how to switch from watching to creating.

THE HOW

00:03It's like... I want to start. I really do. I just  don't know how. I can't even choose a subject. Maybe I should wait until I know who I am. I  still don't know what's my "voice" is. Well, it's in the act of making things  that we figure out who we are.

00:20So,   the sooner you start, the  sooner you will find your voice. It's just hard to know where to start. Okay. Do you know what you like? I do. Well, based on my experience, one of the best places to start is  by pretending to be our our heroes.

START BY COPYING

00:53Exactly. Nobody's born with  a style or voice. At first, we learn by pretending to be our heroes. By reverse engineering the works that inspires us, steal the good ideas from everything that  resonates with you. Books, movies, music, because you're only going to be as good as the stuff  you surround yourself with.

01:17But there also has to be a balance between your consumption  and creation. A 50/50 ratio works the best. So, it's better to start practicing, especially  while you're still learning. At the end, who to copy is easy, but "what to copy" is the real  key.

01:39For example, if you like the look of David

"What to Copy" is the key

01:49Fincher's films, but you only mimic the surface  of his work without understanding his intentions, your work will always be just a knockoff. You  don't want to look like your heroes. You want to see like your heroes. So instead of stealing  the style, you steal the thinking behind the style.

02:09The reason you copy your heroes   is not to become them. It's to somehow get a glimpse into their minds, to try to see the  world the way they do. As Conan O'Brien said, it's our failure to become our hero that  ultimately defines us and makes us unique.

WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN

02:30After collecting all these ideas, don't  just leave them in your head. Put them down in a notebook. It makes them much more  memorable, and whenever you're short on ideas, you can always come back to it. It helps you  work around the limitations of your brain    because creativity is mostly about learning  how to work with your limitations.

Limitation / Location

02:56And limitations can come in many forms. For most  creators, location is the main obstacle. Where should I film? But almost every successful  person I know started with what they had. Most of them have started  in their bedrooms. And to really proving this point, we're shooting this entire video in  two bedrooms, too.

03:25You can elevate the look of any space with just windows and a few  practical lights. When it comes to creative work, limitations can mean freedom. That's why so many great filmmakers   decided to shoot their entire  feature film in just one single location.

03:50And the same principle applies to equipment. Having all the tools and instruments won't

Use what you already have

03:55make you start. Sometimes the best way  to overcome creative block is to give yourself limitations. Many filmmakers have done  exactly that by shooting entire films with just one lens. Soderbergh made his last film  with just one lens and a mirrorless camera, a very similar camera to the one that we're  using to shoot this video.

04:12So instead of   waiting for the perfect conditions,  start with the time, space, and tools you already have. Okay, what now? Now you get to play. You have everything you

Starting

04:29need. You just need the courage to take  the first step. I'm going to kill it.

Self Doubt

04:43What if I suck at this? What if people make fun of me? I feel like maybe  I'm not ready to start yet. You're not the only one who feels that way, though. Even  people at the very top still have those feelings. You don't ever have a day where you sit down  there and it's like constipation and you write a sentence and you hate the sentence and you you  you check your email and you wonder if you had any talent after all and maybe you should have been  a plumber.

05:20Don't you have days like that? Do I ever doubt myself? Often. Yeah. All the time. When we're starting a new project, I always have anxiety. Really? Always. Always. Because I don't know what's going to happen. I mean, if you're scared, if it all seems like too  daunting, if the the machinery of it all   seems too big and scary and overwhelming,  it's great.

05:41You wake up in the morning and you do it anyway. If it seems impossible,  it's even better. You do it anyway. That's doable. But sometimes we got to get  past just saying, "Boom. You know what? Quit preparing. Quit rehearsing this damn thing.

06:05Press record. Let's go. Let's find out."

SMALL, FAST, STUPID

06:17There are still three things that   make getting started easier. Number one, keep it small. Okay. How small? Small enough  that you could do it yourself. a short story like a 3 to 6 minute video. Number two,  make it fast, something you could finish in less than 30 days.

06:35And number three, it can  be stupid when you know it's not supposed to be perfect. There's no pressure. That's  it. Yeah, pretty much. It's up to you now.

Doing the Work

06:55Running with my head down to the ground. Old school. Grind it out. Built this whole   house. Hit it brick by brick. Won't stop  till we pay. We're going to find a way. Go until we get it every inch by inch. No surprise. I open my eyes to see that we've come this far.

07:11Now that we're here, got to brea it all in. This is it. This is it. Here comes the good part. Here comes the good part. Left, right,   side to side. Push it into overdrive. Keep on  running and we won't slow down. Step up, take a swing. Working like you never seen.

07:30Let  the hustle do all of talking now. No surprise. I open my eyes to see that we've  come this far. Now that we're here,

Editing

07:41got to brea it all in. This is it. This  is it. Here comes the good part. Here comes the good part. Here comes the good part. Here comes Here comes the  good part. Here comes the good part. Here comes the good part. So good. So good. So good.

08:27So good. Here comes the good part.

Showing the Work

Failure

The Most Important Part

09:36You know, There is still one chapter left in  your journey. Probably the most important one. We never know which one of  our projects will take off,

Consistency

09:52but you can be 100% sure that consistency will  always pay off. It will beat talent, luck, motivation, and everything  else in the long run. Every creator gets better through  repetition, and every success is built on   consistency, but no book can  truly teach you how to be consistent.

Did you have FUN?

10:26The only way is probably to look  back at all the time you invested in your   last project and ask yourself, did I  have any fun? Did I actually enjoy those days? Because I think  enjoying the process is the only reason we've been able to spend 100 days on this video  alone, regardless of the outcome.

10:44So if you look back and feel the same, just keep going  because I'm sure as hell you will make it.