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Do you think that might have something to do with my bleeding peptic ulcer?
According to an article published in the most prestigious peer reviewed medical journal in the world, there’s a phenomenon called the doorknob moment. It’s where a patient waits until the very end of the visit to reveal critical information, right as the doctor is heading out the door. Oh, by the way, the patient says, I’ve been working a lot of fourteen hour days this summer. Do you think that might have…
People are at their most when they’re least aware
Watch individuals closely, and it’s always those rare, unguarded moments when they shake off the chronic constraints of the conscious mind, attain an inner posture of detachment and completely surrender all sense of self. That’s where the real magic happens. Scientifically, it’s a variation of the observer effect, which states that the act of observation has an effect on the phenomenon being observed. In this case, it’s the act of unawareness,…
Give me the gift of desperation
One of my favorite filmmakers said the advantage of low budget movies is that they put a wall in front of you, and only creativity will allow you to figure out how to get around it. It’s the law of constraints. The fewer resources you have, the more you are forced to think laterally. In fact, every time life gives me the gift of desperation, I’m secretly grateful. Because…
The problem with mastery is, there’s no room left for mystery
There’s more to life than being the best in the world. Our culture officially has a mastery fetish. We’re become completely addicted to the pursuit of greatness and creative genius and becoming world class at anything in six months and reaching the upper echelons of power in all that we do. Which does wonders for the ego and looks attractive on a resume, but the only problem with mastery…
Nowhere to be and all the time in the world to get there
When an person is highly adept at prioritizing and focusing and setting boundaries and compressing time and insulating against distractions and doing only the work matters, they can become incredibly prolific. But they also can become a victim of their own efficiency. Because if they clear their desk too quickly, they become underwhelmed and restless. If they create an overabundance of time and energy and inventory, there won’t be…
Create abundance where there appears to be scarcity
Anger is based on the false belief that things are finite. That the more other people have of something, whether it’s inspiration or money or attention or success or adulation, the less there is available for us. But that’s just the grip of competition and scarcity squeezing our hearts. It’s like the newly rescued dog who thinks he’s competing with other pets in the house at mealtime. And so,…
I’ve had integrity every day of my life, and it hasn’t made me a dime
Integrity is overrated. None of us can fully live according to all of our beliefs, every moment of every day. Human beings are fundamentally flawed and inconsistent. And so, berating ourselves for lesser behaviors like judging and obsessing and quitting and settling isn’t helpful. Nor is hating ourselves for being caught in an identity that’s less than who we are. Just because we spend an afternoon applying for low…
Decide which of the mainstream hoops aren’t worth jumping through
The advantage of hiring yourself is, you learn very quickly which corners are worth cutting. You see how much of the work is actually necessary, versus how much the work is just the traditional way of doing things. When I produced my first documentary, I felt completely overwhelmed by tasks like holding screenings and securing distribution and submitting my movie to film festivals. But then I spoke with a colleague…
The intersection of wow and how
There’s nothing more underrated than overwhelming people. If you have the ability to compete on the rare combination of volume and velocity, it can be brilliant strategy for making a name for yourself. Because nobody sees it coming. It’s a pattern violation. And the only human response is awe. The eleventh emotion. Which, as we showed in my concert documentary, exists at the intersection of wow and how. Wow, meaning you’re in the…
A safe place where ideas can rest until their time has come
Everything I know is written down somewhere. Everything. This rule is central to my creative process, because I know that if I don’t write down my thoughts, they will distract me. It’s how the circus inside my head works. Without some kind of structured offloading process, my racing brain can’t quiet itself. And so, the standing goal is to provide my thoughts with a some kind of external parking…
