Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“The first man who compared woman to a rose was a poet, the second, an imbecile.” -Gerard de Nerval Even though cliches, by definition, are so overused that they’ve lost their original effect, they still can contain good life advice. There’s a reason something sticks around as long as it does. We’d be foolish notContinue reading “Cliche”

100 blog posts today. Woo-hoo! Let’s celebrate! Thank you for reading, for commenting, for encouraging, for sharing these posts with others. You inspire me to do my best work every day and I’m very grateful to all of you. And thanks to my virtual mentor Seth Godin. (Be sure to check out his awesome blogContinue reading “100!”

My friend and world-class acting teacher, Howard Fine, often says, “There are no genius acting mistakes.”  What he means is that no matter how accomplished the actor, if something isn’t going well in a scene, it’s always the basics.  Not listening, not having strong actions, not playing the given circumstances, etc…We don’t reach a levelContinue reading “No Genius Mistakes”

The interview master, Cal Fussman, tells a great story about a conversation he once had with the writer, Harry Crews… Harry’s books and essays were always filled with rich, colorful detail. Often pulled from his own life and experiences. Harry was also a drunk. Cal asked Harry (who was drunk at the time) how heContinue reading “The Good Shit Sticks”

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about affirmations.  Lots of interesting things about quantum physics, the observer effect, the reticular activation system, etc…Fun, rabbit hole stuff. But what if the reason affirmations might work is simply that they force us to pick? To pick one thing we really want and focusContinue reading “Why Affirmations Might Work”

“I’ll go first. If I’m at checking out at the store I’ll say hello first, if I’m coming across someone making eye-contact I’ll smile first. Not all times, but most times — it comes in your favor. The response is pretty amazing…You have to go first because now we’re being trained in this world toContinue reading “Go First”

“When your mind is telling you you’re done, you’re only 40 percent done. You still have 60 percent left.” -David Goggins, Navy SEAL, “Toughest Man Alive” In Living With A SEAL, Jesse Itzler describes his month long odyssey of living with David Goggins. It’s compelling as hell. Primarily because of what Itzler is tasked withContinue reading “More Power Than You Think”

In my opinion, Van Morrison’s “I’ll Be Your Lover, Too” is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. At the very end of the song, after absolutely crushing it, he asks the recording engineer, “How Was That?” (I love that he left this part in.) I saw Ed Harris give a stunning performance inContinue reading ““How Was That?””

We’re all walking around with a narrative in our head. Sonder is the awareness of this. What story are you telling yourself? Is it a good one? Does it empower you? If not, tell yourself a different story.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is a habit, not an act.” -Aristotle In his excellent book, Atomic Habits (I highly recommend), the author James Clear tells the story of Jerry Seinfeld giving advice to Brad Isaac, a young comic just starting out in the comedy club circuit… “The way to be a betterContinue reading “Don’t Break The Chain”