Creating Your Theme
Dear Friends:
As I mentioned in my last article about ‘Creating 2020’ I promised to give you additional information and ideas on creating your Theme for the year. In the past when I’ve shared my own story about my favorite theme, people asked me to put it in writing so others could benefit from it and get inspired to create their own theme. I really hope my story will give you a sense of how much fun taking on a theme can be.
In this article you’re going to get my story as well as “10 Tips on Creating Your Annual Theme.” I truly love the entire process of creating a theme and then spending the year watching it unfold and enjoying the magical impact it has on all aspects of life. <--read more-->
10 Tips to Have Your Best Year Ever!
Dear Friends:
In my last article I gave you ‘10 Tips to Wrap Up 2019 and Having the Best Holiday Ever!’ I hope you were able to take the suggestions, tips and exercises and put them to good use. Have a wonderful Holiday Season! Once again, I’ve given you gold here, so take it home with you and be with your family in a way you’ve never been before. Appreciate them in a way you’ve never done before
I also promised you that I would follow up with ‘10 Tips to Creating and Designing 2020” and Having Your Best Year Ever!’ As I mentioned in my last article, this is part of a workshop called Launching the Future that was created when Heidi Wall and I founded the Flash Forward Institute in the 90s. I always stressed the importance of generating and creating your year. If you are not putting yourself in charge of your life and career and literally creating your future, you will always be at the effect of the circumstances around you. I just led the workshop a couple of week ago and I always forget just how amazing and powerful it is <--read more-->
Wrapping Up Your Year
Dear Friends:
For those of you who know me, you’re well aware that this is my favorite time of year. I love this magical holiday season. A time for family, friends and food… giving and receiving… completion, contribution, acknowledgement, creation and of course, FUN!
Because the end of the year is drawing near, it’s time to take a look back at 2019. I think what I’m about to give you in this article may be the best gift you’ve received during this entire holiday season. “10 Tips to Wrap Up 2019… Giving Yourself the Best Holiday Gift Ever!” <--read more-->
10 (Plus 5) Tips to Success in Business
Dear Friends:
We all choose our careers and jobs because we have something to contribute and we want to make a difference. We’re passionate about what we do, and we are all committed to fulfilling our dreams.
I have coached thousands and thousands of people over the years and regardless of how talented or how passionate we are there are times when we hit roadblocks, let rejection get to us, lose faith in ourselves or the business we’re in, or just plain get stuck. These tips will help get you back on track, giving you that boost of enthusiasm you need to get you up and running. <--read more-->
The Cure for “What-is-itis” aka How to Stop the “That’s Just the way that it is” Conversation
Dear Friends:
I’ve produced/exec produced twelve feature films to date where I’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of people, and in addition I’ve taught entertainment industry workshops to thousands and thousands of folks over the years. There is one thing I hear all too often and it drives me crazy. “That’s just the way it is!” “Suzanne, the market is shrinking,” “Women over forty just can’t get good roles in films,” “Investors are not putting their money into films anymore,” “I’m so new to the industry, it’s going to be impossible to get a paying gig.” And here is the best one, “None of it’s my fault, it’s “JUST THE WAY IT IS.” This makes me crazy! And I hear it so often, I’m beginning to think it’s an epidemic. Although I’m not a doctor, I’m going to go ahead and work on the cure for this disease called “What-Is-Itis.”
Here’s a perfect example of how we stay stuck in a certain mindset and become convinced that it’s just the way that it is. Until 1954 authorities claimed that the 4-minute mile was impossible if not lethal. Roger Bannister believed otherwise and on May 6th of that year he ran the mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. Runners of the past had been held back by a mindset that said it couldn’t be done. When the limit was challenged a paradigm shift occurred and within months runners were beating the new record. <--read more-->
Goal Setting
Dear Friends:
When I was doing some coaching to groups of people from the corporate world years ago I always started with this question, “How many of you have set your goals (both long and short term) this year?” Every time 99% of the hand would go up. A few years later when I asked the same question in seminars filled with folks of all facets and levels of the entertainment industry the exact opposite would happen. Only a couple of hands went up.
