Category: Productivity

What Happens When You Move Out Of the Comfort Zone

Do you lie awake at night looking for easy and comforting answers to life’s biggest, most complex, and yet most common problems?

Well, bunky, it’s time to relax cuz right here, right now, we’ve got just what you’ve wanted, all wrapped up in one tidy place.

And, yes, we’re being snarky as hell, but only because that’s our default tone. Truth to tell, we think writer Tony Robinson is right on about a very important approach to what ails us all:

by Tony Robinson

Goddamn it, munchman, we said “comfort zone,” not “Comfort Inn!” What kind of editor are you!!!

The pursuit of worthwhile goals is a part of what makes life enjoyable. Being able to set a goal, then see yourself progress towards achieving that goal is an amazing feeling.

But do you know the biggest obstacle for most people trying to achieve their goals, the silent dream killer that stops people before they ever even get started? That obstacle is the comfort zone, and getting stuck there is bound to derail any efforts you make towards achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself.

If you want to achieve those goals, you’ll have to break free from your comfort zone. Let’s take a look at how your life will change once you build up the courage to leave your comfort zone.

What Is the Comfort Zone?

The comfort zone is defined as “a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance.”

What stands out to me the most about that definition is the last part: “using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance.” How many successful people do you know who deliver a steady level of performance?

The goal in life is to continually challenge yourself, and continually improve yourself. And in order to do that, you have move out of your comfort zone. But once you do, your life will start to change in ways you could never have imagined. I know because it’s happening right now in my own life.

Here’s what I’ve learned….

Read it all at lifehack.org

The Absolutely Most Important Thing You Need To Know About Becoming a Writer

Found on Facebook (but we forgive it because it’s so darn true):

In other words, be prepared…and remember, you aren’t alone.

The Bricks of Breaking in: Sal Calleros on Mentorship

Former TVWriter™ Contributing Editor Kelly Jo Brick is writing for FinalDraft.Com now, but every once in awhile we get lucky and spot something she’s done there that has extra value for our visitors.

Such is the case with this interview of Sal Calleros, a former TVWriter™ Spec Scriptacular Competition Finalist and now co-executive producer of a delightful little show called The Good Doctor:

by Kelly Jo Brick

Sal Calleros

Mentorship can be vital to a writer looking to break into the industry, but finding a mentor and building a relationship with that person can be challenging.

Sal Calleros, co-EP of The Good Doctor, credits mentorship for a big part of the growth and development of his career. From participating in the Disney-ABC Writing Program to writing for shows including Private Practice, Rizzoli & Isles,Killer Women, Sneaky Pete and Snowfall, Sal’s experiences inform how working with various mentors — and now mentoring others — plays a significant role in his success.

Final Draft: As you were starting out, how important was mentorship to the development of your writing career?

Sal Calleros: It was very important, but I didn’t realize how important it was at the time.

I got started through the Disney fellowship. While you’re in the fellowship, you go through a series of mentors; half the year you’re with a mentor from the network and they help you develop a script. The other half, they put you with a mentor from the production side, at that time it was Touchstone Television. They set you up with a producer on that side who also helps you develop a spec. That mentor was fantastic. A lot of the time what a mentor can do is just give you encouragement.

Even though I was in a fellowship — and this never stops — it always feels like oh, I’m here by accident; like, any minute they’re going to find out I’m a fraud and I’m going to get kicked out or I’m going to get fired … What [the mentor] did, when I turned in my first draft, he said something like, “Oh, yeah. You should be doing this. You can do this.” He shepherded me through the process. He would give me great advice as I was writing the script. That’s when I realized a mentor is super important. How big it can be.

FD: In that type of relationship, what do you feel like you give back to the mentor?

SC: Everybody loves discovering that writer, because there are a lot of people trying to break in. When you find that writer that it’s like, oh my God, this is somebody who actually can do this, it’s very encouraging because the one thing you want to do is pluck them and plug them into the process. That’s just one more person in the system that will help keep it going. Talent, that is what is going to create the next big show and that’s what’s going to keep the Writers Guild and the stuff that we do vibrant and new.

I love reading something and then being like, oh my God, this writer has it. This is somebody I can see working. It’s rare to find somebody who is really good at it. When you read a script and you’re like, this person’s got talent; they have a voice. They can tell a great story and then in the back of your head you’re like, if I ever have a show, this is somebody I would hire. It’s a treat to find somebody like that….

Read it all at finaldraft.com

How to Write a Story

A better title for this video would be, “How author John Dufresne works out his stories,” but what the hell. New writers trying to find their way through the process of actually writing, as opposed to selling their work, will find this a helpful and positive look into how to make the creative process work for them:

From TEDX

Why Writers Have A Hard Time In Recovery

If learning your lesson was easy, it probably wouldn’t be much of a lesson, would it? Can you handle the challenge of recovery?

from Dreamstime.Com

by David Silverman, MA, LMFT

t’s tempting to follow in the footsteps of great writers who used alcohol or other substances to boost their productivity.  Tempting, maybe, but also long term most likely not such a great idea.

“Write drunk. Edit sober.”

This quote has been attributed to Hemingway, but the that’s been disputed.  Regardless, it gives you an idea why writers do it. That first draft is so agonizing to get on paper. Staring at the blank page fills many writers with fear. Writing (drunk or high) can lower your inhibitions while you get it down for the first time.

Should you have trouble avoiding this temptation, be warned. While writing drunk and editing sober might work for a while on some level, think about the long term. All that drinking, or all those drugs, can affect your grasp on reality, your performance as a writer, your general level of functioning – not to mention your liver.

Why do writers have the worst track record of recovery in Hollywood?

Why is it worse for writers?  Why is it harder to get sober for other creative professionals in town, like directors, producers, actors, rock musicians; and in another category… agents.  Why? Because, all those performers and cut-throat business people, they’re on view every day, doing their work.

If they drink, everybody knows about it. If they drink on the set, people will smell the booze. If they smoke pot in their trailer, people will smell that, too.   Too many witnesses.

Writers, on the other hand, can write in the privacy of their own homes, stoned, drunk or both. They don’t have to clock in. They can write all night. They can drink scotch and pop a handful of pills  first thing in the morning.  Nobody will be the wiser.

When do you decide to clean up your act?  You’ll know when it’s time.  Your life will start falling apart.  You might be hiding your addiction from others in your life. You might have trouble paying the bills.  You might not show up to meetings on time.   Even worse, you could get a DUI.  Speaking of which, why do people still get DUI’s when there’s Uber?

Reaching the decision to quit drinking or using drugs is the most important step in the process of recovery. If you’ve reached this decision and have time, you might need to be treated in a residential rehab for anywhere from 28 to 90 days.

Success in treatment involves developing a new way of life, with sober friends and supporters. It also involves getting to the cause of the addiction, and work towards removing that cause as a reason to self-medicate.

You’ll have to develop healthy ways of managing stress in this new way of life. If writing is a trigger, as it is for perfectionists, for example, getting sober will be a more difficult task….

Read it all at BLOGS.PSYCHCENTRAL.COM