Getting your filmmaking work noticed requires persistence, tenacity, and an unyielding ability to overcome obstacles and keep going, even when doing so seems impossible and crazy.
I was stuck in my small town, living with my parents just over a decade ago. No other vocation appealed to me more than filmmaking. Back then, I had no idea my aspirations would take me from my hometown to New York to Los Angeles.
I have experienced more than my fair share of sleepless nights and uncertainty on the journey. But through it all, I learned one thing: Your thoughts, more than anything else, will influence your beliefs, and your ideas will influence your actions.
Put enough actions together, and you will begin to forge a new life as a filmmaker.
I wanted to share a little tool I have been utilizing for years. The device is called the Filmmaking Success Mindset. The FSM is a set of filmmaking declarations that, if repeated repeatedly every day, will help you condition your thinking for the better.
- What I think about becomes real.
- I play to my strengths. I support my weak areas with talented collaborators.
- I take advice from people who have experience.
- I spend time with people who make me feel better about myself.
- I always work to make others feel good too.
- Following dreams is more manageable with money in the bank. I save what I can.
- I keep an idea book and write down movie ideas as they come my way.
- My word is trust. I never break my word.
- I deserve Hollywood success because I am creative and passionate.
- I always bring my ideas to fruition.
I know this is a bit of ra-ra-ra motivation. And if you’re the type of filmmaker who enjoys affirmations, you might benefit from downloading the Filmmaking Success Mindset, printing it out, and putting it somewhere visible. Then take some time to memorize these principles until they become real.
