Who is someone you want to be like?
I’m a massive fan of Fred Armisen. He’s a prolific writer, a talented musician and an insanely skilled actor.
A few years back I was trying to figure out how I could steal some of what he’s got; to be like Fred! I’d heard this advice:
To be the noun, do the verb.
In short- an actor acts, a director directs, a painter paints and so on and so fourth.
That was a little abstract for me and felt a bit vague and un-actionable. So I dove a bit deeper into this and thought more about all the things that Fred would do on a regular basis that contribute to him being the prolific creator he is.
Here’s some of the things I listed:
What Fred Does
Write scripts. Does stand up. Pitches ideas. Has meetings with like minds. Produces shows. Acts. Creates characters. Tests characters on friends. Observes people and uses it in his work. Listens to a wide range of music. Watches a wide range of film and tv.
This becomes a little guide map for how to be more like someone you admire. You could even put these in a hierarchy of things that are most important to the aspect of the person you aspire to be like.
Try doing those verbs a hundred times or a thousand. See where you end up.
(Definitely don’t just do it ten times and give up, that’s not good science- you need a big sample to make a call like stopping)
