Nice
We should be nice to pessimists.
They say that pessimists are optimists who have been disappointed.
We’re all doing the best we can with what we’ve got. No one is trying to be unkind or hard to be around.
We should probably just be nicer to everyone.
Ouch, growing!
Isn’t it a wonderful trick of the universe that growth requires resistance?
For a muscle to grow, it needs to meet something that is too heavy.
As teachers, the hardest days are the ones that form us.
As actors, the hardest audiences make us the strongest.
It’s easy to say this, of course. But it really counts when you’re in it. And if you’re in it. Know that you are growing.
Revisit
Do you fall into this trap too?
I love learning new things.
But sometimes I feel like I have an insatiable appetite for new information. The problem with that is things can remain surface level.
I’m recently enjoying revisiting things. The book you read 6 years ago is kind of a different book when you, as you are now, read it again.
A simple foundational exercise has oceans more to be learned when we come back to it again years after the first time.
More is not always more. More with the same thing, on the other hand. Well yes, that is probably more.
The thing doesn’t change. But you do, so the thing is different too.
Revisit
Do you fall into this trap too?
I love learning new things.
Sometimes I feel like I have an insatiable appetite for new information that I can apply to my life and work. The problem with that is things can remain surface level.
I’m recently enjoying revisiting things. The book you read 6 years ago is kind of a different book when you, as you are now, read it.
A simple foundational exercise has oceans more to be learned when we come back to it again and again years after the first time.
More is not always more. More with the same thing, on the other hand. Well yes, that is probably more.
3 Steps to making
Making something? Here’e a quick set of questions I run it through to increase my clarity and likelihood of following through.
1. What is the output?
This helps me understand what the end product actually looks like. Helps me to know when I’m done and what specifically to shoot for.
2. Why do I love this?
Helps me plug into passion. When in the weeds of creation it’s easy to forget why you love something.
3. Who is it for?
I borrowed this from the great Seth Godin. This helps me get clear on the purpose of the thing, what value it brings to the world and how I can provide that value in an even sharper way in the creation process.
There you have it. Try those out:
What’s the output
Why do I love this
Who is it for?
Quality Time
Quality time is time spent on good things.
Quality time could be 5 minutes.
Quality time is also turning ordinary time into durations that feel more productive. I find that an hour of uninterrupted work can feel hellishly unproductive. But if, in the middle of the hour, I go for a 5 minute walk or have a stretch break, the time (which is now shorter) feels much better,
We can transform the feeling of time with what we surround it with.
How do you turn ordinary time into extraordinary time?
A great idea
It seems to me that the way to make ourselves follow through on anything we want to do is to keep it vividly alive in our minds and hearts.
Things are a great idea when they’re a great idea.
They’re less a great idea two hundred and eighty seven days later…
The idea stayed the same but our relationship to it changed.
If we really want to get there, we need to keep it as vivid, as alive, as exciting and captivating as day one.
Thats our only job, really, because when something is that real to us on a daily basis, we will act on it.
Question guard
Questions frame and guide our focus. And our focus changes how we feel.
I could ask you to picture the front door of your childhood home.
Or I could ask you to think about your first break up.
In some ways, neither of those ‘existed’ for you before the question took you there.
Careful the questions you ask.
Awesome
I like thinking about the true meaning of words.
We overuse many words- I think we all went through a phase of saying everything was “raaaandom”
One that really get’s thrown around is “awesome”… and look I don’t mind it.
But remember what it means. Awesome. The thing you’re referring to makes you feel awe. It is literally awe inspiring. It’s not ‘neat’ it invokes AWE.
I think that’s awesome.
Super Objective
As part of preparing for a role, an actor has to choose a super objective.
And it’s not just an objective wearing a cape. It’s a through-line of desire a character has. It’s what they ultimately want, what they are trying to do. All their actions, then are in relation to and in aid of that.
It’s such an genius system to re-create the psychology of a human. It’s over simplified, sure, but in it’s simplicity lies it’s applicability; it’s super easy to apply.
I often wonder what my real life super objective is. In acting, they say a character can’t choose their super objective- it’s an unconscious pull.
In real life, we do get to pick our arcs of desire. Often in my work I return to the same question.
What am I trying to do here?
I’m not just paying the bills or trying to look cool. That’ll run you on empty quick.
What’s the super objective that has you yourself wearing a cape and moving mountains?
It’s an honour to live the lives we do and it’s an honour to affect change in whatever way we choose.