The Vs. Studio Blog

“Make each day your masterpiece” -John Wooden

The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, learned this expression from his father, a farmer. It was listed on the “7-Point Creed” his dad handed him and his brothers when they graduated elementary school. Wooden credits it for much of his own drive and success in life.

Memento Mori constantly reminds us that today could be our last day. We shouldn’t fear that. Rather, it should energize and inspire us.

Today, let us ask ourselves…

How can we serve?

Who can we help?

What can we learn?

What art can we make?

How can it be our masterpiece?

Let that guide what we think, say and do.

And if we’re lucky enough to wake up tomorrow?…Be grateful.

We just got another chance to make another masterpiece.

Essayons is a French term which means “Let us try.” It’s also the motto of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

No matter what’s going on in the world and in our lives. No matter the uncertainty. No matter the odds. No matter if the art or change we seek to make will work.

No matter what.

There’s one thing we can always do.

We can try.

We can try to make things better.

Today and everyday going forward.

Essayons.

Let us try.

One of the main reasons we love John McClane in Die Hard is Bruce Willis’ portrayal. He imbues the character with humanity at every turn. McClane’s not a superhero. Not super human. Just a regular guy, with street smarts, who’s in an extraordinary situation. Who chooses to be brave in spite of remarkable odds and uncertainty.

One way this humanity evidences itself is McClane’s self talk when doing difficult things. Watch this scene as McClane ties a fire hose around his waist and jumps off the roof to escape an explosion.

Willis brilliantly and authentically voices the doubt inside. His self-talk, while filled with “what the f*ck are you doing, John?…” also has a spirit of rooting himself on. He’s getting himself to act. Pushing through the uncertainty.

Making art is hard. It’s crazy. There’s a million reasons why it won’t work. But we do it anyway. And when doing it, we must pay attention to our self talk. That voice in our head. Is it empowering? Does it move us forward? Get us to take action?

If not, change it. Watch Die Hard. Get a little John McClane in ya.

“If you’re not feeling those butterflies, you’re not taking a big enough risk.” -Ray Manzarek

Apologies, but I’m paraphrasing the above quote. A good friend and fellow actor told it to me when we worked together on a play. And he heard it from someone else. So there you go.

Doesn’t matter. The spirit of the quote is what counts. Which for me is…anytime you’re making art, by definition, you’re taking a risk. You’re doing something that might not work. You’ll be nervous. And scared. All the time.

That’s good. Keep going. Keep moving through it. You’re on the right track.

And if you’re not feeling those butterflies?….Then change course. Risk more. Dare to fail.

Because that’s where true growth happens. That’s where the gold is.

“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.” -Shakespeare

“Embrace The Suck.” -Military Slogan

When trying to do something great, accomplish a goal, make art, make change, we can one hundred percent assume adversity will hit us. And will hit us hard. It’s inevitable. We need to trust that the suck is coming.

But more importantly, we need to trust in our ability to overcome and thrive from the suck. We don’t panic. We don’t fight against it. We lean into it. We embrace it. Because we know and trust that the suck is what makes us stronger. That’s the Stoic principle of Amor Fati. The obstacle to the way becomes the way.

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” -Tim Ferris.

Once we embark on our passion project, it won’t be comfortable. We have to sacrifice, make hard decisions, “steal time from comfort” as Derek Sivers writes.

And while on the journey, there will be lots of doubts and uncertainties, lots of uncomfortable moments. It often won’t feel great. We’ll get annoyed and want to fight back against the discomfort.

But if we can hold on, sit with the discomfort, there’s a ton of satisfaction waiting for us on the other side. The satisfaction that comes from knowing we intentionally chose to do something hard, something generous, something we had no idea would work. For no other reason than we were called to it.

We were willing to be uncomfortable for as long as it took to finish the job. To make our art.

There’s no more comfortable feeling than that.

Congratulations. It means you’re breathing. You’re ALIVE!!!

You have the basic necessities (food, water and shelter) plus some level of comfort.

You have an internet connection and some sort of device.

You have everything you need and more.

Get to it.

Go make your art.

In addition to focus, another vital reason to know your One Thing is that no matter how bad the day went, no matter how many distractions and unexpected obstacles came up, at least you worked on something–even if only for a couple of minutes–that you deemed important. Nothing, nobody could stop you from your one thing. That’s powerful.

Then at night, before you go to sleep, before the demons of self doubt and negativity creep up, say to yourself, “Well, at least I did that.”

Be proud and rest easy. Tomorrow’s a new day.

Nor should they.

That’s your job.  To decide what you’re passionate about, what’s vitally important to you.  So much so, you had to create and share it with others.

Stop looking for affirmation on your idea.  Just do it.

Go make your art.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” -Ghandi

James Clear argues in his terrific book “Atomic Habits”, that when setting goals, we should focus on identity. Not outcomes. Rather than asking the question, “What do I want?”, we should ask “What kind of person do I want to be?”

Take health, for example. Instead of setting a goal to lose a specific number of pounds or look a certain way, we should focus on becoming a healthy person. Someone who eats moderately, exercises regularly and prioritizes their physical and metal health.

Old habits are based on our old identity. Create a new identity, he argues, and we’ll create habits that support this new identity. Consistently doing small or atomic habits over time leads to lasting change. (Read more about this in Mr. Clear’s blog post HERE.)

In the book, he provides a fascinating, real-world example of a person who loses a lot of weight and more importantly, stays healthy after the weight loss. The person focuses entirely on identity. Not outcome. His process is extraordinary…The first two weeks, all he does is wake up early, get dressed and drive to the gym. He doesn’t work out. Just shows up and leaves. After two weeks, he does the same thing, but then adds five minutes of exercise. Every two weeks, he increases the amount. And so on and so on. He’s consistently proving and supporting his new identity.

In deciding to make a change or create art, we might be better served by first asking ourselves “What kind of person do we want to be?” That will inform our choice and our process. In doing so, we’ll increase our chance of making lasting change and real impact.