The Vs. Studio Blog

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is a habit, not an act.” -Aristotle

“Excellence is one of the most authentic and human experiences there is, and it must be earned. The payoff is a deep internal satisfaction, a genuine self-respect based on effort and competence, a sense of aliveness and resonance that you won’t find anywhere else.

Excellence is also about creating a better world. It is the generative force that leads to scientific breakthroughs, inspiring athletic feats, beautiful creations, and meaningful relationships. When you strive for excellence, you contribute to this universal dance in your own unique way.” -Brad Stulberg, The Way Of Excellence

We’re hardwired to strive for excellence. When we’re in that zone, it’s about the most human and alive we can be.

But it’s also a habit.

Good or bad, our habits make us. We have to choose them.

Will you choose excellence?…The world could sure use it.

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work — as a human being…'” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“We do not choose our own parts in life, and have nothing to do with those parts. Our duty is confined to playing them well.” -Epictetus

Life is sad
Life is a bust
All ya can do is do what you must
You do what you must do and ya do it well -song “Buckets Of Rain” by Bob Dylan

Sometimes the only reason to do a certain task is because it’s your duty to do so. You derive no pleasure from the task. It won’t get you anywhere, won’t lead to anything. You won’t get paid extra, No one will recognize you for it.

You just feel it’s your duty to do so. So you do it.

But now here’s the question..Can you do it well? And consistently over a long period of time?

If yes, then you can do anything. You are a master.

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for -song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2

“At the center of your being, you have the answer. You know who you are and you know what you want.” -Lao Tzu

If you’ve searched far and wide and still haven’t found what you’re looking for, then consider asking yourself these questions:

(1) Do you really, specifically know what it is you’re looking for? And why you’re looking for it?

(2) Have you reached out to others for help in your search?

(3) Should you change (iterate) your approach?

(4) Perhaps what you’re looking for resides just around the corner? You just need a little more time and a little more consistent effort.

(5) Is what you’re looking for, what you should be looking for? Is it the best fit for who you are and the person you want to be? (Go back to question one.)

(6) Could it be that you actually have found what you’re looking for and you just don’t realize it? Look within.

They may not ever know if you tried your best, if your intentions were pure, if you behaved virtuously. Perhaps you got away with it. Or were wrongfully criticized.

But you know.

And that’s the only thing worth knowing anyway.

If you’re working for a company or organization and at the regular staff meeting the new person shows up and is brave enough to ask questions like “why exactly do we do this?” or “I’m trying to better understand…can you explain this?” or “I’m not sure I’m following…what do we do here?”, etc…honor that curiosity (even though you just want to get the meeting over with). It’s a gift. It’s a chance for you to examine your systems and processes that you don’t do, but now you have to do. in order to explain it to the new person.

And if you can’t explain it coherently or your answer is akin to “because that’s what we always do”, then that means you don’t have good systems and processes.

Thank the new person for asking the questions.

And then get to work on fixing those systems and processes.

So that way, you can explain them to the next new person at the next staff meeting.

There isn’t some magical moment where you will cross everything off your to-do list, accomplish every one of your goals, reach the highest level of success, etc…and suddenly feel like “I did it. I’ve arrived. I’m good.”

The reason?

Because all the joy is found in arriving. Not in having arrived.

Lean in to and love the process.

And when you accomplish something, find something else to do that will give you another process to fall in love with all over again.

“If we’re looking for purpose and fulfillment we need to carry weight…and creativity is an honorable weight to put on your shoulders. When we feel the hurt and pain of the weight we get to remember that what we chose is hard but it’s worth it. The goal is not to get rid of the weight. It’s to find a weight we don’t want to ditch when it gets heavy.” -Gabe Andersen

A life devoted to making art carries an especially heavy weight. But it’s worth it.

And remember, you chose this. It didn’t choose you.

Also know that we all have to carry weight at some point in our life.

It’a lot better when you get to choose. Instead of it being chosen for you.

So what’s it gonna be? Which weight will you carry?

“A writer – and, I believe, generally all persons – must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.” -Jorge Luis Borges

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” -Romans 5:3-4

“Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” -William Shakespeare, As You Like It

“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” -Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

No one wants to suffer.

No one knows why we suffer.

But we do get to make meaning from our suffering. That’s what makes us uniquely human.

Think of it all as clay. Use it. Shape it. Make it into a beautiful bowl that you can give someone else to help them when they suffer.

And by doing so, you give a gift to yourself too.

“When they touch down, we’ll blow up the roof, they’ll spend a month sifting through rubble, and by the time they work out what went wrong, we’ll be sitting on a beach, earning twenty percent.” -Hans Gruber, Die Hard

I’ve been in this town so long
So long to the city
I’m fit with the stuff
To ride in the rough
And sunny down snuff, I’m alright
By the heroes and
Heroes and villains
Just see what you’ve done
Heroes and villains
Just see what you’ve done -song “Heroes and Villains” by The Beach Boys

Setting morals aside, perhaps one reason we find movie villains so compelling is that they know exactly what they want, why they want it and then are willing to pursue that want at all costs.

Most of us wish we could have that kind of clarity and single-mindedness of purpose.

Well, we can.

And the good news?…We don’t need to be villainous or immoral in the process.

We just need to take some time to figure out what we want and why we want it.

And then commit to taking daily and consistent action towards achieving it.

If we do that, then we’ll be heroes.

May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun -song “Shine A Light” by The Rolling Stones

One of the great and beautiful things about being a producer is you get to shine a light on projects and people that you feel are deserving.

And over time, you realize that the feeling you get from shining a light on others is so much more fulfilling than shining a light on yourself.