Podcast appearances and mentions of ian o neill

EPISODE 46 – MAILBAG SHOW 1 “Fake Friends and Overwhelm” Intro During the last few weeks, you will have heard my special six-part series within the series based on Napoleon Hill’s awesome book, the Law of Success in 16 Lessons. I have been waiting with bated breath to see how it went down and from the positive vibes it’s been getting on social media all seems to be well. It was a very serious undertaking which nearly dragged me under but once I had started it I realised that I couldn’t back down or deliver it to you half-@ssed. I hope you’ve all found it helpful. If you’ve not checked it out yet then please go back to episode 40 to listen to all 6 episodes in order. It’s over 3 hours of content which outlines A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS which is accessible to all. Please tell people about it and get them listening too. I plan to take the 6 episodes and make a FREE Udemy course with them for show promotion reasons so I’ll let you know when I get that together too. Today I am answering various questions which you have been sending in, and I’ll get on to that in a minute - but first I must tell you how I managed to make myself a productivity nightmare out of this episode before I even started – and how you can avoid it if you ever have to do something similar. The problem was that I asked people to get in touch with questions for the show but I was very broad on HOW TO DO IT. I created a rod for my own back as I have had questions in via Facebook, Twitter, the official website contact form, the official website’s speak pipe app, via WhatApp, my personal email address and the show one, Instagram messenger and verbally. Pulling these together was nightmarish. For at least some of the questions I was able to forward them to the official email address as they came in but as I didn’t do it for all when I got really busy and had to focus on the fight work at hand. As a result - I have really struggled to find all of the messages that have come in but I have done my best, For all future mailbag shows I will ask that messages be sent to the shows official email account which for the record is filmproproductivity@gmail.com with the word MAILBAG placed in the Subject line. Further to that, I would request that questions come in which only have up to 50 words in them. If you ever plan to ask folks for questions, whether you run a podcast, or if it’s just a social media post or something, I urge you to do the same. Now as I have been working on this I have decided to split this episode over two shows. Although I didn’t have a particularly vast number of questions - the ones you did hit me with were really quite complex to answer. Part 2 of this episode will be released as an inbetweenisode in January. Without further ado though, let's go on. Questions “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” ― Mark Twain Unquote Ok so this first question, I’ve been struggling to cut down in length, but I’ve done my best – It’s from RHEA who is a screenwriter and producer in LIVERPOOL, UK. She says: I made a film with someone that I thought was my friend but too late realised that they were very controlling and just liked to be the centre of attention. My initial frustration was that they would say they had done things only for me to later discover when we were running out of time to get things done, that they hadn’t. I’d then have to do it myself, and they’d turn around and say ‘That was my job, you are just trying to take everything away from me!’ This happened time and again with important and imminent production level matters that the project would come to a standstill without. They’d put in the minimal effort like make one phone call and when they draw a blank, they’d just give up. One time I very luckily saw the very thing we urgently needed, an action vehicle; so-called the company there and then and got it. When I went to a production meeting with this person and the director, they seemed happy that I’d got what we were looking for, but as soon as I was home I got lots of long nasty messages because they hadn’t been the one to get what we needed, even though they had previously admitted to giving up on it. More often, they would openly criticise me IN FRONT of others. Once, in a room full of people they made a personal comment about me that silenced the room. Fortunately, those people then defended me. The last straw for me was listening to them talk badly about someone else as they did with many people. I stopped working with them after that and they became nasty. They’d tell lies and makeup stories to make me look bad and make them look better and they would always play the victim, although I’ve since found out that’s something they’ve always done. Their messages became abusive and threatening. I blocked every way they had of contacting me, but I know that any chance they’d get they’d try to make me look bad and gossip about me, even though I have never talked about them. I have discovered since, that a lot of people already knew what they were like but didn’t tell me because we were “friends” and even admitted that they had avoided working with me because of them. I know most people are grown up enough to listen to both sides of a story and get to know people before accepting what someone says about them, but it seems to be those few small-minded, not very smart people that believe a one-sided story, that stay in your head. If you’re friends with someone and put time, effort and in some cases money into projects with them to only too late discover that they’re not your friend – How do you get over and move on from it? …and not let the lies and gossip affect you? Better a good enemy than a bad friend. Plato UNQUOTE Okay, Rhea, there’s a lot going here and I’ve done my best to streamline your questions, I hope without losing too much of the content. Let me deal with your last question first - How do you not let lies and gossip affect you? "Zig" Ziglar was an incredibly successful American author, salesman, and motivational speaker who passed away in 2012. I quote from him often in my quotes of the day on social media as he gets right to the point of many of the problems that I have faced myself, and I trust his instincts and teachings. He said that we should “Live in such a way that if someone should talk badly of you, no one would believe it.” (repeat) You are not alone in having faced this sort of thing - I’ve faced it myself now and again as have many others. It used to cause me more concern than it does now, but I also understand how it can eat away at you, and burn up your mental energy and cause you upset and distress. Zig Ziglar’s statement should give you the assurance that if this person is as you describe them, that the people who matter and whose opinion you actually care about have already very likely sussed them out. Or if they haven’t, they will soon enough. I think your point that others didn’t want to work with you because of them backs this up. Remember too the words of Eleanor Roosevelt who once said: "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." In a quote attributed to David Foster Wallace, although I did have to go into the quote investigator website to verify that as my Google search attributed it to someones Facebook page in 2012 which is ridiculous- Wallace said: You’ll worry less about what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do. I was looking up who said, “What other people think of you is none of your business” when I found that one – but I never did find the answer. I’ll sum up on this though by also stating that what someone else thinks about you really does not matter. The only thing that matters is what you think about yourself. Do not give those who don’t even know you the power to determine your happiness. Take control of that – as you unhook yourself from other people’s validation, you become truly powerful. An article by medium.com gives this advice You cannot read minds, so stop acting like you can. We all have a kind of negativity bias so we usually assume negative things. How many times have you found yourself thinking “Oh they all love my dress”? Never. Our brains just aren’t wired that way and as a result, you are probably making the wrong assumptions. Your own thoughts are the only thing you can control. Marcus Aurelius said: “The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts” so you need to intelligently take control of them and not let them be hijacked by others. I know it’s not always easy, but you can do this. When you are preoccupied with what other people think, you are not in control of your own thoughts. A focused mind is one of the most powerful things on earth, We are all living in the future, living in the past or trying to live in someone else’s mind. If you are worried about what other people think, you will never really focus on what you want in life. If you spend your limited mental energy worrying about other people you won’t have anything left to focus on what really makes you happy. Rhea’s first question was How do you get over and move on from a negative experience like what she went through with her once friend? I’ve had very similar experiences to what you describe, and I doubt it’s limited just to creative work. I think we all face similar problems when interacting with others in life and work. William Blake wrote It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. UNQUOTE I heard a new word today whilst watching a YouTube video – The word was POUTRAGE. POUT-RAGE. That’s someone showing an expression of petulant annoyance and attacking you when they are revealed to be divisive, lazy or deceiving in some way. When you took over from that person and solved the problems which they had created, you showed them up to be one or all of the above. From the sounds of things, all of the above would be pretty accurate. I’ve faced it myself, and I talked about it in an earlier show, I can’t recall where. I found someone with their hand in the proverbial till, and they created a smokescreen of POUTRAGE to cover up the fact that they were caught out. Pout-ragers don’t immediately back down because they can’t – they are too committed to their fake outrage - but they do eventually lose steam. In the face of facts, they get very loud and angry but it’s all smoke and mirrors. A good demonstrative example of this was that I once caught someone trying to scam me on my car’s dashcam. I pulled in behind a parked car and went into a shop. When I came out they had backed into me. They raged at me and ranted about how I had driven in and hit them and I simply said, I have a dashcam mate. They raged and raged and raged about it before buggering off. I posted that video on youtube to warn others. That video 100% proved they had lied and tried to scam me. Those without evidence to back up their actions eventually lose steam because they don’t want to highlight the fact that they are wrong or have lied. I’d say that your negative experiences on this film mirror many other filmmakers journey. My friend Bryan warned me of certain problems he’d faced on his first feature, and I, in turn, had many mirrors to his problems on my own so I think you can take heart in that you are not alone in your experiences. The biggest frustration I personally experienced is similar to your own - that “some people” - perhaps even professionals you have to work with – seemingly believe the words of the person who has been poutraging. I eventually let this go as those people that are unwilling to do a minimal investigation into claims, who accept what an enemy says about me or who despite overwhelming evidence still side with the poutrager, are not people I want to be connected. They who will soon learn the hard way that they have aligned with someone who is bringing them down. I shouldn’t say it but I smile quietly to myself now when I think of the foolish people who have not yet realised their error. You don't lose when you lose fake friends. Joan Jett UNQUOTE I’ve kinda covered getting rid of fake or bad friends in my episodes about toxic relationships etc so to finally answer your question directly, as I have wondered a little, I move on from bad or negative experiences by adapting and learning from them. I realise that’s another one of those productivity statements that sounds simple but is harder to put into action than it first appears btw. For that reason, I’ll go a bit further. To move on you must: 1/ Learn from the past but don’t dwell there. No matter how painful they are, take some time to reflect on your experiences and realise that they will actually benefit you down the road. I never made a second feature (at least not yet) but the bad experiences I faced on my first, and it’s still causing me strife btw, almost make me want to make a second one because I feel like the bad experiences taught me so much. Instead of doing a second feature though, I make this podcast to ensure that the experiences at least benefit others. 2/ Next, Get the pain you’re feeling off your chest. Venting to a friend or writing it down like you did here for this episode will have helped you. Expressing your feelings will help sort out what, if anything, needs to be done to move on. 3/ Try and avoid taking on the role of the victim. It’s too easy and sometimes it feels good, but the problem is, blaming others prevents you from going forward and removes your ability to take control. It’s a form of auto-suggestion that if you are not careful, might permanently make you the victim, and forever take away your control. 