Defend tomorrow

When the days where the resistance is strong and wakes up before you. It helps me to remember that I am working on a better tomorrow.

We will miss you.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to….love what you do. Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life” ~Steve Jobs

Back to the start

The music from this is so good. Willey Nelson, it’s dead on and it fits tone of the film so well. Well done Johnny Kelly. Well done Chipotle. A film like this tells the ethos of a company so well.

The making of this film is even more impressive.

Check list for life.

What do people live for?

One is hard of hearing, one has cancer, 3 have heart disease. One dream. Love this commercial. I don’t know if it’s because they’re old Chinese guys, and I project my grandfather into them. But this is really well done. The music is a little cheesy, but the shots great.

It’s interesting this commercial would never work in the states. But it works in asia. I call it the Seinfeld effect… everyone is jaded, and too sarcastic. People hid behind sarcasm so they don’t have to feel anything or engage with anything for too long. It might work as a Harley Davidson commercial maybe. They pull at the hearts string a little too much, but the sentiment and execution is superb.

Hilarious Go the F*** to sleep

Understand their souls.

Don’t let anyone define who we really are by their terms. via stapledesign

Do the work.

I just read Do the Work from Steven Pressfield. If you have a kindle hurry up and download it, it’s free. I sat down and finished it in one sitting. This book was what I needed to read right now at this point of my life. Just like I needed to read the Fountainhead when I found it, just like when I needed to watch Fight Club it was there for me in college. All those things did one thing. It kicked my ass and made me ask myself what am I doing with my life.

This book to me is about making something. If you are doing something creative, if you ever had an ounce of self doubt, if you ever have asked yourself am I doing the right thing here? This book is for you. It talks about the struggles of creatives and the journey that we go through. The journey is long and it’s lonely. But it’s good to know that someone has walked to the belly of the beast and have come back to share their tale with us.

One of the things that stuck up to me is he mentioned his 3 weapons against what he calls the resistance. The resistance  is anything that stops you from where you want to go. Most of the time the resistance lives inside of us. Be stupid, Be stubborn, Be blind.

When we were kids I remember I used to do these dare devil stunts. I didn’t do it for any other reason except I knew I could. I remember this one playground had a ridiculously high swings. I didn’t like the swings back then I used to walk across the thin metal beam back and forth back and forth. How stupid was that!? I had no concept of the ground. No concept of falling. I just knew I could walk across back and forth, and that’s what I didn’t . I never fell not even once. I guess that’s what Steven Pressman meant when he said Be stupid. Be blind. I realized as I got older I started thinking too much. I started listening to the voices outside of me instead of the one inside.

Thanks Steve, Thanks Seth for taking the time.

My creative endeavor started 3 years ago. The Best of Me is a visual album I have been trying to make for the last few years. I realized I was not happy at my old job because I didn’t get to make anything with my hands anymore. I realized I was not becoming the artist / creative I knew I could be. I was becoming a better manager day by day. But artistically I was floundering. I sucked my creative well dry and I was running on fumes. I loved the people there, But I was getting better at the art of middle management rather than finding my own art. I traded big brand names and a comfortable middle management job to go out on my own. I quit that job because I had to find my creative mojo again. If I had never done that I would not be able to realize how deep my creativity goes now. I wake up everyday, and if I do the work, solve the problems. I am a happy man.

Your right Steve… it’s about commitment. I’ve been one foot out the door at a lot of places, and I’ve always searched for a place to put two feet in. I have found it, it’s been right under my nose this whole time. The creativity comes from within, the hard part is to cultivate it and have the courage to ship out your vision. Thank you for reminding me that.

love what you do.

I’m a big believer in doing what you love. I realized it’s about focus. I realize that if you don’t know what it is you love to do. Then you will end up doing someone else’s bidding. But also realize that sometimes when you don’t know what it is you want to do. You still need to do something. The key is to be in constant motion. That way it’s easier to run into and discover the thing that you ultimately should be doing.