The Vs. Studio Blog

“Never shirk the proper dispatch of your duty, no matter if you are freezing or hot, groggy or well-rested, vilified or praised, not even if dying or pressed by other demands. Even dying is one of the important assignments of life and, in this as in all else, make the most of your resources to do well the duty at hand.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

When you were young
And your heart was an open book
You used to say, “Live and let live”
(You know you did
You know you did
You know you did)
But if this ever-changing world in which we’re livin’
Makes you give in and cry

Say live and let die
(Live and let die)
Live and let die
(Live and let die) -song, “Live And Let Die” by Wings

Do the right thing, do the right thing (do the right thing)
Do it all the time, do it all the time (do it all the time)
Make yourself right, never mind them (do it all the time)
Don’t you know you’re not the only one suffering

I hear a higher calling
Better here than there I guess
So long, so long -song, “Diversionary (Do The Right Thing) by Ages and Ages

“I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time.” -William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

My dad passed away about two years ago and not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. In addition to being my dad, he was my hero and my best friend.

For all the many lessons he taught me about how to live, perhaps the greatest lesson he ever taught me was how to die.

That no matter what, right up until the very end, you still have a choice. You can still do your duty. You can still maintain your dignity. You can still be good to others. You can still do the right thing.

My dad suffered tremendously for a very long time because of skin cancer. His last few years were especially rough as he was in constant pain. Nevertheless, he treated every doctor, nurse and caregiver with absolute grace and kindness. He took an interest in them, cracked jokes, gave out golf tips, exchanged recipes and always thanked them. (Even when they had to change his head dressing for a large open wound which caused him extreme agony.) I’ll never forget one caregiver who was also a Nun, stopped me outside as I was visiting him…She grabbed my hand, looked me in the eye and said, “You do know your father is a saint, right?”

Yes he was.

I miss you a ton dad. But I’m so grateful for all our time together.

Thank you for teaching me how to live.

And teaching me how to die.

You were the greatest of the greatest. Love you big guy.

For the actor…

Feel like you got nothing?

Start there. Be honest. Don’t deny it.

Bring that no-thing into the rehearsal room. Make it a part of your character.

If you can have the guts to do that rather than force what you think “it should be”, then before you know it, you’ll have something. Something surprising and magical and glorious and awesome.

P.S. – This advice applies to any art form. Writing, painting, making music, etc…Perhaps any pursuit, really.

Love life. The ups and the downs.

Love yourself and others. Flaws and all.

Love what you do. Independent of reward or external validation.

If you can love like this, then you are truly free.

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.” -Jeremy Bentham

“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” -Tony Robbins

“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

“Someone once asked Somerset Maughham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

“Skinner’s Law is a core tool in your fight against someday. Someday I’ll write that book. Someday I’ll start that business. Someday I’ll find that partner. Someday I’ll take that leap of faith…Stop saying someday. Someday is the enemy…Make someday today. Do the thing.” -Sahil Bloom

Once you learn the Region Beta Paradox, you then understand why we all tend to procrastinate.

The antidote to procrastination?

Try utilizing Skinner’s Law.

Which (per Sahil Bloom’s excellent post) states that:

To get yourself to do something, you need to either:

• Make the pain of not doing it greater than the pain of doing it, or
• Make the pleasure of doing it greater than the pleasure of not doing it

I encourage you to read Sahil’s full post. He details several ways you can hack your motivation. The key is trying out different tactics until you find the one that works best for you and your personality.

Remember, the Resistance is real. And it’s a motherf-cker. You need all the help you can to fight it.

”Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” -Albert Einstein

Einstein wasn’t only talking about money when he (supposedly) said the above quote.

Everything compounds. Relationships, health, learning, etc…according to the amount (force) and consistency (time) of effort you give it.

It’s hardest at the beginning though. When it feels like you’re making no progress.

You are.

You just started with a smaller base.

Keep going.

Don’t quit.

Otherwise, you’ll regret it. Or like Einstein advises in the second part of the quote…

“He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.”

“You have to become undeniably good at something. Nobody ever takes my advice, because it’s not the answer they wanted to hear…but I always say, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’ If you are just always thinking, ‘How can I be really good?’—people will come to you.” -Steve Martin

Stop looking for shortcuts.

Figure out what you love to do.

Strive to be the very best you can at it.

It might seem like the long way.

But it’s the right way.

And ultimately the most fulfilling way.

Take the long way home.

The playwright, director and audience all have this in common…

They can’t wait to watch actors say those lines.

Likewise, actors…

The main reason to do the play is you can’t wait to say those lines.

It’s true you can’t entirely judge the book (or the movie or the album or the play) by the cover (or the poster).

But it’s a helluva clue.

About the creator’s taste and attention to detail for the art you’re about to experience.

“Even if you’re not self-employed, your boss is you. You manage your career, your day, your responses. You manage how you sell your services and your education and the way you talk to yourself. Odds are, you’re doing it poorly…There are few good books on being a good manager. Fewer still on managing yourself. It’s hard to think of a more essential thing to learn.” -Seth Godin

You may think a great reason to become an entrepreneur is that you will no longer have a boss. No one telling you what to do and when to do it by.

You’re wrong.

You still have two bosses:

-You.

-Your client/customer.

You must work hard for and treat both with enormous respect.

Otherwise, you’ll end up firing yourself.

P.S. – This phenomenal post from Seth.

“You know, no one’s really that great. You know who’s great? The people that just put a tremendous amount of hours into it. It’s a game of tonnage—how many hours are you going to work? Per week? Per month? Per year?…[If I could do it over] What I really should have done is I should have had a giant flag behind me, and when I pulled a string, it would roll down, and on the flag, it would just say two words: Just work.” -Jerry Seinfeld

“The secret of happiness is not to do what you like to do, but to learn to like what you have to do.” -King George V

“Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running . . . therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it, if you don’t want to do that, don’t, but make a habit of something else instead. The same principle is at work in our state of mind. When you get angry, you’ve not only experienced that evil, but you’ve also reinforced a bad habit, adding fuel to the fire…If you don’t wish to be a hot-head, don’t feed your habit. Try as a first step to remain calm and count the days you haven’t been angry. I used to be angry every day, now every other day, then every third or fourth . . . if you make it as far as 30 days, thank God! For habit is first weakened and then obliterated. When you can say ‘I didn’t lose my temper today, or the next day, or for three or four months, but kept my cool under provocation,’ you will know you are in better health.” -Epictetus, Discourses

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -Bruce Lee

You’ve probably heard some variation of the old adage that the majority of success in life comes from just showing up.

(I would also add knowing your definition of success. Figuring out exactly what you want and why you want it, but that’s a different blog post.)

So, just show up.

Sound too easy?

Okay, give it a try.

Just show up.

And then keep showing up.

Every.

Single.

Day.

Especially when you don’t feel like showing up.

One week.

One month.

One year.

No missed days. (If you miss, just don’t miss again.)

Challenge accepted?

I look forward to hearing back.