4/ Another effective way to let go of the past is to embrace the present. Keep yourself active and enjoy the current moment. Learn a new skill. Meditate. Exercise. Whatever it is, just live in the moment. Look back to episode 22 on Rumination to find other ways to break that cycle. It will in effect freeze up your ability to move on. 5/ Before moving on again you might want to Disconnect. Take some time away so that you can clear your head. Remove yourself from the situation by distancing yourself from the people, places and things that remind you of it. When you return to start a new project, you’ll have a perspective on the past. 6/ Another thing to do before returning to this and possibly making the same mistake again, is to take inventory of the people around you. Who is negative and always bringing you down? Who are the people associated with the past that you’re trying to move away from? You may need to move away from these people to find more positive people who will empower you. I often refer to Jim Rohn who said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. This relates to the law of averages, which is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes. If you have even one lazy person, one negative person or one divisive or toxic person in that group it will greatly affect your ability to move on as you will always be carrying, covering for or being frustrated by them. This, in turn, will ensure that you cannot ever bring all your focus to bear on the matter at hand. Look back to episode 40 to find out about THE MASTER MIND which is effectively what you need to create if you want to move forward with others. 7/ The final piece of advice I’d give is, as much as it rubs me the wrong way in principle, all the advice that I can see out there says that If you’ve been hurt by someone you need to forgive them. Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “Forgiving others is essential for spiritual growth.” He presents 15 steps to help you forgive someone, which include things like embracing the past while moving on, making a new agreement with yourself, not going to sleep angry and being kind and generous. In my experience, which has been strengthened by the GOLDEN RULE presented in the last episode of THE LAW OF SUCCESS. Forgiving others helps you to move on as it disempowers those who have bullied, frustrated or cheated us. It’s distasteful at first, but powerful and effective. A fake friend likes to see you do well, but not better than them. Your negative experiences with that person on your project have been a costly lesson for you but one which will strengthen you as you go forward. Today’s second question for this episode comes from my friend Ian O’Neill of the How They Did It Filmmaking Podcast in Canada – He asks: How do you cope when overwhelmed by a project? Overwhelm is a 20-foot wave crashing into you. Repeatedly. Psychologist Marla W. Deibler described overwhelm as “feeling completely overcome in mind or emotion. When we think a stressor is too great for us to manage, we feel overwhelmed.” UNQUOTE Part of my answer to this Ian is encapsulated in season 1 of this podcast, which I almost called Save Yourself or From Burnout to Badass. I created FILM PRO PRODUCTIVITY to help people head off OVERWHELM and BURNOUT before it crashes upon them as I’d already had it pretty bad myself on my own first feature. In Episode 1 I introduce the concept of intellectually taking control of our lives through the principle of higher-level thinking because this allows us to get in a headspace where we can take on the productivity advice that I offer. Without assuming a higher level of thinking. Of intelligent and accurate thought, we are going nowhere fast. In Episode 2 I encouraged people to say “NO” to anything that didn’t further their own dreams and objectives – I continued this in the first part of the Law Of Success series, which talks about setting out a definite chief aim for ourselves. If you know exactly what you are trying to achieve, you can say no to anything that doesn’t take you closer to it. This frees up time and energy you would be giving away to others and allows you to bring it to bear on your own problems. Finally, in Episode 3 I introduced a system for prioritising what is important over what is not. Separating the important and the unimportant, from what is urgent and what is not, along with the principle of saying NO often - will save many of us from being overwhelmed in the first instance. Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Max Lucado UNQUOTE I do recognise however that it’s not always easy to do these seemingly simple things as life can be relentless as curveballs such as illness or changes in circumstances can get in the way. Your question was though, How do you cope when overwhelmed by a project? As I researched my answer here, I noted that Anxiety seems to be the most common cause of overwhelm. BTW I should clarify here that the overwhelm we are talking about is sometimes known as EMOTIONAL OVERWHELM - a state of being beset by intense emotion that is difficult to manage. When we relate this to projects, it manifests for many as STRESS AND ANXIETY and I will be taking that topic on later in the season as it’s a big one that deserves its own show. I might even make it my New Year episode. Who knows. Feeling overwhelmed has many faces. It might manifest as an intense emotion, such as anxiety, anger or irritability; worry, doubt or helplessness; and behaviour, such as crying, lashing out or experiencing a panic attack. It can affect our ability to think and act rationally and prevent us from performing daily tasks. As we lock up in its grip we seem to achieve less and less and get more and more overwhelmed by the tasks that sit before us. Psychcentral.com suggests you consider these 6 things when dealing with overwhelm. Accept your anxiety. Has fighting your feelings of overwhelm ever helped you erase them? Probably not. More likely, battling your emotions only boosted them. Think of acceptance as riding out a wave of overwhelm. Change overwhelm-inducing thoughts. Thoughts of uncontrollability or unpredictability are the backbone of overwhelm. It’s the unrealistic or unreasonable thoughts that spark our stressed-out reaction. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to what we tell ourselves and learn to create helpful thoughts. Let’s say you have a mile-long to-do list, and all you keep thinking is “I’ll never get this done.” That’s a damaging thought that can lead to distress and anxiety. It paralyzes you from problem-solving and taking action. It goes right back to the rumination thing I spoke about earlier. Rumination is a poisonous and damaging habit to get into. Try and intellectually break it’s cycle so ask yourself “In what ways might this [thought] be inaccurate, unreasonable or unhelpful?” then re-write them in your conscious mind - If you think “I may not get it all finished today, but if I work on it or if I seek assistance, I will likely get it done;” then this conscious thought will affect your unconscious mind and put you back in control. If you stick to, I’ll never get this done, let's face it – you are already in trouble. Stop multitasking.“’Multitasking’ by definition implies that we are doing too many things at once,” so shift your perspective and change your expectation that everything has to be completed right now ‘or else. Do things one at a time. Use some of the simple techniques I describe in episode 9 FOUR HACKS TO BEAT PROCRASTINATION – to help you achieve things. Focus on the “now”. When you’re consumed with what may or may not happen in several minutes or months, you can’t appreciate the here and now. Schedule time to plan for the future, so you can breathe in the present moment. Take a deep breath. Deep breathing encourages our body’s relaxation response. Sometimes you just have to ta a minute to get your head straight. It can make all the difference to your mindset and your stress levels. Take action. And that action doesn’t necessarily have to be related to the project which is causing you overwhelm. Just engage in an activity that you enjoy, such as listening to music, swimming, reading a book or taking a walk. This can be enough to jump you out of the negative headspace you find yourself in and offer a solution. I’ll add here that you should take a leaf out of the HOW DO YOU EAT AN ELEPHANT episode and if you are having difficulty dealing with it as it is, break your project down into a series of smaller parts. This can be done even if you have already split it down once already. Divisions can always be subdivided. Not thinking of your project as one big problem is a very direct way of stopping overwhelm as when you can intelligently break it down into a series of small tasks that you can chip away at it. That overwhelm feeling, although it may not entirely go away, at least becomes somewhat manageable in that instance. This series is a good example of this. I am right now very frustrated that I still haven’t recorded the whole season as I was working so much and then picked up a cold, and even now have a chest infection which is slowing me down drastically. I feel frustrated but I don’t feel OVERWHELMED. Another thing I do to help combat overwhelm is that I have a whiteboard written up and in an obvious place in the house which shows the progress of this series. I can see how close I am to completing each episode – which in turn is split into research, write, record, create promo image, find a sponsor and create a promo video. It’s frustrating when I am only very slowly ticking stuff off but it’s not overwhelming as I can still see progress. One last thing that you should consider is to see what you can delegate to others. If you are trying to do it all yourself, you may find that you are feeling overwhelmed because you are simply taking on too much. If you can find people that will genuinely help, and who are not going to let you down, or betray you, as happened in Rhea’s case, then it will mean that you will progress further and faster than you will on your own. Listen again to episode 40 and the MASTER MIND LESSON as you must find people who will with you in HARMONY of purpose and effort. My final question for today is this – and it’s come in from quite a few of you. It’s going to sound like I have set this up but I haven’t – The question is what you can do to help the show? Well there are a few things that you can do to help REVIEW THE SHOW ON YOUR PODCAST APP. My good friend Gillian from The GoTo Agency in Glasgow always says sell the sizzle and not the steak. Reviews where people rave about the show give me great quotes which I can use to promote it. These reviews create a sizzle which makes others want to listen too. They are more valuable than you might think. RETWEETS AND SHARES ON SOCIAL MEDIA are more valuable than likes so if you have the opportunity to do so without boring your followers to death with them, please do so. TALK ABOUT THE SHOW in real life and on social media. If the show helps you, please talk about it. This helps the sizzle I mentioned before. ASK PEOPLE TO LISTEN. I have to admit that I am asking people to listen a lot myself when I meet them at work. I’m beginning to feel like it’s the kiss of death for getting a new subscriber though as I swear I don’t think anyone I talk to about the show ever actually listens to it. If you are out there listener – please stand up and let me know my efforts were not in vain. The biggest problem I face with this show is not content or production – It’s simply finding new listeners. It is an inconceivably difficult nut to crack. The listenership based on the information I have is about 650 to 750 downloads every two weeks which is up about 100 a week on last season, and as solo podcasts go, these numbers are really pretty good, but they are not GREAT. I want my listenership to grow as I make it to help people and so getting people to do that is the entire point of everything I do. It’s just... well – difficult. I make no money from this, far from it. So my frustration is that I just can’t figure out how to improve the numbers and although several listeners (Chris and Sheri are the most recent volunteers) have offered to very directly help me push it on out there - I can’t see where best to put my efforts. When I apply Napoleon Hill’s Accuracy of Thought lesson it starts to become clear that Social Media, as a tool for podcast audience growth, is a dead loss. I recently said on Twitter that 99.5% of my followers DON’T ACTUALLY LISTEN TO THE SHOW, but the figure is nearer 99.8%. It’s demonstrably atrocious. Social media does not convert into listeners – it’s just the truth of the matter. There’s plenty of “marketers” out there trying to convince me that it does, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram trying to sell me their services, but I’m yet to see how that dollar commitment to marketing the show turns into any reliable listenership. There are other benefits to social media