Being an indefatigable artist means having self-discipline. Holding yourself accountable. Realizing that everyone has 24 hours in a day. Intelligence is an efficient use of limited resources and that includes time.

Being a Freelancer, you have to self-disciplined with your time, if you can’t make a schedule for yourself and hold yourself accountable to that schedule you will not be at the best of your ability and that is failing yourself. Aim high, because it’s not going to be 100%, it’s going to be 90-95% and that’s ok, because you are trying, and you are going to get better as long as you keep taking that next step. You woke up today, with that simple act, you are already more reslilient than the day before, if you choose to see it!

If you don’t acknowledge your own efforts how can you expect others to?

I say that it won’t be 100% because that is but an expectation, and when we are thinking of our schedule we aren’t putting down the times the power goes out, a hurricane coming through and you have to evacuate or fucking DIE! The times the computer program will crash – these aren’t complaints, these are everyday realities that aren’t in your perfect little fucking pristine schedule. The universe doesn’t give a fuck about your plans, get stabbed in the ass and burned by a gaseous star a billion light years away, get smacked by an asteroid, an insect enters your ear as you sleep, into your ear drum it seeps to drop a batch of eggs, which will crawl out of your ear at dinner as you scream in oozing agony to the hospital, was that in your schedule?

Going with the flow

And seeing where the energy goes

Where focus goes

Energy flows 

Be mindful of this and carry on 

Sometimes we have to get out of our own way 

I have had to get out of my own way this year

What do I mean by that?

I mean the realization that I am not the thoughts in my head.

I am more than that.

I was in a twitter hearing about someone with depressed thoughts.

Where did those words come from?

Why don’t you think -gabadabadayuckaboo – when you look at the mirror?

That word doesn’t exist – all words that do exist are man made and came from your environment. Get control of your thoughts and realize that you as an individual are more than those thoughts.

SNAP! 

Mute that fucking voice inside your head and carry on. Realize that voice came from the environment you live in, it wouldn’t be here without your environment. Realize that if you were born in another country you would speak another language and have a different voice inside your head, it is for that reason you have to gain control of the remote control and mute that voice. Mute it, go further.

You openly complain about these thoughts because you gain pleasure from the sympathy, how far will that get you? A like or two? Instantaneous serotonin. Fades away, cycle repeats.

SNAP OUT OF IT!

Name every star in the milky way galaxy, right now. Name every planet ever discovered. 

You want to un-alive this physical avatar that your energy currently inhabits – why? 

I have had those thoughts too and had to realize those thoughts came from somewhere outside of me, it was me not having control over my thoughts, my thoughts were controlling me. 

Is that where you want to be – under the influence of outside forces? 

Go with the flow of focal energy. What do you want to focus on?

Back to being self-discplined and sticking to your schedule the best that you can given the daily unforeseen obstacles – both external and internal – it’s hard to pay attention with so many social media apps, but we do what we can at the best of our own ability and the only competition we have in this life stares us in the mirror in the morning. Every morning that fucker is there. That’s a survivor in that mirror, no one could possibly know all of what that person has gone through to get to this moment.

Your schedule will help you hit these flow states. Day in, day out, sticking with it, putting time aside for that one task for that period of time and limiting yourself to doing that one task, remember you learned to walk by taking one little baby step at a time, did you give up – did you go off and get distracted by other things – oh what’s that shiny thing there let me put that in my mouth and suck on it – ok now, this big human is trying to get me to put my one foot in front of the other again – the baby isn’t old enough to ask – why?” they just do it and laugh the only way an innocent baby can laugh. Baby cries when it’s hungry, hurting or sleepy.

What more to life is there? 

Keep It Simple Stupid.

One step at a time, focus on that step, schedule out time for that step, and watch the level of focus get taken up a notch. 

I have done this over the course of my career as a creative, I have undergone yet another simplification, by cutting different efforts out, to just focus on one creation at a time. 

Spread myself too thin and I wasn’t able to fully hit that flow state that I know I can hit, the one I hit when writing my novels. The one I hit creating my last short film, NGMI Alive.

The one I hit when I am writing for this podcast.

Flow state. 24 hours in a day, same 24 hours every other human on this planet has, the same human that you look up to, use those 24 hours wisely. If you’re tired, respect yourself enough to sleep. Team no sleep is fucking bullshit. Your brain is more active when you are sleeping and dreaming then when you are forcing yourself to stay up trying to work on the computer. You’re also creating more stress and not allowing your body to rest from that increased stress, so it multplies the negative effect it’s having on you, it’s compounding!

24 hours in a day, you can sleep for 6 or 7 of them at least!

You have to work a 12 hour shift? Ok. You then still have at least an hour to devote for your passion. I used to work 12-16 hour shifts while working valet and STILL made time for my passion, if you will it, there will be a way, get out of your own way, stop making excuses and start doing. Does the baby push back and argue with the adult, does the baby come up with an excuse why they can’t attempt to walk? No, the goo goo and ga ga and get the god damn job done! One baby step at a time!

Let’s continue to Go Further Together. I appreciate you taking the time to listen and hope these episodes have been inspirational to you, and hopefully push you to express yourself more in any capacity. There will always be more ideas than time, just as there will always be more thoughts than spoken words, say what you have to say while you have the ability to say it. 

Pick Up a Writing Utensil

And if this my last episode ever, and one of these times that will be true, so I want to say it now, because if not now, when? But I just want to say before I go, one last thing and if it’s the last thing I ever say I want it to be this -