The Vs. Studio Blog

“Letting it happen is not making it happen. It is not trying hard.”
― W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

“Source makes available. The filter distills. The vessel receives. And often this happens beyond our control.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

Every useful training method, system, trick, process, exercise, prompt, etc…boils down to this:

How do I bypass the conscious (or ego) mind and allow the subconscious to take over?

Whatever works. (Maybe it’s meditation or doing the Artist Way morning pages or primal screaming or Tibetan dream yoga or going for a run or doing nothing at all.) Whatever allows you to access that subconscious state and stay in it for as long as possible. Use it.

Let it happen.

The Subconscious is the Way to great and lasting art. The only Way.

Trying to control the future
is like trying to take the master carpenter’s place.
When you handle the master carpenter’s tools,
chances are that you’ll cut your hand. –Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell Translation)

“I never looked back, although I had many uneasy periods looking forward.” -Raymond Chandler

“There is nothing so certain in our fears that’s not yet more certain in the fact that most of what we dread comes to nothing.” -Seneca

“A poor farmer’s horse ran off into the country of the barbarians. All his neighbors offered their condolences, but his father said, “How do you know that this isn’t good fortune?” After a few months the horse returned with a barbarian horse of excellent stock. All his neighbors offered their congratulations, but his father said, “How do you know this isn’t a disaster?”. The two horses bred, and the family became rich in fine horses. The farmer’s son spent much of his time riding them; one day he fell off and broke his hipbone. All his neighbors offered the farmer their condolences, but his father said, “How do you know that this isn’t good fortune?” Another year passed, and the barbarians invaded the frontier. All the able-bodied young men were conscripted, and nine-tenths of them died in the war. Thus good fortune can be disaster and vice versa. Who can tell how events will be transformed?” -story from The Huai Nan Tzu

When you get rejected or are going through difficult times, it’s pointless to ask why this happened or what this means or what the future will be.

Also, perhaps your timing and judgment is off. What seems awful right now might be the best thing that could’ve ever happened.

Double down on your belief in self and the art you’re trying to do. Make Trust and Surrender your two greatest allies. Head down. Keep going.

Yelena: I’m dying of boredom. Is there nothing to do?

Sofya: There’s no lack of things to do. If you wished to do them?

Yelena: Tell me one.

Sofya: Teach. Treat the sick. Care for the Estate.

Yelena: …mmm…hmm…

Sofya: Much to do. (Pause.) When you and Papa weren’t here. Uncle and I would go to the market and sell flour.

Yelena: I wouldn’t know how. And, besides, it doesn’t interest me. In ideological novels people jump up and declare they’re going to Teach, or treat the sick. But how should I do that? Just, suddenly…just…

Sofya: If you did it, you’d be drawn to it. Oh, yes, my darling. -excerpt from the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (David Mamet adaptation)

If you get a strong instinct for something you might want to do or try…before spending time thinking about it or imagining how it might make you feel, and then most likely talking yourself out of it…DO it. Give it a little bit of time (like a 40 day challenge, hint, hint). Then EVALUATE it. Otherwise, you haven’t given it or yourself a fair shot.

Who doesn’t like a good challenge? Especially one that’s specific and time bound. In the spirit of Lent which begins today, as well as my recent post about The 100 Hour Rule, I thought I’d propose a 40 day challenge. Here it is…

Pick a goal or habit or project, anything you’ve been thinking about doing, and for the next 40 days, do the following:

-Take daily, consistent action towards it. Even if it’s only 5 minutes on certain days because of scheduling, do it every day. If all hell breaks loose and you miss a day, don’t be hard on yourself. Just make sure to get back on the horse the next day. As James Clear advises in his excellent book Atomic Habits, whatever you have to do, by any means necessary, do not miss two days in a row.

-Visualize yourself accomplishing said goal, and more importantly, enjoying the process.

–Pay attention to your feelings. At the end of each day, write down a few thoughts about how working on the goal made you feel. Good and bad. if you’re hating it, keep going. It’s only 40 days. See if that initial negative feeling ever turns positive. (Is it a “this too shall pass” feeling?)

That’s it. That’s the challenge. 

At the end of the 40 days, decide if you want to keep going. If you’re digging it, can you make it 60 days? Or how about 90 days and turn it into a “quarter commitment”? Do I hear 120 days? How about 6 months? Ohmigoodness…a full year? Wowza.

Or just as likely, you get to the end of the 40 days and you’re done. It wasn’t what you thought it would be, and you’d like to try something else. Cool. No matter what, you can feel really good about yourself. (a) You practiced the discipline of commitment. For 40 days, which is a lot. (b) You experimented. You took something you were merely thinking about and activated it. Now you can properly evaluate it. (c) You learned a lot. Depending on how much time you spent on this goal or project, you might be really close or even have fulfilled your 100 hours. Now your top 5 percent!

Alright. Good luck. I’m rooting for you!

P.S. – If you accept this challenge, feel free to email me what your 40 day goal is. I’ll be your best accountability partner.

P.P.S. – This excellent HBR article on “timeboxing”. Ranked as the single greatest productivity hack. (H/t to my friend Chris for sending.)

“Put your heart aside. Duty comes first. But when fulfilling your duty, put your heart into it. It helps.” -Saint Josemaría Escrivá

“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

“Good people will do what they find honorable to do, even if it requires hard work; they’ll do it even if it causes them injury; they’ll do it even if it will bring danger. Again, they won’t do what they find base, even if it brings wealth, pleasure, or power. Nothing will deter them from what is honorable, and nothing will lure them into what is base.” -Seneca, Moral Letters

“Character–the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life–is the source from which self-respect springs.” -Joan Didion

“On those mornings you struggle with getting up, keep this thought in mind—I am awakening to the work of a human being. Why then am I annoyed that I am going to do what I’m made for, the very things for which I was put into this world? Or was I made for this, to snuggle under the covers and keep warm? It’s so pleasurable. Were you then made for pleasure? In short, to be coddled or to exert yourself?” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Do your job.” -Bill Belichick

Very often the only reason to do something is because you said you would do it. It’s your job, your responsibility, your duty.

Let that be all the motivation you need.

“Above all else, the mentat must be a generalist, not a specialist. It is wise to have decisions of great moment monitored by generalists. Experts and specialists lead you quickly into chaos.” -Frank Herbert, Dune

You’re probably familiar with the 10,000 hour rule as popularized by Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers. Roughly stated, the rule is this:

To achieve mastery in something, it takes 10,000 hours of practice. 

(Side note: Gladwell got this number from Anders Ericsson’s research. He thinks Gladwell may have misinterpreted the research and also, it specifically should be deliberate practice, not just practice. But that’s another story.)

Unless you’re young and know exactly what you want to do, the thought of putting in 10,000 hours towards something right now, at this stage in your life, with all your responsibilities, might be a buzz kill. 

But wait, I’ve good news! Very good news!!

There’s another rule, a lesser known rule, called the 100 hour rule. Ready for it? It states:

If you spend 100 hours a year–which is 18 minutes a day–in any discipline, you’ll be better than 95% of the world, in that discipline.

100 hours = Top 5 percent?…What?!…Okay, now you’re talking.

Hopefully the 100 hour rule inspires you to take action on any new skill you’d like to acquire, or foreign language you’d like to speak, or anything you’re curious about. Don’t let time be the excuse for why you don’t get really, really good at something. Or a bunch of somethings. 

Depending on how much time you invest, in a few years, you too can be Jason Bourne.

P.S. – This blog post on why it’s a good thing to be a jack of all trades.

Research shows that just talking our issues and problems out loud is incredibly helpful. This is one reason why therapy exists.

It can also be helpful in those times we find ourselves struggling to make our art. A personal anecdote…

I was struggling early in a rehearsal process. It was a very hard part and play. After doing the scene, the director asked me my thoughts on the character. Having done tons of work months prior to rehearsal, I unleashed a torrent of thoughts, ideas, images, etc…After I was done with this “monologue”, the director looked at me and said, “Yeah. Spot on. You clearly know this character and have a firm grasp on him…Now, where’s that in the scene?”

I immediately relaxed and felt the tension leave my body. I didn’t know it at the time, but looking back on it now, that director’s listening and affirmation was all I needed.

We did the scene again and I felt really good, really connected, and out of my head. In flow.

When we finished the director smiled and said, “Great job. Moving on.”

“Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.” -Marie Forleo

“We are repeatedly what we do. Excellence is a habit, not an act.” -Aristotle

“The greatest threat to success is inconsistency.” -Shane Parrish

“A simple filter for managing your time: You’re not focused enough unless you’re mourning some of the things you’re saying no to.” -James Clear

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” -Steve Jobs

In a world of shiny new objects bombarding us every second of every day, focus, saying “No” and consistency of effort are the new superpowers.

Cultivate them. Guard them within an inch of your life. 

Don’t let squirrels keep you from the important work you’re trying to do.

In a collaborative medium like film or theatre, the producer needs to get everyone to care deeply about the final result. And when you’re working in small theatre or independent film, you’re asking people to work for lower pay and on lower budgets. So, how do you get them to care?

First, you must have empathy. Remember, everyone’s busy, everyone’s got problems, everyone’s got a lot on their plate. Your priorities are not their priorities.

Second, start and lead with passion. If you’re not making this art because you absolutely love it, then why are you doing it? And why would you expect anyone else to care? You as the producer first, must be all-in.

Third, communicate to everyone, early and often, your passion and love for this project. How it came to be. Everyone loves a good origin story. Your enthusiasm will be infectious! (Including for the audience you want to come see it.)

Fourth, demonstrate your love with your actions. Be the hardest working person around. Have no ego. Over communicate. Strive for excellence and generosity at all times. Design a work plan and set realistic deadlines. Give your artists creative freedom. If someone makes a mistake (including you), then be understanding yet also constructive.

Lastly, choose well from the get go. Find people with similar work ethics and generous spirits. Who are also in it because they love it. This might mean taking much longer to search for and cast your actors, designers and stage crew. But that extra time is worth it.

You can’t make anyone care. 

But YOU, producer, must care deeply. 

And because you care every step of the way, they will care too.

SONYA: Mikhail Lvovich. I’m…I’m just curious about something. If I had a friend, or a, or a…younger sister, and you found out she…let’s say that she…that she loves you. Loved you. How would you react?

ASTROV: I don’t know. I guess I would try to help her understand that I couldn’t love her back…and I’d tell her I’m not interested in that kind of thing anymore. –Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (Annie Baker adaptation) 

“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” -Arthur Rubinstein

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” song “The End” by The Beatles

Perhaps all human desires can be summed up in these two:

(1) The desire to love.

(2) The desire to be loved.

When either or both of these desires are missing, we seek fulfillment in other ways (e.g. buying stuff), which never satisfy, and so trouble ensues. 

(Side note for the actor: If you’re struggling to find a super objective for your character, you can’t go wrong with picking one of the above two.)

We can’t control being loved. (Though Christianity and some other religions teach that God does love us, no matter what.)

But we can control giving love. And as Paul McCartney, John Of The Cross, The Buddha and many others have advised over the years…When you give love, you’ll find love.

So, go love.