though, and many current listeners do interact with me there so don’t worry. It will continue! Call To Action Your call to action today is to as always consider what has been said. Hopefully, you can apply it to your life and work and relationships. If you really would like to help, then getting on to your podcasting app and reviewing the show would be massively appreciated. Ending As I mentioned before I have split the content of this show into two separate episodes. The 2nd Mailbag episode, should if all goes as planned, go out in late January. I think it will be called “Technology and The Science of ‘When’” or words to that effect. That last question there got me to thinking about my marketing. I removed this from the answer but feel it may be of interest to you. I have a few ideas to try, but feel free to get in touch via the contact page on the website if you are an expert in this field. I’m going to, over the next 9 months or so: Attempt to put up more video content, although I am yet to see evidence that this makes a difference to podcast listener growth. Sometime next year I will start putting the shows out on youtube. I think perhaps there is a listenership there. Offer myself up for interviews on other podcasts as their listeners may jump over to my show after listening tp those interviews. Anyone interested. Find influencers and celebrities to listen to and promote the show. So we’re just about done here - Next week I’m releasing my longest episode to date, which given that I wanted to shorten my episodes this season shows how well that’s been going. Hashtag DOH! Catch it though as it’s a really good one - It’s called BULLIES and THE SILENT MAJORITY. Let me end today with a quote from Will Smith If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success. Now take control of your own destiny, keep on shootin’ and join me next time on FILM PRO PRODUCTIVITY! The music you can hear right now is Adventures by A Himitsu You can view the show notes for this episode on the official website filmproproductivity.com You can follow my personal account on Twitter and Instagram @fight_director or follow the show on Twitter @filmproprodpod or on Facebook @Filmproproductivity Please support the show by subscribing, spreading the word and leaving an AWESOME review. References: https://medium.com/@PetriB/3-reasons-why-what-other-people-think-of-you-is-none-of-your-business-a25d6e6ab10c http://www.quoteambition.com/quotes-fake-friends-fake-people/ Thanks: A Himitsu Music: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsuCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 ––– • Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsuhttps://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A

Today’s show is brought to you by the HOW THEY DID IT, FILMMAKING podcast.   EPISODE 34 – BEST LAID PLANS   So here we are with the THIRD season of the show which will roll out every Sunday at 7pm GMT for the next few months. Occasionally you may find me releasing a couple of episodes per week as this season we have 18 new shows and a few of them are connected. I hope that the topics I will be bringing you will be helpful in your life and work. English innovation strategy specialist Max McKeown says “Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.”   I’ll be briefly talking you through season 3 today, but the episode is called BEST LAID PLANS for good reason, as often the plans that we make and attempt to put into action start to disintegrate about us and we need to stop, rethink what we are doing and make some changes before we move on again.   This subject has come up a few times on social media and is something I’ve had to deal with a few times myself this year.   Season Preview.   Baring in mind what I’ve just said, so this is subject to change, Season 3 will bring you more episodes based on the productivity techniques tips and tricks that have been working so well in the business and lifestyle worlds. These will include episodes about the 16 LAWS OF SUCCESS, ELEPHANT HABITS and DEVELOPING A SENSE OF URGENCY. As my TELL IT HOW IT IS episodes always seem to be popular I’ll also be including an episode about DEALING WITH BULLIES which is a particularly prevalent problem here and there in the Film Industry in my own country, and it may have some bearing in what you are dealing with wherever you are too. I’m wanting to do a show about BULLSHITTERS too but I haven’t figured out how to deliver that one yet without swearing. Bear with me.   Elsewhere this season I will be talking about STRESS and ANXIETY, ARROGANCE and PRIDE, IMPOSTER SYNDROME, something known as OUTRAGE PORN, CROWDFUNDING LESSONS, WHY WE SHOULDN’T APPLY FOR FUNDING and another recent discovery of mine called THE LABOR ILLUSION.   Most episodes will be based on the new 10-minute motivation format, which focuses down the show to one major topic without wandering too far, but some episodes such as CROWDFUNDING: LESSONS WERE LEARNED and this one here will run a bit longer as there’s a lot to cover.   The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry… wrote a paraphrased Robert Burns and that’s what I want to get into with this episode – you see we need to accept that no matter how carefully a strategy, a project, an – ANYTHING - is planned, SOMETHING may still go wrong. Mike Tyson says “Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.” This year I’ve been figuratively PUNCHED IN THE MONTH a number of times and my plans have tumbled like a house of cards about me. 9 months into my BEST YEAR YET strategy which I introduced to you in the New Year Special I have had to entirely abandon my plans and move my focus on to different things.   There were several specific happenings that contributed to the general fucking up my efforts, but far from having regret over the change, I am celebrating in newfound freedom. I am thankful for all of those who said “no” to me. It’s because of them that I am doing it myself. Albert Einstein UNQUOTE The BEST YEAR YET system is a good one but I made a MAJOR MISCALCULATION IN MY STRATEGY - I hung several major goals on something which I had absolutely no control over. A funding application.   In hindsight, it was completely stupid but at the time I was very certain that I was making the right move. I felt somehow that my time had come and with my best project, which I’d been working on for several years, I was sure that I’d be successful. Oh, how wrong I was - Historically I’ve never had any form of tangible support from funding organisation, but this time seemed different - or so I thought.   It was an application not for financial support but for access to a mentoring programme with a residential element. I spent weeks on the application and had a number of people help me to refine and improve my project so that it was tailor-made to fit the application. Even the application form itself was refined and bettered over a series of passes and I got the application in on time… and I thought it was pretty darn good - that’s when things started going VERY wrong.   I had unwitting stepped into a minefield of unpredictability, completely out with my control. After I submitted the application - which incidentally - only had a three-week gap for submissions, the organisation running the things suddenly decided to extend the deadline for applications by a further 6 weeks.   To put it simply, this was disastrous for my BEST YEAR YET STRATEGY as it knocked my next two deadlines together and ensured that I could not complete every subsequent goal to the schedule I had laid out.   Had I not only hung my hopes on this application, and structured several of my main goals around it I would have been able to save my scheduled BEST YEAR YET PLAN. When they moved the goalposts, I couldn’t even re-submit an improved application as my next MAJOR Goal was Season 2 of this show, which launched successfully and on time, but only as I had complete control over it. That was the last of my scheduled MAJOR goals to be met this year.   To cut a long story short in regard to my application - I didn’t even get an interview for that mentoring programme - and it was the straw that broke the camel’s already heavily weighted back. If you’ve already heard my WHY IT’S OK TO GIVE UP EPISODE, you’ll know that I threw in the towel on my filmmaking dreams. As one door closes, however, another one opens.   Lesson   Incidentally, there’s a whole host of reasons why I might have been rejected but as they didn’t deign to share them with me - I’m going to say that my project just didn’t fit the bill. Whatever the reason though, I had to deal with it – and it took me a few months to recover as it was an incredibly destructive mistake. Things are moving again now with my newly created PLAN B. Mistakes are a part of life; you can't avoid them. All you can hope is that they won't be too expensive and that you don't make the same mistake twice. Lee Iacocca UNQUOTE Dealing with change in life is something that we all have to face up to as we just can’t control everything - although I do know a few people who think they can.   When the worst happens though - how do you deal with it? Do you resist change and fight? Or… Do you go with the flow and adapt? Do you spiral into depression or do you handle it with positivity? Me personally, I do a bit of both. I might quietly rage or get down about something but eventually, I get back up and try again.   · Like the earlier quote I used by Einstein, we have to face up to the fact that PAIN IS PART OF GROWING. It literally pains me to know this as I learned it the hard way, but if I hadn’t had a breakdown a few years ago, if I hadn’t lost both my parents one after the other, if I hadn’t had terrible times with awful people again and again on terrible creative projects - then I wouldn’t be here now pushing out my positivity and receiving it back via this show. Hard as it may seem to swallow sometimes, EVERY STRUGGLE IS A STEP FORWARD and will make you better.   It was through these difficult experiences that I learned to say to myself that THIS TOO SHALL PASS. Remember that everything in life is temporary, and the pain we feel today will fade in time - new doors will open in life and in our work and in our relationships. I often say here, DON’T WORRY, EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK, because as adults we don’t hear it often enough. WE SIMPLY WORRY TOO MUCH and IT CHANGES NOTHING. I’ll be tackling worry and anxiety in a later episode this season. ANOTHER THING THAT CHANGES NOTHING IS COMPLAINING. Everyone likes a good moan so if you have to, go for it, but cut it off sooner rather than later or you’ll never be able to move past it. Like my application analogy earlier. I thought I at least deserved an interview – but I didn’t even get that. Who am I going to complain to though? And will my moaning about it all, get me anywhere at all? Of course not. I just had to, like I've done so many times before, BITE THE BULLET… AND MOVE ON. Remember too, THAT OTHER PEOPLE’S NEGATIVITY IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM. Don't let people pull you into their storms. Pull them into your peace. Look back to my episode on TOXIC PEOPLE. Joel Osteen says You cannot expect to live a positive life if you hang with negative people so when things don’t go as planned, you may want to look at who you are working with, before you start over – without them. Instead of being swept up in the negativity that comes when your plans fall apart, FIND A POSITIVE WAY TO MOVE PAST IT. We are human and we know it’s a total drag when things go wrong as it’s going to be a load of work to get things going again, but stay positive. I won’t use the glass as half full analogy, but Alphonse Karr has a great play on this in reference to negativity from others. He says Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses. WHAT WILL BE, WILL BE is something I find myself repeating to myself when things are playing out. SUCH IS LIFE. Sometimes accepting that a greater universal play is in hand and your plans have failed, is something you eventually must realise if you are to move on. I’m not saying give up too soon, I’m saying when all is lost, recognise your situation and accept that change is going to happen. And with all that said you must find the power to JUST KEEP GOING. Next episode I’m going to be discussing the SENSE OF URGENCY that we must develop in ourselves if we are to achieve our goals and our dreams in a timely manner. Have your moment of failure, and accept it. Then get back on your feet and dust yourself down. I’d like to end by saying that if your strategy has failed if you’ve miscalculated in some way, made an error or just a catalogue of bad choices - then learn from your mistakes before moving forward again with a NEW STRATEGY. Remember another famous quote from Albert Einstein Einstein said Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Summing Up   I’ve covered elements of this topic before but with the series of bad decisions and bad collaborations I’ve had recently, and the subsequent abandonment of my filmmaking goals this year - I felt I really had to revisit it.   I hope it’s been useful to you and has opened up your mind a little. I also hope that you continue to learn from my mistakes which I catalogue here - despite my best efforts to avoid making them.       