WHAT DO WE DO NOW and the 1/1/1 LIMITATION

Happy US Independence Day to all the Americans and Happy July 4th to everyone outside the US.

I've been in a few conversations recently about the VFX industry, lack of jobs, and general worry about the future. Richard Servello posted this one question a few months back (https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7178537900706336768?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7178537900706336768%29) and I'm still wrestling with my answer today:

"WHAT DO WE DO NOW?"

I have an answer to this question. My answer comes in two parts. Here's part 1 of 2:

1 HOUR / 1 INTENTION / 1 ACTION or the "1/1/1 LIMITATION"

The question of "What do we do now?" is really broad. It requires a lot of self-introspection on multiple levels and objectivity of what our options are. This question is also super intimidating. I could barely grasp all the dimensions of this question, let alone answer it.

What helps me tackle a multidimensional question is to remember what I call the "1/1/1 Limitation". Basically, a human can only do one thing and be in one place at any one point in time.

I know. That's not a mind-breaking revelation. The operative word is "remember". Let's use this attached picture as an example:

1- ACCEPT THE 1/1/1/ LIMITATION AND CHOOSE YOUR FOCUS TIME

Picture 1 shows Flavor Flav's Clock. It is my reminder to focus on my next hour. If you don't have an hour, then do a 15 minute block. Everyone has 15 minutes at some point of any given day. Choose what duration of time you can commit to today.

2- CHOOSE YOUR ONE-HOUR INTENTION

Once I remember this and define "one point of time" as one hour, I also can see I have agency. Agency is the power to choose what to do in this one hour. If I remember I have the power to choose my actions for this one hour, I have a better chance of completing that action.

In Picture 2, my intention is to learn "scratching" on a turntable. I take a few minutes to choose that as my one-hour action AND I focus on learning one type of scratch. This limiting of scope into a one-hour action makes the intention more achievable.

One challenge here is that we are often non-committal. We resist focusing our time on one thing. Do you feel this resistance right now?

Another challenge is we are easily distracted by other interesting topics (aka "Shiny New Objects") in our lives.

Another challenge is we've followed someone else's directives for so long that we've lost the ability to personally engage. We've mentally checking out and we've built a habit of it. That habit spills into our own efforts for our own goals.

Whatever your challenge, be intentional for one-hour. Do not do this for me. Remember that this is for you, your goals, your dreams.

3- PROVE YOUR INTENTION WITH ONE HOUR OF ACTION

Once you choose that intention, ACT!

"Don't talk about it. Be about it!" yells Busta Rhymes in the song, PASS THE COURVOISER. Picture 3 shows me physically engaging with the tools, listening to a tutorial on scratching, and just doing it. Like working out, you got to put in the reps. You might be terrible at it today. I’ve been terrible at many things. But people can and do get better over time.

Can you put in one hour of work for your own dreams today?

A CONSISTENT PRACTICE

Completing one sequence of manifesting one intention into one action is one example of a win. And if you enjoyed doing this once, maybe the one win can become several. Several wins can become a habit. And this habit over years can build up to achieving complex goals. By this time, we will be able to answer the question "What do we do now?"

But before that grand day, can we start here?

1 Hour. 1 Intention. 1 Action. Complete. Then repeat.