We’ve all been there while working on a project – coming up with an idea, gaining momentum, enjoying discovering new things and meeting new people, having fun – and then you hit the wall and everything comes crashing down.

Maybe your new business venture ran into financial obstacles; maybe the book you’re writing isn’t coming together like you’d hoped; maybe the career you want is stalling.

You’ve lost your mojo, unsure as to where to go or what to do next, feeling like a failure. What do you do next?

I know I’ve been there. Fortunately these moments don’t last too long, but I’ve always wondered if there’s a way to prevent them from happening.

After reading Steven Pressfield’s new book Do the Work, I now know that I can’t prevent myself from hitting the wall, but I can learn what to do to make the crash short-lived.

Pressfield explains that “Resistance” will occur in any endeavor you pursue – whether a personal project (losing weight, writing a novel) or a professional one (starting a business, changing careers).

The key is to recognize that resistance means we’re about to cross the threshold – we’re almost there but the fear of success is holding us back.

Isn’t it funny that we fear success? The one thing we all say we want, yet change is scary. What will happen when we achieve our dreams? How will we sustain success? Was our success a one-time fluke?

These are all natural reactions, but we must conquer resistance in order to move forward; we must slay the dragon.

As Pressfield writes in his book, “On the field of Self stand a knight and a dragon. You are the knight. Resistance is the dragon.”

Do the Work is an insightful and quick read that will arm you with the tools you need to start your project, slay your inevitable dragon, and, most importantly, finish your work and release it to the world.

Are you ready? I know I am.