Call To Action   Your call to action today is to think of a time where you have made a bad choice and ask yourself - Have I learned from this? Am I still making the same mistake? If you are, then give yourself a shake, and make a deal to never let it happen again. We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. Rick Warren UNQUOTE Ending   Remember that YOUR SCARS ARE A SYMBOL OF YOUR STRENGTH so embrace your failures and if you are in a BAD place, remember the words THIS TOO SHALL PASS. Just breath and remind yourself that everything is going to be all right.   I’m looking for your help this season as I have an upcoming MAILBAG episode. It’s effectively a listeners questions show. Today’s topic came up in discussion with Glasgow Filmmaker Colin Ross Smith so your problems and questions are very useful for me in identifying the problems that you are dealing with – That in turn will lead to better and more on point shows. If you really want to help and need advice on a productivity topic or problem please get in touch via the contact pages on the Film Pro Productivity website. Don’t delay though as that show is coming up in just a few weeks.   Thanks again to Ian O’Neill form the HOW THEY DID IT, FILMMAKING podcast for sponsoring this episode. Ian’s show is one of my favourites so check it out and subscribe on all the good podcasting apps. Let me end though with the words of Henry Ford: Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. Now - take control of your own destiny, keep on shootin’, and join me next time on Film Pro Productivity.     • The music you can hear right now is Adventures by A Himitsu • You can view the show notes for this episode on the official website filmproproductivity.com • You can follow my personal account on Twitter and Instagram @fight_director or follow the show on Twitter @filmproprodpod or on Facebook @Filmproproductivity • Please support the show by subscribing, spreading the word and leaving an AWESOME review.   References: http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/negative-people-quotes/ https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/failure.html http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/negative-people-quotes/ Thanks: A Himitsu Music: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsuCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 ––– • Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsuhttps://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A

  This show is the last of season 2 and today I will encourage you yet again to take control of your life and work and dreams and ambitions by adopting the productivity techniques that I have talked about here on this podcast. Call it a motivational talk if you will, but by recapping on some of the key techniques I have introduced here, I will show you how you can gain back control of your life and take positive action to move forward. As usual, I will do a quick recap on last week’s episode before moving on to the main subject and that show simply recommended 5 more awesome and mostly free apps which are useful for improving your productivity. One thing I have discovered since releasing it is that Apple no longer has the Call Recorder app I recommended in their store, but I have linked in last week’s show notes to several similar apps in order to cover this. Sadly it does seem that Apple is charging for a number of apps that you get for free on Android but I guess that’s the way they roll. If you missed the episode then please go back and check it out as there are some awesome apps in there that will make your life a hell of a lot easier. I’ve wasted too much time on apps that are supposedly good for productivity but have turned out to be not much use in the long run. What I can guarantee is - if you adopt and utilise any of my suggestions, and it’s worth noting is that they are largely free to download and use, that you will thank me later. Can I just add that if you would like to recommend your own favourite apps for productivity for inclusion in a future episode then please get in touch as I’d really appreciate your input on this topic.   THE LESSON Kenneth Branagh’s definition of success, he says, is CONTROL. This doesn’t mean that he’s a control freak - it just means that he wants to be driving the bus. In his career, in his personal life, in whatever he does. I believe that if you don’t actively take control by assuming a level of higher level thinking as I talked about in episode 1, then the chances of you getting where you want to go in your life, or in your career will be near zero. Getting yourself to a place where you are in CONTROL is the basis of this episode. It’s all too easy to get yourself into a state of mind where you feel trapped. Where you feel like you are missing out on your dreams or your goals and ultimately in your happiness because of a decision - or a series of decisions you had made along the way. Those decisions, oftentimes made out of necessity, which were the correct things to do at the time, might ultimately leave you with a feeling of dissatisfaction or indeed, downright unhappiness with where you are now in your life or your career.  You may feel that although you are successful and happy in one area of your life and work that you have lost control or direction in another.  I’ve called today’s show YOU HAVE THE POWER, but I was very close to calling it SAVE YOURSELF. You see buried under the weight of the day to day distractions, commitments, fears and anxieties that you find yourself sometimes lost or trapped within, it really is only you and ONLY YOU that has the power to get yourself out of trouble and back on track. My feeling is that unless you actively work to defeat these distractions and negative emotions that they will drag you down. They smother your hopes and dreams and cling to your time and your mental energy like barnacles – You have to take the hammer and chisel that the productivity techniques I talk about here offer you, and chip away these problems, one at a time. Once you start to do that you will soon get back control and create the ability to steer things in a direction of your choosing. Motivational writer and philosopher Steven Redhead says that you must “Start living by taking back the control of your life now! Create a life more in tune with your true desires.” There are a few parts to that statement I want to reiterate. The START LIVING part is essential – When you start to consider the larger picture, everything that follows will be driven by what you learn from it, and that can only happen if it goes hand in hand with the second essential part - CREATING A LIFE WHICH IS IN TUNE WITH YOUR DESIRES and I would add your VALUES. If you are unhappy, stressed, frustrated or simply lost, then you may feel that the life or career you’d hoped for is slipping away or is already so far out of reach that you have given up. You must remember though that stress and worry over your problems, depletes your energy reserves, solves nothing and actually blocks you from thinking about solutions. In the very first episode of the podcast I said that you should begin to work ON your life and career at the same time that you find yourself living and working IN it - and to do this you needed to develop that HIGHER LEVEL OF THINKING I mentioned a minute ago. I believe that we all have the power to take control, to a degree at least, over our lives but that it is only possible if we engage our minds in strategizing how to do it. Author of ALPHABET SUCCESS Tim Fargo said that “Who you are tomorrow begins with what you do today.” and that “If you want to get ahead you must slow down and focus”. Fargo’s advice to “slow down and focus” is the key to getting back control. Look back to my episode on KILLING THE MICROWAVE MINDSET for more advice on slowing down btw. With well thought out, focused strategies we can create long term plans to achieve what we seek in life. Author Steve Maraboli says “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't.” Now productivity encapsulates a large degree of positivity, but sometimes I have to offer advice that is more of a REALITY SLAP than a positive affirmation of what you would like to hear. After I made my feature film, which was distributed by Cineworld and had some success, I was told by the main Scottish film funding organisation, that they would not fund my project development because someone else already had their backing and as someone new to the game there was simply nothing for me. They actually told me that they would NEVER fund me which was quite aggravating, but it was a REALITY which at least they were honest about. The reality slap I ask you to accept is that there is such a thing as SUPPLY and DEMAND. Everyone, right off the bat - can’t be the Director, or the Cinematographer, or the Writer, Designer, Lead Actor or Actress as these are limited positions. Some roles have tons of demand, while others have very limited demand. I don’t mean don’t aspire to that role, just don’t be shocked if the job isn’t there for you when you go looking for it and don’t be shocked if you have to be a camera assistant for a few years before the first opportunity comes along for you to be the DP. Remember that nobody owes you anything. Just because you want a position doesn’t mean someone is required to give you a job. You must demonstrate you can create value for people, or else they’ll find another person to get things done. Creating value means learning things other people don’t know btw. It means doing things other people aren’t willing to do. It sometimes means working for free to demonstrate you’re capable of performing. It means taking on tasks no one else wants and turning them into something better. It means working harder than everyone else. It means demonstrating you’re worth keeping around and worth paying for. And I want to just hammer this one home a bit further with this quote from Gary Vaynerchuk - “A penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin that you can be.” And one more by Charles T. Munger – He said “To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.” I wanted to make that point as there’s a fine line between confidence and delusion – and it’s important you recognise this. If you are getting hot and bothered about getting nowhere fast in your life or career, then persistence and patience maybe useful allies on your journey. If you’ve listened to this podcast for a while you’ll already have the productivity techniques at hand to help you clear the space in your life, your work, your time and your energy to take a breather for a wee while, make a plan and get yourself moving again… this time - in a direction of your choosing. I’m referring to the earlier Tim Fargo quote of course - “If you want to get ahead you must slow down and focus”. I’ve just spent 6 weeks (amongst other things it’s fair to say) writing, producing and hosting this podcast for which I receive no payment whatsoever but I’ve CHOSEN to do this and with that choice comes satisfaction. By assuming a position of Higher Level Thinking I realised that I at certain points in the year I can now afford to work on my own creative projects, this being one of them. I accepted that I don’t have full control over my year. That I can work on other cool and interesting projects with cool and interesting creative people during the larger part of the year to earn money and pay bills, but in the quieter parts of the year I have a tremendous opportunity to advance my own creative endeavours when my work is quiet. I am not sitting on a pile of cash here, but to a large degree at least I am in control of my own life and work. I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all answer to this question but I’d like you to ask yourself - WHAT DOES SUCCESS MEAN TO YOU? It’s something you simply must consider if you genuinely want to take control and move forward. WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE? I can’t help thinking of Simon Synek’s book FIND YOUR WHY when I talk about this SO perhaps you should also ask yourself WHY YOU WANT WHAT YOU WANT? If you know what you are trying to achieve, and why you want to achieve it, then you will be able to determine what success will mean to you. Making these decisions will mean that you can focus on what really matters. Peter Drucker says “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient that which should not be done in the first place.”, and what we are getting down to here is what I talked about in episode 3. That to give yourself the best possible chance of success, you need to PRIORITIZE WHAT IS IMPORTANT OVER WHAT IS NOT. Considering, as I said before, WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL AND WHAT YOU CANNOT will also save you a lot of wasted time and effort. Do you understand? I could go into a number of other factors here, but that’s what the full podcast episodes are for. A contender for chief amongst the lessons here is that - you must look out for toxic people who will get their claws into your time and energy and ensure that your own dreams always come SECOND. Listen to Episode 24 for advice on that one, or Episode 18 for advice on protecting your mental energy as that’s way up there in importance too, but I’m going right back to episode 2 to give you the final piece of advice on gaining control… You have to -  have to - HAVE TO – Learn to say NO. Zig Ziglar says “The first step to getting what you want is to have the courage to get rid of what you don’t.” I’ve written a note on my board for season 3  to do an episode on PEOPLE PLEASING which is a big problem for some of us, and it ’s likely a huge problem for you if you have trouble saying NO to people. Here’s the thing though. Unless you can find the strength within you to start saying NO to things that do not further your own dreams or goals in some way, then you will forever be putting your own dreams and goals second or third or tenth in line to someone else’s and you will NEVER gain control of your own life, or work or creative endeavours. Go right back to episode 2 and have a listen, it’s one of my earlier ones so forgive me if it’s less polished but check it out and take note as YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST LEARN TO SAY NO - you must get over this in built need to people please as the cost is too high. STOP WORRYING ABOUT UPSETTING PEOPLE – If they do get upset because you say NO is that someone you even want in your life anyway? Your life won’t fall apart because you’ve prioritised your own things over theirs. STOP FEELING GUILTY – Why is saying NO to someone causing you this guilt? Saying NO to someone isn’t a moral issue. Saying NO to someone isn’t doing anything wrong – so why feel guilty about it? The fact is that saying NO is doing something right for you, and in the long run saving you stress through overwhelm of over commitment. Stella Adler has a quote for actors which I think I can hijack for general use on this point.  