The Vs. Studio Blog

“The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.” -Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

A useful exercise to think about and perhaps do…

If you were going to give a Ted Talk and you had no more than 20 minutes (maybe it’s only 15, 10, 5) to deliver it, what would you say?

Start with this question: “What advice would you give to your younger self?”

Then…

Write (fast and furious).

Edit (compress it down, ala George Saunders, to fit within the time constraints).

Record (into your voice memo app or if you’re really feeling brave, into your phone camera).

Review (listen/watch your recording).

Remind (yourself; it’s not too late to follow your own advice).

Share (your recording; with a young person).

In doing so, you might just change someone’s life. Including your own.

“If the thought of lack–whether it be money, recognition or love–has become part of who you think you are, you will always experience lack. Rather than acknowledge the good that is already in your life, alll you see is lack. Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance. The fact is: Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world. You are withholding it because deep down you think you are small and that you have nothing to give.

Try this for a couple of weeks and see how it changes your reality: Whatever you think people are withholding from you–praise appreciation, assistance, loving care and so on give it to them. You don’t have it? Just act as if you had it, and it will come. Then, soon after you start giving, you will start receiving. You cannot receive what you don’t give. Outflow determines inflow. -Eckhart Tolle

“It is in giving that we receive.” -Saint Francis Of Assisi

“When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” -Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Don’t give to get.

Give from abundance. Give because you know you already have so much. And just want to share it with others.

You have nothing lacking.

Open yourself to the mysterious and infinite loop of grace.

P.S. – H/t to my friend Joe for the Eckhart Tolle quote and inspiring this post.

“It’s easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time…Justification for infidelity and dishonesty in all their manifestations lies in the marginal cost economics of “just this once.” -Clayton M. Christensen, book How Will You Measure Your Life

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” -Warren Buffett

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” -John Wooden

Many a life gets ruined by violating one’s principles “just this once.”

Know your principles. Stick to them. Especially when it costs you something in the short run to do so.

Not only will you save yourself a lot of decision fatigue, but when all is said and done, you’ll hold your head high, you’ll be glad you did.

A quick story about legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden to bring it home…

UCLA was Wooden’s second choice for a coaching position in 1948. He had also been pursued by Minnesota, and it was his and his wife’s desire to remain in the Midwest.

Inclement weather in Minnesota prevented Wooden from receiving the scheduled phone offer from the Golden Gophers. Thinking they had lost interest, Wooden accepted UCLA’s offer instead.

Minnesota contacted Wooden right after he accepted the position at UCLA, but he declined because he had given his word to the Bruins.

Wooden would go on to win ten championships at UCLA. Including seven in a row.

“What does it take to realize you’re good at something?

We hope we’re good…but when the crowd doesn’t cheer loud enough we begin to wonder.

We think we’re good…but then we get envious of the person doing a similar thing.

We start to believe we’re good…but we don’t get the right pats on the back from the right people.

We look for something we’re good at…but if we might be good at it, then it must be something everyone is good at, so it’s not worth very much.

So what’s it going to take?” -Gabe Anderson

The good news is no one has to see your finished product until you decide it’s ready.

But the key word in the sentence is “you.”

Make sure the reason you’re not shipping your work is you.

You still think it can be better.

Not what you think other people will think of it.

If you decide it’s a finished product, then it’s a finished product. The audience’s reaction is not relevant to your decision to ship.

For inspiration, watch this 2002 clip of The Killers now anthemic, mega-hit, record breaking song “Mr. Brightside.” (Notice the crowd barely paying attention and the smattering of polite applause at the end.)

“Many people are trying to take beauty out of the world. Artists keep trying to put it back in.” -Gareth Williams

“Beauty will save the world.” -Dostoevsky

“There is, however, a certain peculiarity in the essence of beauty, a peculiarity in the status of art: namely, the convincingness of a true work of art is completely irrefutable and it forces even an opposing heart to surrender…Those works of art which have scooped up the truth and presented it to us as a living force – they take hold of us, compel us, and nobody ever, not even in ages to come, will appear to refute them.

