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Episode 92 | 10 THINGS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY



“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein, Unquote

In the last episode I re-visited the 12 WEEK YEAR, a system for getting things done without annualized thinking and planning, but with a more focused 12-week mindset that creates greater drive by pulling your goals from what seems very very far away to bring them much much closer. If you have not heard I yet, then please go back and indulge yourself in a better way to get things done. 12 Week Years are not tied to new year’s, but can begin at any time you choose.


After that New Year Special I went almost immediately into a 12 WEEK YEAR myself. I came off social media and I stopped producing episodes while I focused own and concentrated on three of my long-term goals. The exercise was incredibly successful although it was laterally interrupted by a very involved indie feature film that I got pulled into called Mercy Falls. As many of you will know, I work as a fight director and oversee the fight choreography and safe delivery of fights and action sequences. This one was put together by fellow filmmaker Ryan Hendrick and his team of hard-working cast and crew and as these low budget productions almost always are, required a little more time and energy than I had anticipated. Still, I made massive advancements in my goals before that stage, and am taking on a shorter kind of “4 Week Year” starting today to tie up a few loose ends and squeeze a bunch of essential admin work into the same period. I’ll also e recording 9 new episodes to complete season 7 of this podcast during that time, but more about that later.

The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart. J. R. R. Tolkien

I have made a lot of mistakes in my time, sometimes, more than once sometimes more that to be honest but I’ll try not to dwell on it. I thought I’ share a few of them here with you today.


  1. ALWAYS GIVE SOMEONE A SECOND CHANCE BUT NEVER A THIRD.

  2. SOME PEOPLE WILL LET YOU CARRY THE RESPONSIBILITY AND DO THE WORK BUT TAKE CREDIT LATER. Watch out for them. ONE IN TWENTY PEOPLE ARE SOCIOPATHS.

  3. NEVER TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE PAID ON TIME OR EVER.

  4. DOING A FAVOR FOR SOMEONE IS NOT A CONTRACT FOR FUTURE RETURN OF FAVOR, FUTURE WORK OR EVEN OF RETURNED RESPECT.

  5. BEWARE OF IMPORT TAXES + NEVER BUY A CAMERA FROM ARGOS.

  6. LIFE IS NOT FAIR SO DON’T GET SURPRISED OR UPSET WHEN YOU ARE MISTREATED.

  7. NEVER TRUST THE PRESS.

  8. SEEKING FUNDING FROM GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IS A WASTE OF TIMEAND ENERGY.

  9. NEVER WORK WITH A$$HOLES IF YOU CAN AVOID IT. YOU CAN ALWAYS CHOOSE TO WALK AWAY- NEVER BE AFRAID TO WALK AWAY.

  10. DON’T TRUST THAT FOLK YOU THINK ARE INTELLIGENT ACTUALLY ARE. THE WORLD IS FILLED WITH IDIOTS.


These genuinely are thing I learned the hard way – please take them seriously – they may head off a problem before you step right into it.


Do you have anything YOU’VE learned the hard way that you’d like to share with me? You can leave a voicemail message via the website filmproproductivity.com/contact or grab me on twitter @filmproprodpod or on Facebook, where I’d encourage you all to go @filmproproductivity. If you feel up for it too, please leave a review there and like and share the page. I need your help find more listeners!


So, as I said at the start this episode marks the beginning of a short kind of 4 week year where I’m tying up a few loose ends. Creating an initial 9 more episodes of this podcast is part of these 4 weeks and with these new shows I have two specific aims. The first is to bring the show up to episode 100 and the second is to trial a new shorter format along the way.


I have tried several times shorten the length of these episodes without much success but it’s something I really need to make work. With that in mind I will be releasing mostly regular length episodes up until and including episode 100 but after that, and after receiving feedback from you on a few test episodes, I will either stop creating new shows altogether and call it a day at 100 or I will proceed initially with another 50 in the new shorter format, leaving the possibility for the occasional interview show or longer format special.

Season 7 will continue next week with a fairly standard show called CREATIVITY ON DEMAND which is all about the difficulties of having to come up with creative work and solutions on a deadline and in the following week will have two trial episodes in the new "mini-sode" format. FAST, CHEAP, GOOD will be released at 7pm GMT on the Sunday, and BATCHING will be released at the same time on the Wednesday. I’ll be looking for feedback on these so please let me know how you feel about them. After that we will have another standard show called ANGER, REGRET and JEALOUSY but the following week again I will release two mini-sodes on the Sunday and the Wednesday, FOCUS ON 3 THINGS and OPENING AND CLOSING DOORS. I’ll end the season with episode 99 TO DO LISTS and show number 100 - 10 PRODUCTIVITY SUPERPOWERS.


Stephen Covey famously said that “To achieve goals you've never achieved before; you need to start doing things you've never done before.” and that’s why I’m trying new things. Change is necessary and I am hoping that the new format will allow this show to continue. It’s partly about time – I have very little of it, and a short single point format will give me a lot of that back, and its partly it’s about mixing things up.

I’ll end today with some words from Al Franken, who said, “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.”


Now take control of your own destiny, keep on shootin’ and join me next time on FILM PRO PRODUCTIVITY AND SUCCESS!


  • 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:


Thanks: A Himitsu Music: Adventures by A Himitsu

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