She said – “You need a kind of aggression, a kind of inner force. Don't be only one-sided, sweet, nice, good. Get rid of being average. Find the killer in you.” Maybe you need a bit of that killer instinct to get what you want too. James Doohan, who played Scotty in Star Trek served as a captain in the Canadian Forces and led men into battle on D-Day, said later in life that he didn’t want control, he just wanted to be told what to do. He said he’s spent his military years ordering people about and when that career ended he just wanted to be the best actor he could be. At a glance that may seem that he didn’t want control but he made his decisions along the way, became the best actor he could be and he was happy.  Remember that to be in control you don’t have to be the boss. “You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” Napoleon Hill, unquote. CALL TO ACTION As this is the last episode of the series, their likely won’t be any more than the odd inbetweenisode for about 3 months, so I think that’s plenty of time for me to give you a major Call To Action. If you want to gain control over your life, or your career, or your training, or your creative projects, or free time, or whatever you set your mind to then take the steps I have discussed and that I list here now to do so. Remember too to write all it down as when you take that action it greatly increases the odds of your succeeding in your endeavour. DECIDE ON WHAT SUCCESS MEANS TO YOU. Decide what you are trying to achieve. SAY NO TO ANYTHING THAT DOESN’T FURTHER YOUR DREAMS, GOALS AND AMBITIONS. This will find you time you thought you never had. PRIORITISE WHAT IS IMPORTANT OVER WHAT IS NOT. MAKE A PLAN. Write it down and stick to it. Slow down. PLAY THE LONG GAME. And 5 – BE CONFIDENT BUT NOT DELUSIONAL. If you follow these steps and you will gain control, slowly but surely over your life. Take control and make your life happy. ENDING Internationally renowned psychologist Irene Kassorla said, “The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand.” So if you feel trapped, restricted or cornered in some way don’t worry. This too shall pass. Take the steps I suggest to gain back control. You’re going to be ok. Everything is going to be alright. Thanks once again for taking the time to join me on this season. I hope it’s been beneficial and enjoyable for you to do so. I’ll take this opportunity to recommend a few filmmaking podcasts which you may find of interest. Check out Alex Ferrari’s awesome, Indie Film Hustle, Ian O’Neill’s How They Did It Filmmaking podcast, The Filmmakers Podcast which has a number of presenters, but I’ll give a shout out to Giles Alderson as he’s a great supporter of this show, and finally the very first podcast I listened to, the brilliant, Dave Bullis Podcast as I’ve been looking for an opportunity to plug it all season and it’s a great show. Next season I’m considering splitting the show with a new format of 6 interviews with productivity authors and 6 solo shows, but you’ll just have to wait and see what happens. It will come around in approximately 3 months and if you’re very lucky you will get a bonus inbetweenisode or two in the break. Please follow the show on Facebook @filmproproductivity or on twitter @filmproprodpod if you’d like to stay up to date with what’s going on. I also have personal accounts on Instagram and twitter @fight_director Now, take control of your own destiny, keep on shootin’ and join me next season on Film Pro Productivity. The music you are listening to right now is Adventures by A Himitsu. You can view the show notes for this episode at filmproproductivity.com PLEASE get in touch via the contact page on the website if you would like to suggest new topics for the show and I encourage you to use the Speak Pipe Voicemail service there as I love to hear who is listening – it’s completely free to use. Please support this podcast by subscribing, leaving an AWESOME review preferably on iTunes where it really seems to matter in podcast terms and by spreading the word and getting folk to listen. That’s why I do this after all. Have a great summer! Thanks: A Himitsu   Music: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsu Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 ––– • Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsu https://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A Sources: http://www.sean-johnson.com/why-you-cant-be-anything-you-want-to-be/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc4Y72CpHwQ

  This week I’m postulating on why many of us spend so much time chasing after the next shiny new thing, whether that’s a bit of technology or whatever, or feel we have to wait for the planets to come into JUST the right alignment before we can even consider getting out there and doing something that we really want to do. For filmmakers, and I’ve discussed this several times with Ian O’Neill from the How They Did It Filmmaking Podcast, this comes down to the topic of just shooting with what you’ve got. That’s using the locations, contacts, equipment and cameras that you have easy access to, and not forever procrastinating over it. Before we move into that though - last week I introduced you to 6 productivity extensions for Google Chrome which will make you more efficient and effective. For a topic which - as I approached it - felt somewhat “dry” I must admit that I really got into it. I take these extensions for granted as I use them all the time, but they made a great episode. The call to action encouraged you to try the extensions and see how they worked for you. I wouldn’t have suggested them if I didn’t use them myself and I do believe that they will really make a difference to your productivity when working online - so listen back if you missed it and let me know how you are getting on and if you are digging them as much as I do. As always I must say that I do really love the interaction with listeners that comes with this podcast and that the show is on twitter @filmproprodpod or on Facebook @filmproproductivity if you want to send a message. My personal accounts on Instagram and Twitter @fight_director – Alternatively you can communicate via the official website at filmproproductivity.com/contact. Have you ever been in a position where you know you need to do things to move forward but instead you find yourself doing anything but? I talked about it a few weeks back in the procrastination episode, but I want to look at it in a bit more detail here today. I often find myself stalling rather than doing when it comes to filmmaking and I have a fairly extensive list of excuses that I can call up to ensure that I won’t get out there and just do it. The number one reason for me, and living in Scotland this is a fairly legitimate one, is because of the weather. I’m forever looking out of a window at pouring rain and thinking… I’ll do it tomorrow. It’s not that I don’t have wet weather gear and rain covers for my cameras - I do – It’s that I can vividly imagine how much of a pain it might be and I stop myself before I start. I also very often say to myself - I don’t have time, or more realistically, I don’t have enough energy – Check back to episode 18 for a full breakdown of that one. Lack of mental energy manifests itself as a kind of overwhelming tiredness, which makes staying in and doing administrative work, or frankly nothing productive at all, just that bit more attractive than going out with a camera. It’s an odd one though as it can drop on me like a cloud even when I’m feeling quite keen to do it and it ensures that I often avoid not only going out to shoot something of my own but that I won’t socialise or interact with others The next excuse that I can pull out of the hat, and I have many more in there, is that I don’t have the kit. I’m saving up to buy a specific thing, such as a lens or a filter or an add on like a monitor or other shiny new toy and I say to myself, I’ll just wait till I can get that “thing” and then it will all be easier and better. And oftentimes it’s not the kit that’s the problem it’s my knowledge, or lack thereof, of how to use that kit. I’ll be like, I could take this camera out but I don’t intricately know how this really works and so I find an excuse instead to faff about with it indoors rather than just doing whatever it is I had planned to do. Ultimately I can muster a general feeling of – “I’M NOT READY-NESS”. A feeling that the planets are not yet in alignment - but someday soon, all will be well and the time will be just right. I convince myself that when this happens or that happens or when I get this latest piece of kit – Then and only then, somewhere down the line, will I be ready to do whatever it is I plan to do. What’s the quote though that I’ve used before – “SOMEDAY is not a day of the week”. Some of you may say to yourselves. I can’t do such and such a thing because I have kids, or because I have a dog or because I have to do something that’s maybe not particularly urgent but that’s on your mind and it’s just kicking at you for attention. Well, today’s episode is about tackling this form of procrastination and just getting on with things. I’ll also look at why some of us get caught up in a cycle of “Keeping up with the Jones’s” and why just getting out there and doing it is likely to be far easier than we think it is. Lastly, I’ll look at why just shooting with what we have at hand or proceeding with plans even when the planets are not perfectly aligned is essential for our productivity. By researching this topic I’m kind of hoping to get myself out of a bit of a rut too – At the moment I’m putting off on my filmmaking plans as I am determined to record this show – and it’s so important to me that it is shoving all other things into a big pile in the corner of my mind. And you thought I did this podcast to help you? Ahhh you fools, I’m offering up this show up for my own benefit as much as yours - so let’s get into it! LESSON Robert Rodriguez famously said, “Every director has at least 10 bad films in them.” And that’s not just an amusing quote – it’s actually very closely linked to the topic of today and it mirrors the sentiment of my oft-quoted Hemingway one, “the first draft of everything is shit.” You see if the reason you find yourself stalling rather than getting out there and doing stuff is because you fear that your work will not be perceived as, in inverted commas “good enough” then you need to take courage from the words of those that have gone before you, like  Rodriguez and Hemingway, and accept that what you are about to film, or build or write or make might not be good enough to stand beside the works of Spielberg or indeed Rodriguez or Hemingway - but that you have to get out there do it anyway. The first quote that I used in this podcast was that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and that journey is as true for a film pro, a screenwriter or whatever as it is for anyone else. And if you are a regular listener to this show you will recognise that I am covering old ground but let me digress for a minute or so more on this as its important. Whether it’s the fear of failure or the fear of success or the drive to achieve an unattainable perfection it all adds up to the same thing. If you can’t just get out there and do it and possibly fail at what you do, you will never succeed, because you will never start. The American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher Elbert Hubbard once said: “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” And that is as true today as