“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.”

The illustration above shows the truth that if we try to make progress in everything we do – we’ll make an inch of progress in every direction.

But if we try to make progress in the one thing that’s truly important, we can make leaps and bounds. And it simplifies our lives a ton.

So why don’t we all do this?

Because of the pain of turning opportunities down, saying no, setting boundaries, ignoring the other nice things we also want to dabble in… the FOMO.

You can’t do less without making trade-offs. Trade-offs with real consequences that most of us would rather avoid.

But look at all the people you admire in any field – how did they reach their greatest achievements? Usually it’s by going monk-mode. Pursuing that ONE thing, and discarding the rest as if they were distractions. Maybe not permanently, but at least until that thing was done.

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

This whole week I’ve felt incredibly busy… I hate that word and that feeling.

Busy means you’re being shoved around by your own life, helpless to your responsibilities. You don’t want to be doing them, but you have to.

When I’m working long days on a video or film I’m excited about – I don’t feel busy. It doesn’t even feel like work because I want to be there.

But between this newsletter, the YouTube channel, the courses, and the film I’m working on – I’m feeling like I’ve fallen into the trap of trying to do everything.

That said, I don’t want to give up any of them just yet – I like them all, and kind of need them all unless I want to get a normal job again. So I refuse to make those hard trade-offs for now, but I can step back and set some boundaries around how I work on these 4 things.

For example – I don’t need to send a newsletter every single week. I also don’t need to write all the YouTube videos from scratch. These newsletters often work perfectly as scripts for a video.

In fact… look out for 2 new videos next week based on popular issues 😉

No plural priorities.

The book talks about priorities and how that word has become meaningless because every person has like 5 different work priorities… So in other words, they have no priorities.

A priority is singular, otherwise it’s competing with the other priorities, and you’re back to where you started 😂 In other words, if everything is important, nothing is important.

When you have a singular priority, things get done, and all your decision-making becomes quicker and easier.

How does this apply to filmmaking?

In total I’ve typed out first drafts of four feature films solo. Two were mine from scratch. The other two I’d outlined with my writing partner, and I volunteered to go off and write the first draft.

But in all cases, once it got time to actually typing out that first draft, there was only one way to complete it — I had to commit to that as the priority in my work until it was done.

That meant neglecting a lot of things, saying no more, and living very simply.

But the flip-side was, writing became non-negotiable every day. I was going to get those pages in because that was my only real job.

When I do this, it takes me 3-4 weeks to bang out the first draft.

When I DON’T do this… well, those scripts are still unfinished.

Another favorite quote about priorities from the book: “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”

What’s the one decision?

This part of the book also spoke to me: “Make one-time decisions that make a thousand future decisions so we don’t exhaust ourselves asking the same questions again and again.”

There are times in my life when I did this to great benefit. About 8 years ago, thought about transitioning from editing into commercial directing to pay the bills.

I could make spec spots and grow a portfolio… Show them off to some of my editing clients… Maybe they bring me on to direct an ad…

Fortunately, I soon realized how much I’d hate being even a successful commercial director, and that best-case scenario, this was actually going to be a big detour, taking me further from the things I DID like.

So I made one decision that made many later decisions – I will only direct narrative films.

That meant I would never have to think about pursuing documentaries, music videos, or ads. I think this freed me up and kept me focused on pursuing the one thing I actually wanted.

Although starting a YouTube channel has potentially been another detour – we shall see! At least it’s been a fun one.

Favorites this week:

💬 Quote: “If you were sure you were going to fail, what would you do anyway?” -Seth Godin

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent