The Tip of The Iceberg
This past year I’ve gone on a journey of learning and reflection. I know, I know- haven’t we all in this crazy year that was 2020? We’ve been cooped up with a lot of time to reflect. Yes, I’ve only come around to this now. And yes, it’s taken me a while.
I’ve just begun, and I’m excited to share the lessons and thoughts that I’ve come across so far. Each new thing I’ve learnt has led me to another. I feel like I’ve gained momentum and I don’t want this “snowball effect” to stop.
It all started when I decided to pursue my passion for film and learn about it from scratch. This took me down a YouTube rabbit hole of videographers like Daniel Schiffer, James Matthews and Matti Haapoja, and video editors like Cinecom.net, Mr Alex Tech and Jamie Fenn. I started using an amazing (and free!) video editing software called DaVinci Resolve, and its capabilities are truly amazing. Did I mention that it’s free?
Once I felt like I was competent with a camera and there wasn’t much more “new” information to be found on the basics of filmmaking, all that was left for me to do was to go out and just do it. So that’s what I’m doing- “improving with experience” if you will. Even though I’m not doing as much as I’d like, I’m working towards it becoming a regularity.
However, the eagerness to learn didn’t stop at video. I had caught the bug. I felt like I had been so complacent before. Even though I knew there was such a wealth of knowledge out there, I was somewhat happy with what I knew. I’ve always enjoyed learning new things, but I never actively searched for them. I know it’s a lot easier to say this in hindsight, but I wish I’d realized this sooner.
So these “woke” YouTubers lead me to “woker” ones. There’s Matt D’Avella who preaches about minimalism and focusing on the things that matter. Captain Sinbad, a film fanatic who combines his love of film with nuggets of productivity and motivation throughout his content. He then led me to Ali Abdaal, the ultra-productive YouTuber com doctor. After following these Youtubers for a bit, they led me to the “guru” Tim Ferriss. I’d heard of Tim Ferriss and listened to a few of his podcasts, but more and more people started referencing him and attributing his work. His ability to get extremely successful people to open up and share their stories is an admirable skill that I’d like to acquire. I started listening to a podcast every day and the floodgates opened.
I decided to listen to the Not Overthinking podcast from its inception. It’s a weekly conversation between the intelligent brothers, Ali and Taimur Abdaal. They discuss topics like why we like to be correct, getting to know people by putting yourself in low social optionality situations, and one of Taimur’s favourites, the treatment of children and the psychological effect parents can have on them. They bring up everyday relatable topics that I haven’t thought deeply about before and push against each other's views to make for interesting and thought-provoking listening.
Trying to catch up on the Tim Ferris episodes is a beast of its own. He’s been going for about six years, speaking to every successful high functioning person out there. So while I make my way through those episodes, I mix it up with episodes of Eric Weinstein’s podcast, The Portal. In both of these podcasts, each episode introduces me to a new idea or someone I haven’t heard of before. This leads me to look up the people interviewed, and add their books, as well as their favourite ones to my reading list. A common thread is that most of these successful high achievers read, a lot.
The books I read encouraged me to create this website and to writing my first blog post. Books like The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Show Your Work by Austin Kleon helped me realize that you have nothing to lose by putting yourself out there. In Pressfield’s book, he unpacks and describes the forms of creative resistance, which is the different ways we get in our own way when it comes to creative work. Kleon advocates for the importance of sharing your work and breaks down the false narratives we have about having an online presence. I’ve taken their advice, and am fighting the resistance against creative work and getting better in the process. I hope to further explore these books and others I come across in more detail too.
I feel like a kid in a candy store! I’m sure this is old news to some, and I know these people have been around for ages, but not to me. It’s exciting “discovering” these people and their ideas for the first time. Having them at my fingertips or in my ears at any moment is motivating.
It’s exciting and encouraging to know that there’s still so much out there for me to learn, to keep the momentum as I grow, leading me down paths I haven’t imagined yet. I know this isn’t well written and I have a lot more to learn. But if I don’t start now, I may never get around to it. There will always be something that’s “off”, but my intention is to prevent these mistakes over time through repetition and practice. I will make Kleon proud and document my progress along the way, and I’m excited about where this journey will take me.