when he said it. Elbert Hubbard died in 1915 by the way so this isn’t new information. In all your excuses, for not doing what you want to do, fear of failure, fear of looking silly or incompetent or of being imperfect or criticised by others is highly likely to be the reason behind it. Elbert Hubbard also said There is no failure except in no longer trying. C.S. Lewis said Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. Napoleon Hill said Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure. And I’ll finish up on this point with this quote from Eric Zorn, who said “Fear of failure is a ticket to mediocrity. If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not pushing yourself. And if you’re not pushing yourself, you’re coasting.” There are literally hundreds of quotes out there that say the same thing if you ‘re not moving forward, if you’re finding excuses and stopping yourself from trying - if it’s all because you simply fear failure - then GET OVER IT AND SEIZE CONTROL. And before you start hitting me with excuses – It IS that easy. Now that I’ve tackled that old chestnut, let’s have a look at a very specific issue which I feel stops filmmakers in particular, and certainly some film pros that I know too from getting stuff done. The Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella said, “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” What I’m specifically talking about here is the constant need for doing everything with bigger and better equipment. It’s what I call Shiny New Thing Syndrome, and when I made that name up I had no idea that it actually is a thing! There’s an article in Entrepreneur.com that says that at its core, shiny object syndrome (SOS) is a disease of distraction, and it affects entrepreneurs specifically because of the qualities that make them unique. ... It's called shiny object syndrome because it's the entrepreneurial equivalent of a small child chasing after shiny objects. In their context, they crave new technology, or sometimes just new business opportunities, and once they get it, they immediately lose interest and start chasing the next thing. Nathaniel Hawthorne said, “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” And I’m firing quotes about happiness at you here as I believe that is in effect what we are seeking when we hunt for that next shiny new thing. This is one that I find myself struggling with now and again and I know I’m not the only one because I see it come up on forums and social media posts. Many of you listening may have reached for that perfect piece of shiny new equipment because without it you feel you can’t move forward - whether it’s a camera, or a computer or a piece of software or even a new idea or opportunity - whatever - but then when you get it, you realise that it wasn’t that which was holding you back – it was something else. I’ve been wondering about this phenomenon - I wonder if I have unwittingly built up a “keeping up with the Jones’s” habit that I am unable to kick. Perhaps not every listener knows that saying - “Keeping up with the Jones’s is an idiom in many parts of the English-speaking world referring to the comparison to your neighbour as a benchmark for social class or the accumulation of material goods. To fail to "keep up with the Jones's" is perceived as demonstrating socio-economic or cultural inferiority.” Wikipedia helped me with that description btw. I believe that my own shiny new thing syndrome is borne of watching YouTube reviews about tech. No sooner have I watched a review of a new piece of kit, that I want it. I mean not all the time obviously but often enough for me to be aware of it. Then when I get that thing - the lens or the camera or the piece of software I’ve lusted after - a new video I come across says – look over here – this one’s better. I’m not trying to keep up with fellow filmmakers, who may be the Jones’s in this scenario, I’m trying to keep up with my own microwave mentality (see episode 23) of just wanting the next shiny thing that catches my eye because somewhere at the back of my mind, I convince myself that I need it. Again when I look at this with my HIGHER LEVEL THINKING HEAD ON, I soon realise that my inner I WANT IT attitude of “lusting after material things that will somehow make everything better” - IS A LOSING BATTLE. Because I know in my heart that using material items to boost my confidence is only ever temporary.  THINGS will never bring us happiness or contentment in the long run as we know inside that we will have to keep on spending to keep that “high” going and every time we think we are close, the bar gets set even higher. As soon as you buy the latest gadget or device, a newer, cooler one comes out. We need to make our financial decisions based on what we want and what we can afford, not on what we think we should do to keep up with an ever-developing world of technology. By living within our means we can find contentment with the things we already have rather than chasing what we don’t. We need to cut that behaviour loose and focus on what’s really important in our lives and work —family, friends, etc. If we stick to our own goals, financial ones as well as creative, and the things that bring us joy, we won’t feel the need to keep up with anyone else. I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist. said Tammy Faye Bakker This is what others might call RETAIL THERAPY of course and it short-circuits our creative flow. I’m hoping that this is a topic which makes sense to you out there. I’m going it might seem, a bit off-piste here, but I feel it’s worth taking this just a little further. You see shopping also boosts our dopamine levels, the brain chemical responsible for making us feel pleasure. So this shiny new thing syndrome is not only a huge procrastination excuse, but we get rewarded for it with a "shopping high." The problem is, of course, that this “HIGH” doesn't last, and then we're left with the original problem, that of avoidance of the tasks at hand, plus we have a bill to pay. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though. If you can afford what you’re buying it’s no big deal. In fact, Psychology Today researchers found that 62% of shoppers have purchased something just to cheer themselves up. They call it “retail therapy” because shopping can make some of us feel a lot better - especially when we’re feeling down or stressed out. The real problem comes when you're using shopping as a crutch to avoid doing your work or when you're spending more than you can afford and running up debt. I’m grateful to say that I’ve never been that far gone, but I am still aware that I spend when I don’t necessarily have to. If you do find you have a problem with emotional spending like this, there are ways to beat it. The first key to curbing retail therapy is understanding what drives you to spend. What moods or things will tempt you to make unplanned purchases? If you know your spending triggers, you can find ways to combat and/or avoid those spending temptations entirely. Monitor Your Spending to Find “Emotional” Purchases. The only way to know about all your emotional spending habits is by tracking your daily spending. Use the 48-Hour Rule. One way to reduce emotional spending is by using the 48-hour rule. This is a simple — but effective — way to deal with spending temptations. Instead of dropping a specific “want” into your shopping basket, you write down the item’s name and price on a notepad. Give yourself 48-hours to think about a  specific purchase decision and its impact on your monthly budget. Remove Spending Apps like eBay or Craigslist or Amazon from Your Phone and Unsubscribe to Emails Encouraging You to Spend. Many people have found budgeting to be a proven way to reduce overspending. You should stick to an overall monthly budget that will force you to save (or invest) a certain amount each month — while spending on things you need and paying down debt. Budgeting is the key to avoiding retail therapy. Treat Yourself with Small Purchases (Within Your Budget) – Put aside a “fun” budget that allows you to make purchases with freedom and without regret. There’s nothing wrong with emotional spending if you have it as part of your budget and can keep your overall financial goals on track. You only get in trouble when you put yourself into debt and lose control. And I’ll leave it at that for now. I can’t go into a “shoot with what you’ve got” topic, without going back to Robert Rodriguez and his book Rebel Without  Crew. I’ll link to this in the show notes but please be aware that it’s rather dated. Rodriguez made El Mariachi in 1995 and although his story is inspiring and awesome, in technology terms and distribution wise at least, it’s far less relevant now than it once was. The basic message from the book is though is still essentially vital MAKE A FILM WITH THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE TO HAND IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU LIVE. In other words, SHOOT WITH WHAT YOU’VE GOT. AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS - REBEL WITHOUT A CREW US: https://amzn.to/2NoQ1Tc  UK: https://amzn.to/2SYfIQr  He famously said in his 10-minute film school video which I’ll link to in the show notes, but he said “Don’t dream about being a filmmaker, You are a filmmaker. Now let’s get down to business.” And he says “…get experience, you’ll learn more from picking up a camera from your own mistakes than you will learning about it in film school.”, and if that doesn’t short circuit your fear of failure excuses then I don’t know what will. Robert Rodriguez says “Creativity, not money, is used to solve problems.” And so once you’ve beaten your fixation on the next shiny new thing and stopped procrastinating with a ton of reasons for why you SHOULDN’T make your first film, or write your first screenplay or compose your first score or whatever your creative drive is, then take a leaf out of Rodriguez book and MOVE FORWARD WITH WHAT YOU’VE GOT. Rodriguez tells aspiring filmmakers to become technical – to learn the tools of the trade. If you don’t he says you might become overly reliant on the techies who may or may not be interested in realizing your vision. He later asks. “Anyone know how to write?” The audience shrug and he says “No? Good. Everyone else writes the same way. Start writing your way. That makes you unique.” And I’ll come back to that uniqueness later on folks as it’s an essential core message in all of this. In the video, Rodriguez pushes on and says - you want to make a cheap movie, but how do you make a cheap movie? He says to list the Actors, locations, props, and equipment you can get hold of. What do you have around you? What talents do your actor friends have? and What roles were they born to play? A Doctor? A scientist? A bong head? A cop? A guitar player? He says - you have a dog? Make a movie about your dog! What locations can you get access to? A Nightclub? An Office? A Factory? Old folks home? Make a movie about that. What props can you get hold of? A burger van? A Wheelbarrow? A stepladder? He says to take that list of things you can get hold of and build your story around that. He had a guitar case, a turtle and a small Texan town at his disposal when he was starting out, and, with that, he strung together the story of El Mariachi. On the topic of shiny new things he states “You don’t want anything too fancy. Fancy equipment makes for lifeless, dull films, lacking in that reckless, adventurous spirit of the newbie moviemaker. ” He talks about equipment and he says shoot with what you have. He used a camera which to my eye now is big and bulky but to him, at that time it was fast and light. He says don’t spend your own money on kit, but find some monkey who owns one and borrow it or rent it for not a lot – again the message is shoot with what you can get your hands on. He goes further than that and says add life to your film by getting rid of the fancy stuff. Get rid of it and shoot fast and light. He goes further still and says DON’T OVER LIGHT and that’s a problem I’ve seen on low budget sets. Their lit within an inch of their life and they take so long setting it all up that they’ve barely any time left to shoot the movie once it’s done. I’m kinda kidding but at the same time – I’m not. And by shooting low budget and in the 20 plus years since, Rodriguez has maintained creative control over just about all of his movies because he doesn’t go in too deep. He doesn’t overstretch and lose control. This is a bit more of a filmmakery episode than I usually do, but I believe there are messages within this for all creatives and hope you’ve found it useful. SUMMING UP I want to end with that core message about uniqueness that Robert Rodriguez talked about earlier on. He also said “All those years I had been making movies because I loved movies, and that's what made all the difference. If you're doing it because you love it you can succeed because you'll work harder than anyone else around you, take on challenges no one else would dare take, and come up with methods no one else would discover, especially when their prime drive is fame and fortune. All that will follow later if you really love what you do. Because your work will speak itself.” He says your work will speak for itself, and that’s