Above saying stolen from my current boss, who wouldn’t want credit on my blog so he shall remain nameless.
Do you have an inspiration board? Ya know, one of those things in your bedroom/office where you put all the stuff you believe in. Goals, quotes, photos of things/people/places. Do you know what I am talking about?
Well I have one. I think it all started a few years ago with some bulletin board someone gave me. A friend the other day brought up the fact that we used to have these on our doors in the dorms at college, genius right? So maybe it started in 2004 when I was a lost freshman heading off to screw up my entire future by choosing the wrong courses and falling in love with the wrong boys. Who knows? Either way I have brought it back into my life. I like to wake up and be reminded of why I am in fact waking up. I like to read quotes by people who came before me and actually made it and I like to be reminded that stagnant isn’t an option.
However, sometimes I step back and analyze my inspiration board. Am I spending so much time finding inspiration in other things/quotes/places/people, that I am no longer actually doing the things that I aspire to do? Has my inspiration board become a place where my dreams go to die?
The thought of this alone makes me want to fill out an application to run a marathon and then immediately start training (even though I have done this probably 10 times and never been able to follow through, I know, it’s terrible)
But you know what I mean. The thought of my inspiration board being the only thing that gets done on my list of things to do for myself is frightening. I can make all the lists in the world but if I never cross anything off, what the hell is the point of the list in the first place?
I attended another Lunch and Learn at Lionsgate today. Yes I brought my notebook and took notes again, stop judging. This one was with Vice Chairman Mike Burns, yeah imagine getting to listen to that guy for 45 minutes, pure gold.
He discussed five-year strategy, what makes a great producer and finding something outside of your job that makes you happy. All very interesting topics.
But when someone asked him what he thinks his biggest failure was over the course of his career and how he learned from it, his response was surprising.
He started talking about having giant balls. (Mike Burns is actually incredibly charismatic and entertaining by the way) Yep, you read that correctly, having giant balls. He talked about risks and business failure. He discussed Tri Mark and Private Equity Partners and Rupert Murdoch. He gave examples of big risks taken and some of the losses he endured. He didn’t shy away from the fact that you still need to take big risks to see any type of big reward. Most importantly he emphasized the importance of connective thinking and never allowing yourself to believe your idea is too stupid to put out into the universe.
When I reflect on his talk today and the people on my inspiration board I realize that these two things have something in common. Like Mike Burns, the people quoted on my inspiration board are people who in fact had giant balls. I doubt they waited for someone to tell them that they were ready to do something, or that something was right or that something was a good idea. These people took the bull by the horn and dragged him wherever they wanted him to go.
So I’ve decided that instead of stepping back and fearing my inspiration board and wondering if it is all I will ever amount to…I am just going to start…well…focusing on having bigger balls.
The next time you have a good idea or a question and you’re too afraid to head to your bosses office…think about Mike Burns and ask yourself how often he probably asked a question or shared a good idea, and damn, look where it got him.
As my boss says, “Hope is not a strategy”. If you want something done, you must take action, communicate and follow through. If you sit around waiting on everyone else to do things for you, you will never cross a damn thing off of that list.
Teresa Sabatine 