Robert, another wonderful topic. However, while you link over to your prior newsletter about the difference between failing and failure, I just want to request that perhaps we all start using the word "failing" in place of "failure" to specifically distinguish between the two. For those of us that truly appreciate the distinction between the two meaning, it's important to begin using them appropriately. Failing is an action on the way toward achieving something. Just as winning one day doesn’t mean you will always be successful, failing one day doesn’t make you a failure. Whereas, as you point out, failure is a conclusion that someone has made that expected something else and either didn’t get it or gave up trying to get it.
"Failing" should it not only be acceptable but should be expected, and should be used as a basis for learning. We should start using this term more often to distinguish it from the "failure" which is a decision for which root cause should be established and then rooted out to a point of extinction.
If they're too similar, then perhaps we could coin a new term for "failing" so as to clear distinguish it from the too common perception of "failure".
Well written! It resonates with my recent memory of having witnessed the Indian cricket team win the T20 World Cup this past weekend. They were so close yet so far from the coveted title for more than a decade despite being a top team and consistently ranked in the top 3. The pain and joy in the face of every member of the squad told the story of the long road they’ve been through. The hardships, the misses, the triumphs and the sacrifices they’ve made to be here today. It spoke of the perseverance, process and discipline athletes endure to keep it going despite not achieving their dreams. Yes, in today’s world of instant gratification, we need to realize that enduring the process and living it is utmost important.
My lifelong goal has been to make feature films that play across thousands of movie theatres around the world.
Finding myself under immense pressure I almost aborted my passion for cinema. In my late twenties I chose a managing job at Red Robin where bottomless fries were king! 60 hour plus work weeks left me incapable of writing screenplays, let alone making a movie.
It was a weekday. My fiancée was driving. I was in the back of the car. A passenger in my own life. Symbolic, right? I remember the Stop sign she pulled up to. She said with a side glance, “I can’t wait for you to have your own restaurant, to wear a suit and a necktie…”
I will never forget the pit in my stomach as she spoke. My soul screamed and pulled on my insides, ringing a thousand alarm bells at once. I am so grateful my fiancée said what she said when she said it!
I quit Red Robin a year later leaving behind a big salary. My fiancée couldn’t understand why I loved film so much. We argued. I went on a run. We canceled the wedding and parted ways.
I got drunk on the last day at work - a Saturday. Danced on the bar top, and the next morning was on a greyhound bus to the Sundance Film Festival. That was in 2008. Never looked back.
I have been living my dream for 29 years.
To do what you love is to live your dream.
My films have yet to show in multiplexes but that moment is coming and it will be glorious. Instead, I learned to fall with grace; went bankrupt, but did so with resolve; I learned to get up in gratitude; to make films with meaning, listening, correcting the course, serving my community, aligning with likeminded people. Realising no one will come to magically discover my films. Setting out to learn the movie business. Following your newsletter. Applying your know-how. Thank you, Robert!
A few days ago my wife and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. My wife is an artist. She gets it. Life has a way of working out when you do what you love, when you give your best and treat the world with the kindness you believe in.
We just finished my third feature length documentary with the biggest budget we have ever had and the largest team on deck, some working here in the US, some in Bulgaria. So much to be thankful for.
Hi, Robert. Thank you very much for sharing yout thoughts once again. I've been reading your newsletter for a long time, but this is the first time I'm commenting here.
In my current professional career I'm going through a challenging moment and that has brought me to some interesting reflections specially in relation to resilience. My current take on it is that resilience is obviously important, but it is a muscle you also need to understand how much you can flex. I mean, you need resilience to navigate through difficult times, but there is a point in which you might be so resilient that you miss the time when you should have abandoned the ship. What's your take on this? In your opinion, can you be too resilient that you "over-do" it?
Robert, another wonderful topic. However, while you link over to your prior newsletter about the difference between failing and failure, I just want to request that perhaps we all start using the word "failing" in place of "failure" to specifically distinguish between the two. For those of us that truly appreciate the distinction between the two meaning, it's important to begin using them appropriately. Failing is an action on the way toward achieving something. Just as winning one day doesn’t mean you will always be successful, failing one day doesn’t make you a failure. Whereas, as you point out, failure is a conclusion that someone has made that expected something else and either didn’t get it or gave up trying to get it.
"Failing" should it not only be acceptable but should be expected, and should be used as a basis for learning. We should start using this term more often to distinguish it from the "failure" which is a decision for which root cause should be established and then rooted out to a point of extinction.
If they're too similar, then perhaps we could coin a new term for "failing" so as to clear distinguish it from the too common perception of "failure".
Well written! It resonates with my recent memory of having witnessed the Indian cricket team win the T20 World Cup this past weekend. They were so close yet so far from the coveted title for more than a decade despite being a top team and consistently ranked in the top 3. The pain and joy in the face of every member of the squad told the story of the long road they’ve been through. The hardships, the misses, the triumphs and the sacrifices they’ve made to be here today. It spoke of the perseverance, process and discipline athletes endure to keep it going despite not achieving their dreams. Yes, in today’s world of instant gratification, we need to realize that enduring the process and living it is utmost important.
My lifelong goal has been to make feature films that play across thousands of movie theatres around the world.
Finding myself under immense pressure I almost aborted my passion for cinema. In my late twenties I chose a managing job at Red Robin where bottomless fries were king! 60 hour plus work weeks left me incapable of writing screenplays, let alone making a movie.
It was a weekday. My fiancée was driving. I was in the back of the car. A passenger in my own life. Symbolic, right? I remember the Stop sign she pulled up to. She said with a side glance, “I can’t wait for you to have your own restaurant, to wear a suit and a necktie…”
I will never forget the pit in my stomach as she spoke. My soul screamed and pulled on my insides, ringing a thousand alarm bells at once. I am so grateful my fiancée said what she said when she said it!
I quit Red Robin a year later leaving behind a big salary. My fiancée couldn’t understand why I loved film so much. We argued. I went on a run. We canceled the wedding and parted ways.
I got drunk on the last day at work - a Saturday. Danced on the bar top, and the next morning was on a greyhound bus to the Sundance Film Festival. That was in 2008. Never looked back.
I have been living my dream for 29 years.
To do what you love is to live your dream.
My films have yet to show in multiplexes but that moment is coming and it will be glorious. Instead, I learned to fall with grace; went bankrupt, but did so with resolve; I learned to get up in gratitude; to make films with meaning, listening, correcting the course, serving my community, aligning with likeminded people. Realising no one will come to magically discover my films. Setting out to learn the movie business. Following your newsletter. Applying your know-how. Thank you, Robert!
A few days ago my wife and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. My wife is an artist. She gets it. Life has a way of working out when you do what you love, when you give your best and treat the world with the kindness you believe in.
We just finished my third feature length documentary with the biggest budget we have ever had and the largest team on deck, some working here in the US, some in Bulgaria. So much to be thankful for.
So far so good 😊
Hi, Robert. Thank you very much for sharing yout thoughts once again. I've been reading your newsletter for a long time, but this is the first time I'm commenting here.
In my current professional career I'm going through a challenging moment and that has brought me to some interesting reflections specially in relation to resilience. My current take on it is that resilience is obviously important, but it is a muscle you also need to understand how much you can flex. I mean, you need resilience to navigate through difficult times, but there is a point in which you might be so resilient that you miss the time when you should have abandoned the ship. What's your take on this? In your opinion, can you be too resilient that you "over-do" it?
My life long goal is to proclaim the gospel globally .
I am ready , willing and putting in my best efforts to reach out to as many as I can .