a vital part of what filmmaking is. I’ve been sidetracked for a couple of years, quite happily to some extent, but I’ve been side-tracked away from creating my own work and it left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction in the end. Series one was loosely themed around moving on from burnout to badass or words to that effect, but this series is loosely themed around making sure that you follow your own path and dreams and vision and the secret of success in being a creative I have come to believe is maintaining, protecting and being able to deliver work which has your own uniqueness to it. As creatives, it’s our unique voices that will win us awards, not keeping up with the Jones's, or that shiny new bit of kit. It’s standing up and offering something new and unique. And saying. I made this. Herman Melville said It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. I say, it is through originality, that you will truly find success and ultimately happiness. CALL TO ACTION As a call to action this week and if you want to follow Robert Rodriguez example then make that list of your accessible resources, write a brilliant film that exploits them, then plan to shoot and edit with what you’ve got. If you’re not a filmmaker, take from this what lessons you can and use it as inspiration to push you forward in the achievement of your own dreams and creative projects. ENDING I’ll end with one final quote from Robert Rodriguez, he’s got plenty of them and they are all gold. He said It's easier making a smaller film like El Mariachi. There are no budget worries because there is no budget. There is no crew problem because there is no crew. And if you screw up, no one is around to see you screw up -- so it's no longer a screw up. …So don't give me any money, don't give me any people, but give freedom, and I'll give you a movie that looks gigantic. unquote Thanks again for choosing to spend your valuable time here with me. Please - take control of your own destiny, keep on shootin’, and join me next time on Film Pro Productivity. The music you can hear right now is Adventures by A Himitsu You can view the show notes for this episode on the official website filmproproductivity.com Please follow my personal account on Twitter and Instagram @fight_director or follow the show on Twitter @filmproprodpod or on Facebook @Filmproproductivity Thanks for supporting the show by subscribing, spreading the word and leaving an AWESOME review. Thanks: A Himitsu Music: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsuCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 ––– • Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsuhttps://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A Sources: http://www.experian.com/blogs/news/about/retail-therapy/ https://psychcentral.com/blog/why-you-shouldnt-try-to-keep-up-with-the-joneses/ https://centsiblyrich.com/6-ways-to-stop-your-desire-to-keep-up-with-the-joneses/ https://www.self.com/story/the-dangers-of-retail-therapy https://www.raindance.org/robert-rodriguezs-make-film-youve-got-method/ http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/director-robert-rodriguez-teaches-the-basics-of-filmmaking-in-under-10-minutes.html

      As the current year ends, you are likely promising yourself that next year is going to be the best year of your life. Now I don’t want to burst your bubble but the chances are that you will find yourself living the same life as always and according to Business Insider 80% OF NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS WILL GET BROKEN BE FEBRUARY. In this episode, though I’m going to discuss HOW TO KEEP YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS AND PLAN FOR YOUR BEST YEAR YET.   Jinny Ditzler, the author who I will be talking about a little later says, when talking of the year that has passed, that “The principal value of our mistakes and failures is our ability to learn from them”.   And it’s with that idea in mind that I present this episode as it’s in alignment with the higher level of thinking that I encouraged you to adopt in episode 1.   American author of self-help books, Melody Beattie, says that “The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. “ And that “We can help write that story by setting goals.”   In the last episode I talked about setting goals and to some extent, this show will expand upon that topic. I’ll add here that although this episode is launching at New Year, I REALISE THAT YOU MAY BE LISTENING TO IT PERHAPS HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR and if that’s the case just remember that You don’t need to set new goals at the break of a new year. Let your new year be tomorrow or a week from now if you feel you need a run up to it.   You don’t need to passively sail through your life. You must learn from the mistakes of the past and strategize your journey through the year ahead.   So the next chapter of your life is yet to be written and I need you now to take control and engage your higher level thinking self in helping you to shape it.   ANECDOTE   This year, on a number of levels, especially professionally, has been my best year yet. I directed fights on 6 or 7 high-level UK television shows, which amounted to 65 episodes in all, on a couple of short films and on 3 features and by utilising the Pareto Principle I made more money with less effort than I had put in on previous years. In addition to that, the short film which we’d made in Hong Kong a year or so ago has at latest count I think won 32 or 33 awards and been nominated for a further 20. I also, through the use of a 12 week year (listen to episode 11 for more on that) launched this podcast with its first 15 episodes, 16 including this one which goes out just before New Year and successfully created and launched the associated social media accounts and official website. I topped the year off by co-producing, co-directing and arranging fights on another film in Hong Kong which if the footage is anything to go by, will be quite a spectacular action piece.   With all that said and done I must admit that I veered away - last minute - from the episode which I’d been planning for New Year, which was about dealing with and recovering from burnout – GIVEN MY PREVIOUS LIST THERE I THINK YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE I WAS COMING FROM ON THAT ONE – but I redirected my efforts into what you are listening to now partly because I felt my own burnt out feeling would have dragged this episode down somewhat and partly as, let’s face it, looking forward to a new and even better year is a far more appropriate and positive topic for a special episode.   THE LESSON   So all that I achieved last year came about before I’d even heard of a book entitled Your Best Year Yet by Jinny Ditzler, but I’ve discovered that it aligns nicely with my own philosophy and it’s something I am using to plan my own year ahead. Jinny Ditzler presents simple and straightforward strategies based on a structure of self-questioning and if you do her exercises, you will be one step closer to changing your life with a strategic action plan based on the data you collect from your own self-analysis. BTW I must thank my friend Gillian Dick of the Goto agency who introduced me to Jinny’s book at this point. Gillian takes great pride in telling me that she has fallen asleep listening to this show on occasion so hopefully, she’s not nodded off listening to this one yet! Thanks, Gillian, just give yourself a shake, it’s halfway through already.   Jinny Ditzler’s now fairly famous book, which I’ll link to in the show notes of course, is titled Your Best Year Yet! But it’s more fully titled as Your Best Year Yet!: Ten Questions for Making the Next Twelve Months Your Most Successful Ever - And it’s these ten questions I’m going to discuss today.   Please buy the book via AMAZON my affiliate links. Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2QRnuuk Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/2Rly5gU   The book says that if you take 3 hours out of your life to answer these 10 questions you will DISCOVER THE LIFE YOU COULD BE LIVING.   It goes on to say that answering the 10 key questions about your expectations, accomplishments and dreams for the future, will aid you in creating an effective plan for realizing your most important goals for the next 12 months.   I’m not going to pretend that in this short podcast like this I can cover the depth of detail of the book but I’d like to introduce the questions to you here and encourage you to think about them.   1. The first question the book asks is What did I accomplish over the past 12 months? What do you feel good about? Often we are so busy in our lives that we don’t take a moment to congratulate ourselves on our successes – so it asks what have you done that you can be proud of, in life, in work, in learning, in your relationships, or charitable work, or earnings, fitness or whatever? Jinny starts with a leading question about your accomplishments as this leads us in a positive direction AND POINTS OUT THAT WE RARELY THINK ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED IN A DAY LET ALONE A YEAR. She uses a diagram called the CYCLE OF PRODUCTIVITY, which as a productivity junkie I was immediately attracted to. In this diagram she points out that missing out the acknowledgement or praise section of the cycle is a dangerous shortcut as without it, IT DEGRADES OUR MOMENTUM IN THE CYCLE OF PRODUCTIVITY AND MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT TO START AGAIN. To take new action and start future work. Especially after a difficult year, it’s really important that you take time to RECOGNISE OUR SUCCESSES.   2. The second question is What were your biggest disappointments? James Joyce said that “Mistakes are the portals or discovery”, and I believe we have to embrace our mistakes and forgive them so that we can move on. So what dreams did you miss out on in the year past, what expectations weren’t fulfilled? Did you miss out in love? Put on weight, or even just fail to lose any? Whatever your disappointments you must list them here. Again I’ll batter on about the fact that if you put things in writing you are 80% more likely to do them SO DON’T MISS OUT THE WRITING PART IN ALL THIS. By writing these disappointments down you will clear them from your mind. Jinny describes this as pulling the weeds of disappointment and failure from your mind. Again writing them down helps you to recognise and deal with them. Letting them go puts you in a place where your self-assessment, which is the point of these ten questions, is NO LONGER PRIMARILY BASED ON FAILURE. By listing them she wants you to forgive, forget and learn from them. To bin, that excess baggage, dissipate resentment and FINALLY JUST LET GO.   3. The third question effectively asks of the previous two questions What did you learn? The book encourages us to ask, what was the secret of my success? What worked? What did I achieve? And, What didn’t work and why? What would have worked better? What’s the lesson? Taking that further Jinny asks What do I need to change in the way I operate? How can I do things differently? What advice can I give myself? Have I been honest? Etc and from that she asks us to turn the answers into personal guidelines. She lists some of her own guidelines as PUT MY FAMILY FIRST, ASK FOR HELP WHEN I NEED IT, RELAX, DO WHAT I KNOW WHAT TO DO, FACE THE MUSIC etc. ---- Even three questions in I’m hoping that you guys have started considering buying the book. This simple approach could change everything for you.   4. With Question 4 Jinny asks How do you limit yourself, and how can you stop? This is a powerful question and it’s not something I think that I’ve ever considered. It’s simple but if you’re honest in answering it then the answer will be very enlightening. She further asks here - What has it cost me to limit myself? In what ways have I benefited from it? And - Am I willing to stop limiting myself? This is quite an involved chapter so I’m not going to say much more here. Getting through these questions and assessing the answers will perhaps be the key to unlocking your special powers in the year ahead. BY NO LONGER LIMITING YOURSELF, or recognising it when we do, YOU CAN SHAPE YOUR FUTURE FAR MORE PRECISELY AND REFRAME YOUR MIND INTO A NEWER LESS LIMITED ONE. We must recognise our limiting actions and re-write them with a new paradigm that cancels out the limiting factor and allows us to move on. A simple example of this could be that your limiting paradigm is to believe that only you know what is best and the empowering paradigm may be that you succeed more quickly and achieve more with the support of others.   