Welcome back to my newsletter, where I share interesting things Iâve learned during the week.
Todayâs topics:
đ§đŒââïžÂ | Delusion vs. Faith
đ±Â | Theyâll join you eventually
đ§Â | How to learn
â»ïžÂ | Another version of you
đ§đŒââïž Delusion vs. Faith
Itâs okay to be delusional. When your dreams become reality, theyâll say you had faith all along.
When I stumble upon somebodyâs work I admire, my favorite thing is to search for their earlier creations from years ago and study how theyâve grown over time.
If itâs a business, I search for the first version of their website or their products.
If itâs a content creator, I sort their videos by the oldest and watch their first few uploads.
If itâs someone I meet in person, I ask them for interesting stories from the earlier days.
While speaking to a mentor of mine recently, he narrated the story of how he married his wife and moved into a one-bedroom apartment with nothing but a mattress and a bed frameâno TV, no couch, no fridge. Just himself, his wife, and a dream.
When I heard him say this, of course, I felt inspired. Looking at them now, itâs almost impossible to imagine a world where that was their reality. Never in a million years would I have guessed if he didnât tell me.
I love listening to stories like these because, honestly, they make me feel less⊠delusional.
They make me feel like I can make something out of my life, like Iâm not just holding on to some dumb fantasy that appears eternities apart from my current position.
Thereâs a quote I came across that perfectly articulates my point. I can't recall its exact wording, so hereâs a paraphrase:
When itâs not working, youâre being delusional. Once it does, you had faith all along.
I wish I could find the original quote, but I think this will suffice. The message is crystal clear.
Imagine meeting this couple when they had just moved into their tiny apartment.
Imagine listening to them ramble on about their âdreamâ of one day achieving success, financial independence, owning their house, and making a positive impact on the lives of people around the world.
As much as you would love to encourage and support their dream, when you take a look at their situation, it tends more toward delusion than faith.
You canât afford a single couch but youâre talking about buying a house? Financial independence?? Letâs be real here!
But you know what the interesting thing is?
When they relay their story now, after achieving all those dreams, nobody says they were being delusional. They had faith all along.
You then begin to hear questions like, âHow did you have so much faith in yourself back in the day?â
Itâs a bit ironic (and funny too), but thatâs just how it works.
When youâre still early in your journey, your dreams and fantasies are the only things you can hold onto. The belief in that fantasy, albeit delusional, is the raw ingredient required to birth the results you desire.
So, I guess the takeaway here is that itâs okay to be delusional. When your dreams become reality, theyâll say you had faith all along.
đ±Â Theyâll join you eventually
Stumbled upon this post literally about an hour ago. Itâs crazy just how much it coincides with the earlier message.
đ§Â How to learn
I read Steven Pressfieldâs book, âNobody wants to read you sh*tâ a couple of weeks ago. Itâs really good.
The core of the book is about how to make people want to consume your work as a creator. However, in between all of the tips and insights, he takes time to share his own story and the lessons he learned along the way.
One of the lessons that struck a chord for me was his philosophy on learning. Iâve quoted it below:
You donât really learn an art or a craft in school. In the real world, the process is more like an apprenticeship, multiple apprenticeships under multiple masters. It happens on the street and it happens in the studio. It happens in bed. It happens sober and it happens stoned. It happens getting up early and it happens staying up late.
You move to L.A., New York, London.
You make friends.
You form relationships at your own level, the novice class. And you make friends at the mentor level, above you. You kiss ass. You work for free. You do stuff that nobody else will do. You work on your own and you team up with others. You save your pennies. You decide youâll do a web series or shoot your own film or write a screenplay on spec. Day One, your buddy says, âWhatâs our Break Into Two?
âBreak Into Two? What the hellâs that?â
Thatâs how you learn.
You take a class. You sign up for a webinar. Maybe you literally go back to school and get a degree. You read a million scripts and a million books about scripts. You submit material and people critique it.
In other words, youâre in the trenches, getting hosed and head-banged and dismissed and ignored. Youâre invisible. Youâre held in contempt. Youâre exploited.
People farther up the food chain take your time, your energy, your body. You let them. You want them to take these things. Itâs the price you pay to learn.
I love shows like Project Runway or Top Chef. You donât even have to have the sound on. âMake it work,â says Tim Gunn.
Thatâs how you learn. You start out with friends who are as broke as you and as clueless. Then one gets hired somewhere. Itâs the same in the music biz or the rag trade or dance or photography or video game design. That one friend pulls the others up. She calls you in for a free rewrite. âCan you deliver overnight?â Of course you can.
Thatâs how you learn.
You take jobs because youâre broke that you would never take if you had any pride or self-respect or cash. I did a rewrite once on an all-time sleazeball porn flick. I lost a girlfriend over it.
But I learned more in four days than in a semester at the Yale Drama School.
Then thereâs the way you really learn:
Alone at your keyboard.
Alone in the dance studio.
Alone in the darkroom.
Trying to answer the Eternal Question: âWhy is this fucking thing not working?â
Creative work can be hell, but it can be heaven too. What could be better than beating your brains out on a problem thatâs exactly the problem you need to solve to get better?
We learn by increments. One word, one image, one piece of code at a time. A screenwriter may have fifty scripts in her closet. She can take you to a line in #3 or #17 or a scene in #31 or all of Act Two in #47 and tell you how it took her all day or all week or all month to solve that particular problem.
Thatâs how you learn.
A perennial query: Should I move to Los Angeles if I want to write for the movies or TV? Do I have to pack up for New York if I want to work in fashion? My dream is to be in adult films; do I have to move to the San Fernando Valley?
You do.
Thatâs how you learn.
â»ïžÂ Another version of you
The things youâre looking for are also looking for you; just not this version of you.
â Apostle Joshua Selman.