FILM PRODUCER | WRITER | HUSBAND | FATHER
I wrote a whole chapter in my book last year about creating assets that provide ongoing value. It was a lesson I had learned over and over again – trading time for dollars wasn’t getting me ahead and is a much slower path to creating wealth and freedom. It’s fun, however, that life will often send us …
Interruptions kill your creativity and your ability to do deep work. Yesterday I had blocked out the whole morning to focus on editing a single project that’s due by EOD on Thursday. I’ve been a bit behind on it so I needed to make some quick progress. The first interruption was the office manager coming …
I’ve always been a bit of a productivity nut. I had a palm pilot when I was 16 (which got stolen out of a hotel room in Prague, but that’s another story for another day), a Blackberry at 21, and the first iPhone within days of it coming out. I even had those Franklin day …
I’ve been watching the conversation around assistants in Hollywood and the #payuphollywood movement from a distance over the last few months. If you want to get caught up, these posts on JohnAugust.com and this podcast episode are good places to start. I have a few reasons for finally chiming in: I’m a film & TV …
Stop using inanimate objects or others as an excuse to not make the thing you say you want to make. Movies can be shot on iPhones and still get into Sundance. Stories are free. Books can be written using a pencil and paper or using a free text app that comes with every computer. Words …
I’ve noticed something over the last week or two, and I know it’s happened before. Recurring themes. I listen to tons of podcasts and talk tapes, read books and blog posts, and follow a number of writers and thinkers. Over the last week it seemed like the same thing came up over and over again: …
Flow doesn’t just “happen” to someone. It’s not something that magically appears or is granted to those worthy enough to receive it. Flow comes from execution. It only occurs to those who do the work. Every so often, while doing the work, flow will occur – a state where everything just works and you could …
You can’t control the outcome. How many books you sell, how many come to your show, who hires you for what job. That’s out of your control because it involves the agency, or freedom of choice, of others. You can, however, control the process. You control how hard you work, your curiosity, your integrity, your …
The reason you’re not doing the thing you claim you want to do – starting that new project, changing jobs, getting up early to create – is because your reasons for not doing it are stronger and more convincing that your reasons for doing it. Even fear, one of the strongest reasons for not doing …
Good decision making comes from making lots of decisions. Full stop. You can’t walk on to the Masters at Augusta National (the “championship” of golf, for sake of simplicity) if you’ve never swung a golf club before. Same principle applies with making decisions. You have to start making decisions and take accountability for the decisions …