5. The next of the ten questions is What are my personal values? WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU, WHAT VALUES REPRESENT WHO YOU ARE? What values do you want to demonstrate, and what effect do you want to have on others? Now, this is a topic which I’m going to delve into even deeper in another episode as I think that as time goes on and as we have our ups and downs in life our values can become a little lost. If you feel that way too, then hang on in there and I’ll get an episode about that and about how we can utilise affirmations to help reshape out values somewhere down the line. SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME. For now, though that was question 5 of the Best Year Yet, but…   6. Question 6 asks What roles do I play in my life? (Father, wife, teacher, student, writer, consultant and so on) This question is asked so as to get an overall view of all the aspects and responsibilities of your life. If you find yourself chasing your tail on your to-do list then redefining your role may help you to gain focus there. KNOWING YOUR ROLES IN LIFE PROVIDES DIRECTION, it places who you are, your values etc – at the centre of your life. This self-awareness of role and values puts you in that driving seat that I keep battering on about.   7. Following on from this question 7 asks Which of your roles is going to be your major focus for the next 12 months? Ahhhh you were wondering the point of question 6 perhaps? Well, here it is. You are being asked to narrow down those roles and that’s not perhaps as easy as you thought. This chapter, however, presents you with various means of narrowing down the options and focusing on the one that matters. Intuition is perhaps the strongest part of this but if you have trouble deciding the book will help you out. It poses questions such as - IN WHICH ROLE DO I WANT TO HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH? If I could put one problem behind me, once and for all, what would it be? And the answers to these questions, amongst others listed there, can inform your decision process. DECIDING WHAT TO FOCUS ON INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BE ALL THINGS WILL ALLOW THAT AREA OF YOUR LIFE TO FLOURISH.   8. Question 7 is very much tied to Question 8 which asks, What are your goals for each role? Now my last episode was all about setting and achieving goals so you should be all over this one, but I’ll talk a little bit about Jinny’s angle here. She starts by pointing out that which we have discussed already –that PEOPLE WHO HAVE GOALS, ACHIEVE MORE RESULTS IN THEIR LIVES. Jinny’s system of goal setting, however, is quite rightly tied together with the values she asked about earlier. She points out that “People whose goals are aligned with their values achieve more satisfaction and fulfilment.” And that lesson is of great value here. I’ll say it again - “People whose goals are aligned with their values achieve more satisfaction and fulfilment.” That’s something that can certainly be lost as we drive our way through life or through a career. She goes on to say that “When you change from wishing and whinging to setting powerful value-driven goals, you move to a more positive and productive life” and goes on to talk about being specific in your goal setting as I suggested last week. She further pins these goals down to a time-specific deadline with not just annual goal deadlines, but monthly, bi-monthly & quarterly ones too. Jinny splits these time-specific power goals into Result goals and Process Goals. Something which I’m going to try and do myself. An example might be Result Goal: Make a feature film by this time next year. Process goal: Write a page a day for the next 90 days to get the first draft by three months from today. Check out my episode on creating Habits (I think its episode 13) to find out about more about that one. This chapter is huge so I have to move on but as I’ve said before this is a book I encourage you to buy to find out more – So without further ado, the book next asks…   9. Number 9 - What are my top 10 goals for the next year? You probably have a ton of goals and subgoals on your to-do list and Chapter 9 helps you to further narrow them down and to limit them to a top ten. A shortlist of ten you see gives you a map with which to plan your year. You can begin to reduce these goals by reviewing again the first 7 questions and reminding yourself of your new paradigm, your re-written plan to circumvent the limitations you have previously placed upon yourself. With your values and primary role or roles in mind, you will, THROUGH A PROCESS OF PRIORITIZING AND ELIMINATION, form your list and it's with that top ten that you can start to plan YOUR BEST YEAR YET! This plan will take the form of a simple page which includes guidelines derived from your earlier answers, a new paradigm to rewrite an existing limiting one, a major focus or breakthrough you are going for and your top ten goals for the year.   10. Finally, question 10 asks How can I make sure that I achieve those goals? Well, you’ve written it all down and that’s a great place to start but the book offers what it calls THE FOOLPROOF SOLUTION, and presents 3 questions to ask yourself at any time you are uncertain. Firstly you must ask yourself What’s the next step? And simply identify what actions are required and just take those steps – and the advice on moving forward once this is done is to JUST DO IT. It next asks Who can give you the support you need to achieve your goals and shift to your new empowering paradigm? There may well be someone you know that can advise you. And lastly Does the way I see the problem limit my achieving it? Removing the internal limiting factors and focusing on your new paradigm, should receive as much attention as the goals themselves. This chapter also covers pitfalls such as negative thoughts which disempower us and the negativity of others, and urges us to be aware of end goal thinking – something I’ve suffered from myself and instead reminds us to try and enjoy the process. It goes on to cover prioritizing and other topics which if you are a regular listener to the show you will already have some awareness of.   The book ends with a workshop chapter which lists the ten questions in a format in which you can easily follow and answer in the blank spaces provided. In short, this is a simple guide with powerful results and for the sake of a few quid and a few hours of your time, you will find that it can pay back quite considerably.   Jinny’s ten questions are ones that I encourage you to answer and even if you think you are doing well and don’t need the help. She says that “The coming year is just your best year so far - they can get better and better as the years go by.” Her point, of course, is that EVERY YEAR THAT COMES CAN STILL BE YOUR BEST YEAR YET. You thought last year was good? WELL WAIT TILL YOU SEE WHAT’S COMING!   SUMMING UP   Get yourself a copy of the book via the links on the show notes for this episode on filmproproductivity.com and I’ll get a bump back from the sale, which in turn will help to support the podcast. Well, I say that but to be honest it’s not happened yet – but I live in hope. Jinny is also active on some social networks so I’ll add links to those too. The book is a real keeper and you will find yourself using it again and again and if you are anything like me, buying copies of it for others too. – Michael Josephson said “Approach the New Year with the resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day. ” and I hope that the lessons of Your Best Year Yet will enable you to find that resolve. Everything is easier with a plan, and Jinny Ditzler’s book is one of the quickest ways of creating one.   H Jackson Brown said “DON’T LET WEEDS GROW ABOUT YOUR DREAMS” so keep that in mind as you move forward into the new year. Ending   I didn’t recap on episode 15 today as this topic wasn’t far off from that one, but I will do when I launch season 2.   As you may be aware, the previous 15 episodes were batch recorded, and I did that to ensure that when I said in episode 1 that 15 episodes would make up the preseason and season 1 that what I promised to release would absolutely happen. I like to think that I have a reputation for reliability and so if I say I am going to do something I really try to guarantee that it happens. Batching btw is an excellent tool for any similar tasks that you may want to do yourself. But what it meant though is that this is the first episode where I’ve had the opportunity to respond to the feedback of the first 15 episodes and I have to say that the response to the show has been outstanding. This is still only a fledgeling podcast but I’ve got a good strong core group of subscribers and have had in the region of 30-40 messages of support since launch. From experienced screenwriters and filmmakers to just people who love the content, the response has been excellent, which is good because if it wasn’t I probably would have thrown in the towel. Creating these shows is a hell of an undertaking as it’s expensive to maintain in both cash and time terms.   I’ve been especially pleased to hear that the show has pushed several filmmakers on to shoot and complete their own films too with 3 films completed from what I hear due to inspiration is drawn from Film Pro Productivity. That’s not something I ever thought would happen so I’m really pleased to hear about that sort of thing. Please continue to interact with me on the social networking pages or through the official website as hearing from you really does, as Clint Eastwood is fond of saying, make my day.   On that note I have a plan for the next season with topics such as Dealing with Stress, why you shouldn’t collaborate, manipulators and other toxic people and drive but if you have a particular subject that you’d like me to cover, if you are struggling again and again with the same problem and don’t know how to solve it please do get in touch and tell me all about it. I will do my best to cover the topic in a future episode. I’ve only had two speak pipe messages since launch but why not give it a try and leave me an up to 90-second audio message on Film Pro Productivity dot com’s Contact page.   Finally, I want to plug the podcast of fellow filmmaker Ian O’Neill which is called How They Did It Filmmaking. In his show, Ian interviews awesome filmmaker guests in a casual and engaging format which I just love. Ian launched his show perhaps two or three weeks before I did and I see him as a kindred spirit in this creative podcasting world. He even interviews me along the way so obviously, that’s a particularly gripping episode! You can subscribe to his show on all the usual podcasting apps or catch him on twitter @Hfilmmaking or @ianwrites and you can also track him down on Facebook @howtheydiditpodcast and Instagram @howtheydiditfilmmaking if you prefer those platforms.   You may have noticed that I’m letting episodes sit now at round about the 20-minute mark. That’s a deliberate change which I’ve made to the original format. I found ten minutes just too tight to get the lessons across, and unlike in film where we so often tighten up the edit, I have come to the conclusion that when editing a podcast, just a few beats more silence after points have been made ALLOWS THE LISTENER TO FULLY UNDERSTAND AND PROCESS THE INFORMATION. So I speak a little slower, ramble a little more and pause on occasion, but it all adds to a more engaging format and that’s what really matters in the end.   I’ll finish today’s special episode with a quote from the great poet Alfred Tennyson who said “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’…”   Thanks once again for giving me your time and Please - Take control of your own destiny, Enjoy planning your own BEST YEAR YET, keep on shootin’ and join me once again for season two, sometime in late February, on Film Pro Productivity.   · The music you are listening to right now is Adventures by A Himitsu · You can view the show notes for this episode on the official website at filmproproductivity.com · And subscribe on the podcast app of your choice on android and apple devices · You can follow the show on Twitter @filmproprodpod or on Facebook @filmproprodutivity or catch my personal accounts on Twitter and Instagram @fight_director · Please support the show by subscribing, leaving an AWESOME review especially on iTunes and by spreading the word. If you can get just one more person to listen it would make a huge difference.   Thanks: A Himitsu Image: Main Photographs were taken on the Giordano UK shoot by Bryan Larkin. Music: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsu Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 ––– • Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsu https://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A Sources: https://www.facebook.com/jinny.ditzler https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/1-habit-inspiring-leader-jinny-ditzler https://blog.12min.com/your-best-year-yet-summary/ https://theinvisiblementor.com/your-best-year-yet-by-jinny-ditzler-10-tough-questions-to-ask-yourself/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jinnysditzler?trk=author_mini-profile_title https://twitter.com/Jinny_S_Ditzler https://www.businessinsider.com/new-years-resolutions-courses-2016-12?r=UK&IR=T

Humans have faced existential risks since our species was born. Because we are Earthbound, what happens to Earth happens to us. Josh points out that there’s a lot that can happen to Earth - like gamma ray bursts, supernovae, and runaway greenhouse effect. (Original score by Point Lobo.)  Interviewees: Robin Hanson, George Mason University economist (creator of the Great Filter hypothesis); Ian O’Neill, astrophysicist and science writer; Toby Ord, Oxford University philosopher. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers