative or entrepreneurial act. His core practices — turning pro, showing up daily, and treating creative work as a profession rather than an inspiration-dependent activity — are grounded in practitioner wisdom from a working novelist. They align with self-regulation and deliberate practice research but are not derived from formal studies.
2. Name and externalize Resistance
   Recognize the internal force opposing your creative work as Resistance — a universal opponent, not a personal failing.
   The War of Art, Made Practical
3. Turn pro: do the work on a schedule, not a mood
   Commit to showing up for your creative work at the same time every day, regardless of how you feel.
   The War of Art, Made Practical
4. Treat your creative work as the highest-priority obligation
   Do the most important creative work first, before any obligation that feels more pressing.
   The War of Art, Made Practical
5. Define your territory: where creative work belongs
   Name the specific space, time, and conditions that constitute your creative work territory and defend them.
   The War of Art, Made Practical
6. Treat resistance to the date as creative diagnostic data
   The louder the resistance to doing the artist date, the more you probably need it.
   The Artist Date, Made Practical
7. Recognize when Plan A (unilateral imposition) makes things worse
   Adult-imposed solutions can win the battle and lose the war — notice when enforcement is escalating rather than solving.
   Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
8. Work the affirmations and blurts
   Surface the negative beliefs about your creativity ("blurts"), then counter them deliberately.
   The Artist’s Way, Made Practical
9. Cultivate a "yes brain": curiosity, courage, and resilience over reactivity
   Respond to the child’s world with curiosity and openness rather than threat and control.
   The Whole-Brain Child (Siegel & Bryson)
10. Know what the rule can’t do
    Use it as an ignition for action — not as a fix for missing skills, rest, or a real plan.
    The 5 Second Rule, Made Practical

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