Goal setting is fun, exhilarating and life altering. So why don’t we do it? Why don’t we set goals for ourselves? I think why so many of us in our industry don’t set goals is because we think it’s someone else’s job. We hear it all the time… “That’s my agent’s job,” or “That’s my manager’s job.” Putting your career in the hands of someone else is crazy. This is not the place to relinquish your power. I’m not saying that having an agent or manager is not great. Of course, it’s helpful to have a team supporting you. But that doesn’t mean that YOU are not 100% responsible for your career. <--read more-->
10 Tips on How to Deal With Stress
Dear Friends:
It’s been a busy two months for me. I spoke on the international film production panel at (TIFF) the Toronto International Film Festival, worked with my business partner on the casting of our amazing John Lennon project and attached an incredible actor, signed a deal on a TV pilot with Canadian Production Company, went back up to Toronto to meet with the showrunner on that project and then off to Israel for two weeks and came back to Los Angeles to prep for the American Film Market and then optioned another fantastic feature project, and on and on it goes.
You can see why I wanted to write this Blog on how to deal with stress! Just looking at that paragraph is causing me stress. I think we are all crazy busy these days. Multitasking is a given and stress is something that everyone is dealing with… at every age, every level, in every business and in our personal lives. <--read more-->
Turning Weaknesses into Strengths
Dear Friends:
I have literally spent the last month thinking about this topic and I have to be honest, this has been a difficult one. Turning our weaknesses into strengths! The more I thought about it, the more I realized I could write a book about this topic or a whole series of books for that matter. Just being in the inquiry and observing myself and others has been amazing, enlightening and yes, at times, downright depressing.
I’ve even reread “Creativity, Inc.” by Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation. If you haven’t read this book, go online and order it now! When you’re committed to the highest artistic standards as Catmull and his colleagues were, you are going to bump up against your weak areas again and again. Never did he or his colleagues back down from a challenge. They faced each breakdown and problem head on, dealt with it and found solutions. The results were pure creative genius and we as audiences got to enjoy the magic they created. <--read more-->
Moving From Resignation To Enthusiasm
Dear Friends:
This week I’m going to focus on the subject of ‘energy and enthusiasm.’ As I do with many of the topics of these articles, I put myself in an inquiry. This time as I was focusing on ‘energy and enthusiasm,’ I was continually observing what impact the day-to-day bumps in the road were having on me… always noticing when (and how quickly) resignation would set in and affect my level of energy and my productivity.
I recommend you join me in this inquiry. Just staying conscious and present to these distinctions is transformational. In addition to observing, I did some research on the topic and spoke to a lot of people about it. I noticed that it doesn’t take much to bring us down.
In the entertainment industry I believe we face more rejection than any other industry in the world. The result of on-going rejection will be resignation and despair if we don’t really make a concerted effort to turn it around. <--read more-->
Turning Your Passion into Prosperity
Dear Friends:
“Workin’ 9 to 5… what a way to make a livin.” Do you know that song from the old 70s film “9 to 5”? Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you get the picture. It’s the way we’ve been trained. It’s the way our parents were raised and it’s the way their parents were raised. It’s just “the way it is.” Well, what if it didn’t have to be that way? If you love your 9 to 5 job, fantastic! Of course, these days the hours are more like 9:00 to 7:00! However, Jack Canfield, in his book “The Success Principles,” refers to a study that was done in the U.S. that says, “A full one third of Americans would be happier in another job.” That’s crazy. We really have to ask ourselves, “Am I doing what I love to do?”
Many of you reading this article are in the entertainment industry doing what you love. But, for the majority of us, it’s not a weekly paycheck. Sometimes there’s weeks, months and even years between gigs. So, what are ways that we can make money doing other things we love and want to do. <--read more-->
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