Creating your own luck

“In the end it’s not about how many breaths you took.

In the end it’s about the moments that took your breath away.”

― Volksweisheitheit

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So the RPM time/energy management system is in the house. I woke up, did my Morning Ritual, made tea, and sat at the computer. I am discussing my process because this is what I”ll teach Jason today: I have to DEEPLY insert some basic programs into his head and heart. The tool is Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Planner, a dry-erase wall calendar, and the “Fractal”: Three Centers, Three Gates, Three Questions.

First thing I did today:

1)Dump everything out of my head. Just write it all out: Yoga, Jason’s Fractal, Project Niven, Pick up Tananarive from airport, Star Wars.

1. Create lead categories: Body, Heart, Mind. Clump tasks in those categories:

Body=yoga

Heart=Jason’s Fractal, Project Niven, Pick up Tananarive

Mind=Star Wars

I don’t have to think about my motivations for each of these: I’ve spent countless hours wiring them in. NONE of this came natural. If I know exactly WHAT I need to do today/this week, and have hella WHY for each major category, then motivation is strong. The next question is HOW.

Looking at just one of these, “Star Wars” then I have to deliver 90k book by January 1st. That requires some combination of production, polishing, five days a week. Basically, it means reading/correcting/expanding about 25 pages a day. That allows me to read over the entire book every couple of weeks, which allows my deep mind to grasp the overall pattern, using the Chakras and the Hero’s Journey to “map” events and character arcs.

Are there problems involved? Not at the instant…but I know that other projects will avalanche on me as soon as the Writer’s Strike ends. Maybe before. So aiming at 50 pages of reading per day would be a push, But I’ll eventually need to hit that mark. Let me ease into it.

So focus in. The new goal is 25 pages a day of focused, serious work. More if possible. What do I need for this new WHAT? Well, I know WHY, right? Any doubt of that?

So it’s HOW.

1. Schedule the time
2. Check my state of mind — am I confident and clear?
3. Need input. Movies, television. Easy peasy: I can read on my laptop while binging on Netflix, working at “second attention.”
4. Plenty of rest. Plan for nine hours of sleep a night.
5. Exercise. Get my energy up! The Manila plan provides all my fitness goals
6. Family alignment. Is everyone on board? Tananarive, Jason, Nicki ok? Am I showing Jason how I do this? Does he see both the goofing around and the compulsive daily work?
7. Food. We have excellent meal delivery service. So I can fast until six or so, and then eat. Intermittent fasting is wonderful. I’m not quite disciplined enough right now to do “every other day” but I might get there.
8. Research. Most “Star Wars” research is just watching the movies and shows. But I”ll also listen to CESTUS DECEPTION to recover my “voice.”

Did you note that each of these is now another WHAT? Can you see the instant WHY? Each of these presents actions that can be done today that lead to a good week, which creates a good month, which will lead to a successful year.

But I have to remember that luck will have a say. Something unusually BAD can happen. Or, something unusually GOOD that peels off time and energy. So 25 pages is the minimum, but I might want to get ahead on that, just in case.

What do we know? “Luck” is like a cat: it curls up on your lap when you are busy doing something else. People who “wait” for luck are unwise. Instead, get busy doing what you can, even if that’s just working on your attitude and energy. Its when you are up to your ears in useful happy work that the universe says: “hey! Want a little more to do?” And if you value your time, as you get busy you raise your hourly/daily rate, and before you know it you’re in new territory.

Get this? WHAT, WHY, HOW, and scale it up and down until you can see both the big projects that produce major results, and the small daily actions, aligned with your deep sense of self, all “pain avoidance” behaviors on Unconscious Competence/Habit, living a life of joy and service.

Whew. That’s who I am today, and the Map of action I’m giving Jason. At some point, the way to real-world accomplishment will be more joyful than playing games, and at that point “discipline” becomes irrelevant — he’ll have HUNGER. And by using his journal and calendar, “Executive Function” is reduced to just a couple of things:

Check his journal every morning. Dump out everything he needs to do, and schedule. Check his journal every night. Mark results on the wall calendar.

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All my mother had to give me was a sense of being loved, and a basic understanding that positive emotions and modeling success could create a joyful life. And she did that by being there, every day and night, and playing “success” tapes and records constantly, until I wanted to throw up.

But it stuck, as any fool can plainly see. So I’m doing the same with Jason, but at a higher level: I have MUCH better tech than Mom had. And have the results to convince J I’m not bluffing:

HERE IS A TRUE PATH. THERE ARE OTHERS, BUT THIS ONE WORKS. YOU WILL WALK IT WHILE YOU ARE UNDER MY ROOF. WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU LEAVE…WILL BE UP TO YOU.

Someone asked me my greatest fear. It is failing my children. The best way I know to prevent that is to be there, constantly. To love them with all my heart. To provide a role model of success in body, emotions, and career. And to be 100% honest about my failures and successes and be confident but not dogmatic about the path I’m on.

For the record, this is what we’re doing with the TEN SECRETS OF HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITERS workshop on Sept 23. Tananarive and I will look at the tools we’ve used to write dozens and dozens of books and compete in the most competitive artistic community I know of: Hollywood. It will be divided into three hours of intense teaching:

1. Basic writing structure
2. Screenwriting
3. Creating and sustaining a career.

Just nine more days until we blow the roof off in a massive Zoom seminar that will change your life. Because of donations, we can afford flexible pricing, so DO NOT let lack of money stop you. If you have the heart of a writer…we will show you the practices and strategies that will leverage that emotion into the most efficient and effective action possible. More than that no one can promise you.

Its going to be amazing! www.hollywoodloophole.com

Write with Passion!

Steve