The Vs. Studio Blog

An ancient house located in the southeast of France bears a sundial with the Latin inscription “Serius Est Quam Cogitas.” This translates to “It Is Later Than You Think.”

Supposedly, travelers come from all over the world to view this sundial and reflect on their own mortality. (Memento Mori being practiced.)

What are you waiting for? Another day? You might not have one.

Go make your art.

It Is Later Than You Think.

“So say goodbye it’s Independence Day. It’s Independence Day. All down the line. Just say goodbye it’s Independence Day. It’s Independence Day this time.” –Bruce Springsteen, Independence Day 

We just celebrated America’s Independence Day. A group of people were so fed up with existing conditions coupled with their dreams of a better life, a better way of doing things, that they boldly declared their independence. They had no idea if it would work. But they did it anyway.

What change do you seek to make? What dreams do you have for yourself, for your family? What passion project exists inside you? And…what are you waiting for? As Epictetus challenged us two thousand years ago, “How long must you wait until you demand the best of yourself?”

Say goodbye to status quo, to the old way. Just say goodbye.

Make today your Independence Day.

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” -Mark Twain

Let’s face it, to be human is to worry. Besides worrying about ourselves, there’s an endless list of people and potential events we can worry about. It’s like an open fire hydrant that just goes and goes and goes.

Intellectually, we know that worrying doesn’t help solve anything and causes us tons of harmful stress. But yet, we still do it. Why?

Evolutionary biologists and psychologists suggest we’re still hard wired to fear saber tooth tigers and other apex predators. That wiring doesn’t line up with today’s civilized world and so there’s a mismatch. A gap. To bridge the gap, we invent our own saber tooth tigers.

So, how do we free ourselves from the trap of worrying?

First, like all things we know we shouldn’t do, bring awareness to the problem. When our minds are racing in the middle of the night, just notice the racing. Without judgment. Realize that’s what we’re doing. “Oh yeah, I’m doing that saber tooth tiger thing.” Meditation and yoga are excellent practices to help us notice the racing a little quicker.

To gently nudge us away from the racing, try and focus on our breath. Again, don’t stress if you can barely take one breath in and out without the racing mind coming back. Don’t feel bad about having the thoughts. Just notice them. Jeff Bridges calls them “unavoidable secretions.” I like that.

Then, at some point, we might ask ourselves a couple of questions…Should I be worried about this thing? Now? How certain am I that what I’m worrying about, will happen? How does worrying about this make me feel? How do I want to feel?

If you decide that yes, you want to give time and attention to the thing right now. Then do so. Get out pen and paper and write out your thoughts as well as–and this is key–a bunch of possible action steps you can take. Exhaust yourself with the list.

There’s a good chance with all this work, you’re worrying will have stopped or eased.

If not, remind yourself of Mark Twain’s excellent advice listed above this post.

And watch this video and this video.

The writer and serial entrepreneur James Altucher advises writing down at least 10 ideas a day.

It’s a good practice for all kinds of reasons. Namely, it fires up our imagination, forces us to think creatively, and can be a first step towards unlocking our passion project.

A good producer however, knows that the idea is just one step. And that the quality of the idea doesn’t matter nearly as much as the consistent action and hustle one takes in service of that idea.

I once had coffee with a very successful real estate investor. I asked him how he went from bagging groceries to becoming a multi millionaire. He said he was tried of being poor so he went to his local bookstore, found a book on real estate investing, and followed the advice in the book. Exactly. To the letter.

I once listened to an Academy Award winning actress in a post-screening interview, discuss how she gave the incredible performance we all just witnessed. She said she just trusted the material and the director and did everything that he asked. That was it. Nothing profound.

Thousands upon thousands of “how-to” and personal development books are sold every year. I’ll bet most of them offer sound advice for whatever one wants to accomplish.

But first, consider how few people buy books. Then consider that less than 10 percent of those who buy books, read past the first two chapters. Let alone read the entire book. And of the few people who do read the book, how many actually take action and implement the advice that’s offered?

Information is a commodity.

Desire and a willingness to take action are not.

We can divide a calendar into four quarters. The first quarter ends on March 31st.. The second on June 30th. The third on September 30th. The fourth on December 31st.

Today is June 30th, the end of the second quarter. Tomorrow, July 1, marks the beginning of the third quarter.

Is there a goal or passion project you’ve been thinking about, but because you’re not sure if it’s the right one or how long it will take, you keep putting it off?

Try committing to it for only the next 90 days. Take the pressure off yourself. But commit to taking one action every single day towards that goal (e.g. write a page, read a play or scene, run a mile, etc…) until September 30th.

At the end of the third quarter, re-evaluate.

Was it enjoyable? Were there any days you wanted to do more work? Do you want to keep going? Great. Committ to it again for the fourth quarter.

If not, congratulate yourself. You just found out what you don’t want to do. That’s just as helpful as figuring out what you do want. (Maybe you discovered something else you might want to do instead. That can be your fourth quarter project.)

You also just demonstrated to yourself that you’re the kind of person who honors their commitments. Even when they don’t feel like doing it. That’s the definition of a professional.

Just imagine what you can accomplish and how much joy you’ll have when you find the thing you really love.

“What do you want?”

For many, this question can be paralyzing. We often don’t know or can’t put it into words.

Try asking a different question.

“How do you want to feel?”

Jot down your answers.

Throughout your day, pay attention to your feelings. What specific activities cause you to feel the way you want to?

Then, schedule enough time every day to do as many of those activities as possible.

This question also works great for us actors when breaking down a script. Instead of asking “What do I want from the other person?”, try asking “How do I want to make them feel?”

This might unlock all kinds of fun, interesting and unpredictable actions we can take.

“Nobody Cares. Work Harder.” -Jocko Willink

It’s fashionable today, especially in our social media age, for people to signal how hard they’re working. Athletes constantly post their workout videos (#thegrind). Entrepreneurs post pics of themselves staying late in the office (#thehustle). Actors loooove to talk about how much research they spent preparing for a role.

Here’s the thing. Nobody really cares. Nor should they.

The only thing we’re judged on is our performance. The art we manifested. The change we sought to make.

The amount of time it took to get there is utterly irrelevant.

Read a play. Read lots of plays. Read a play a day if you can. (Playwrights love when you read their plays.)

When you come across a part that one of your actor friends would be dynamite in, tell them about it. Immediately.

Even more generous…buy the play and send it to them. Write a little note like, “Just read this play and you’d absolutely crush this role. Enjoy!”

That act of generosity just might be the kindling that leads to an incredible production. And in turn, a deeply meaningful experience for that actor, the other artists involved and the audience who witness passion in action.

Always.

Be.

Producing.

Need some fire in your belly? Click HERE.