Dedication To Your Craft
"I ask myself am I giving it enough? Am I concentrating enough? Am I devoting enough of my life to it?"
I love getting inspiration from legendary creatives like Hollywood director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino.
He is a master of his craft.
He has his own sense of style.
He is irreplaceable.
And how did he get there?
By focusing on one or two main things —writing and making movies.
"I ask myself am I giving it enough? Am I concentrating enough? Am I devoting enough of my life to it? That's what I'm here for right now.
If you're a mountain climber and your desire is to climb Everest and Fuji and Kilimanjaro - that's what you're doing. It ain't about nothing else. When you're climbing Everest you're not thinking about your bills and you're not thinking about your girlfriend, you're not thinking about bull***t that all the other humans are thinking about. You're thinking about Everest.
That's how I feel about filmmaking. This is my time to make films. It's not going to be later. I think I am going to live to be a very old man but that will not be my time to climb Everest."
— Quentin Tarantino
He's not juggling a million plates, trying to do a podcast, create videos on TikTok, write blogs, or starting a side hustle.
No.
He has been focused on getting REALLY good on those couple of things.
Inspiring, isn't it?
But we’ve got it tough!
Naturally, Quentin’s reflection leads us to put the spotlight on all the ways we aren't living up to our creative ideals...
We feel like we have it harder. The excuses are endless: we've got kids to raise, a full-time job to juggle, aging parents to help, and a mortgage or rent to pay.
But no, even the likes of Quentin Tarantino were once at square one, in some form or another, staring at a big impossible dream.
Everyone starts from their version of "the bottom", but some people's version of the bottom is much higher than others.
Still, there is always room to show up, even if only in a tiny way — maybe you write one newsletter a month, perhaps you film a short video on the weekend while out on a walk, or maybe you spend 5 minutes writing one sentence in a journal at the end of the day.
Whatever your dream is, keep chipping away at it.
Over time, you will start to see improvements. You will begin to get some results. People will start paying attention, and some will compliment you. And soon, you will look yourself in the mirror and say, "Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this."
You spent all that time trying to "find your voice" when you really had it all along; it just had to be unveiled through the work.
This realisation will push you to drive harder. You double down on what's working, and things feel more manageable but challenging at the same time. You're pushing your edge. You're dancing in flow. You're becoming a master of your craft.
And then what comes knocking at your door?
Opportunity.
I invite you to reflect on Quentin's questions:
Am I giving it enough?
Am I concentrating enough?
Am I devoting enough of my life to it?
This is the antidote to hustle culture 🫡