So perhaps that ancient trinity of Truth, Goodness and Beauty is not simply an empty, faded formula as we thought in the days of our self-confident, materialistic youth? If the tops of these three trees converge, as the scholars maintained, but the too blatant, too direct stems of Truth and Goodness are crushed, cut down, not allowed through – then perhaps the fantastic, unpredictable, unexpected stems of Beauty will push through and soar TO THAT VERY SAME PLACE, and in so doing will fulfill the work of all three.” -excerpt from Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s 1970 Nobel Prize acceptance speech

Looking for your life’s purpose?

Put beauty, joy and love back in the world everywhere you can.

There is no greater purpose or higher calling than this.

“Freddie, love, why does anyone do anything? […] The wellsprings of human action are deep and cloudy.” -Lloyd to Frederick in the play Noises Off by Michael Frayn

“When all around it strife and uncertainty, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned plate of…(holding up plates of sardines) Curtain!” -Selsdon in Noises Off

Tears of joy and laughter.

That’s what myself and everyone in our Vs. Theatre Club outing shed last week during the Geffen’s Production of Michael Frayn’s hysterical play, NOISES OFF.

Yes, I had tears from laughing at all the brilliant comedic moments. But also, I had tears from sharing communal space and feeling everyone else’s joy. It was infectious.

The production is magnificent. The direction is flawless and the actors are at the top of their comedic game. It’s an antidote for these difficult times. Go see it. You’ll be glad you did.

Seeing the play and talking with people afterwards reminded me that sometimes the greatest gift an artist or theatre can do is to just bring people together and give them a respite from their troubles. It’s a remarkable gift and opportunity. Never underestimate or take for granted, its power.

“One of the things I always thought was the secret of The Beatles was that our music was self-taught. We were never consciously thinking of what we were doing. Anything we did came naturally. A breathtaking chord change wouldn’t happen because we knew how that chord related to another chord. We weren’t able to read music or write it down, so we just made it up. My dad was exactly the same. And there’s a certain joy that comes into your stuff if you didn’t mean it, if you didn’t try to make it happen and it happens of its own accord. There’s a certain magic about that. So much of what we did came from a deep sense of wonder rather than study. We didn’t really study music at all.” -Paul McCartney, The Lyrics

“But the risk is worth it. Because the half-baked work, shared in a trusting environment, is the fuel for the system that created the works of genius.” -Seth Godin

“You were only waiting for this moment to be free.” song, Blackbird by The Beatles

Most times you shouldn’t serve the pie until it’s fully baked.

But sometimes, especially in collaborative mediums, you should serve it up half- baked. Give the team a taste. Get them excited.

And who knows? Maybe your half-baked version is actually fully baked and ready to go.

This Seth blog post.

Feel scared…and do it anyway.

Feel shy…and do it anyway.

Feel inadequate…and do it anyway.

Feel imperfect…and do it anyway.

Feel tired…and do it anyway.

Feel fraudulent…and do it anyway.

Feel intimidated..and do it anyway

Feel rushed…and do it anyway.

Feel hungry…and do it anyway.

Feel lazy…and do it anyway.

Feel sucky…and do it anyway.

Shrink the gap between feeling and doing.

Do so, consistently, over a long enough period of time, and you can accomplish just about any goal.

P.S. – This song. These lyrics. Revisit often.

“At every moment keep a sturdy mind on the task at hand, as a Roman and human being, doing it with strict and simple dignity, affection, freedom, and justice—giving yourself a break from all other considerations. You can do this if you approach each task as if it is your last, giving up every distraction, emotional subversion of reason, and all drama, vanity, and complaint over your fair share. You can see how mastery over a few things makes it possible to live an abundant and devout life—for, if you keep watch over these things, the gods won’t ask for more.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Attention is the most basic form of love. By paying attention we let ourselves be touched by life, and our hearts naturally become more open and engaged.” -Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With The Heart Of A Buddha

“Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love. Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” -Simone Weil

You don’t need faith or religion to experience sacred moments.

You just need to pay full attention to each one as they happen.

For that’s what makes the moment sacred.

“Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.” -C.S. Lewis

“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” -Thomas à Kempis

“Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you’ve never been hurt and live like it’s heaven on Earth.” – Mark Twain

Make your art as if no one is watching.

Make your actions as if everyone is.