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#163 | UNLOCK YOUR SUCCESS: TWO MORE PEARLS OF PRODUCTIVITY WISDOM





THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: PETRA KOLB

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Gandhi

Well, this episode should have been out this time last month but a number of things got the better of me and season 14 of which this was to be the 1st episode, had to be delayed.

 

In short I’ve had a load of work on but now that I have just a few small fight gigs on my immediate calendar and that I’ve nearly finished another personal project, a 9-minute documentary film for a self-shooting PD course I sat during this same period, I have moved on to this as quickly as possible.

 

This show is the first of 3 inbetweenisodes that sit between Season 13 and at some point, in the near future, season 14 of the show.

 

Always worth mentioning for those of you interested in marketing and promotion is that episodes that feature a number, like this one, Unlock Your Success: 2 New Pearls of Productivity Wisdom, nearly always seem to do a little better than those that don’t. With that in mind the next episode will be called The Overwhelm Escape Plan: 10 Proven Strategies to Regain Control and a final inbetweenisode called Rise Above the Rest: 2 New Laws to Boost Your Performance.

 

I’ve done several “productivity pearl” shows in the past and I think these do well because they are accessible and immediately applicable to those of us struggling through our life and work seeking shortcuts to our success or even just guidance in a world for which there is no blueprint. Today’s first one, I have applied often to my own life and work and it’s a very simple one.

 

1/ Money Saved is MONEY EARNED

 

"They say 'a penny saved is a penny earned,' and that's just a variation on this concept of high-level thinking. We all know it's easy to get caught up in spending, but when we cut back on costs and stash some cash, we're not just saving money—we're basically making it. If we're smart about our expenses, and we are across our finances month on month, day on day we are setting ourselves up for a more secure financial future."

 

Paying attention to our outgoing expenses is crucial for several reasons:

 

  1. Expenses add up: Small, seemingly insignificant expenses can quickly add up over time. Keeping track of these costs can help us identify areas where we can cut back and save money.

  2. Managing debt: By controlling outgoing expenses, we can reduce our reliance on credit and avoid falling into debt. This can also help us pay off existing debts faster.

  3. Building savings: Saving money requires discipline and often involves cutting back on unnecessary expenses. By monitoring outgoing costs, we can free up more money to put towards savings or investments.

 

In order to get into this as a jump off point I suggest you do a brain dump, and go through all of your bank ins and outs to see where your money is going. It requires a bit of time and effort, but the pay off is money in the bank. Literally.

 

I apply this adage to my own finances regularly and have saved money particularly on things like cancelling unused subscriptions. I’ve mentioned this sort of thing before specifically talking about renewing insurances etc. The scams run by big tech and big insurance these days 100% ensure that the unwary amongst us, the tired, the busy, or the more creatively minded amongst us will fall foul of their underhanded trickery. Always remember that these companies are not there to help you. The customer is no longer always right, or valued. They look at us as cattle, as cash cows, and if you are not extremely wary, they will dip their hands into your bank accounts and take whatever inflated auto-renewed subscription costs they want to name. Another example of how to easily save money would be stopping buying coffee out and about. I got a coffee, a hot chocolate and two biscuits yesterday, it was £15. It was daylight bleedin robbery.

"Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving." Warren Buffett

2/ "The perfect is the enemy of the good."

 

"The perfect is the enemy of the good.", often attributed to Voltaire, emphasizes the importance of avoiding the pursuit of perfection at the expense of completing a task. Sometimes, it's better to finish a task to a good standard rather than to spend excessive time striving for perfection, which can ultimately lead to procrastination and reduced productivity.

 

  1. Creative filmmakers like myself often spend countless hours striving to make flawless representations of our work. This fixation on perfecting every detail can cause us to miss out on new opportunities, delay the completion of our work, or very often never completing projects at all. The number of filmmakers I can name in Scotland with incomplete projects is quite significant. You know who you are, so we must work hard to ensure we get projects completed.

  2. Creative designers might become so focused on finding the ideal font, colour scheme, or imagery that they struggle to move forward with their projects. Their desire for perfection in every aspect can stop them from completing projects on time, also potentially impacting client satisfaction and future opportunities.

  3. Social media pros or creatives caught up in trying to make their work get noticed might invest excessive time and energy into crafting the perfect social media posts to promote their creative work or services. Their fixation on creating flawless content causes them to miss those perfect posting times, for example, resulting in lower engagement and fewer connections within the creative industry. In this situation, their quest for perfect posts undermines the benefits of networking and self-promotion through social media.

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without." Confucius

As we conclude this episode, remember that striving for unattainable perfection can hinder your progress and lead to missed opportunities in your creative journey. To overcome perfectionism, set realistic expectations, prioritize progress, seek feedback, practice self-compassion, and reframe any negative thoughts that start creeping in there.

 

"Done is better than perfect." Is an adage, often attributed to the world of software development and start up culture, and it emphasizes the importance of completing tasks and moving forward, rather than becoming stuck in this pursuit of perfection. It encourages taking action and learning from experience, highlighting that a completed project, even with imperfections, is more valuable than an idea that never comes to fruition due to unattainable standards.

 

I had been doing these shows in groups of threes but on listening back I sometimes felt that it was just too much information. Perhaps even I should have done this as 2 mini episodes. I’m not sure, but I’m glad to have come back to you today with these thoughts and I hope they help you in some small way.

 

If you are struggling with something in your day to day or professional life, please do get in touch via the socials or the website filmproproductivity.com contact to feed back on this. If it’s worthy of an episode I’ll perhaps pick it up for season 14.

 

In the meantime please cut back on the strive for perfectionism, and take a bit of time to dig into your  finances and apply the adage that “money saved is money earned” to your life.

 

In next weeks show I’ll be talking about The Overwhelm Escape Plan so if that’s something you have been struggling with then please join me then for more actionable advice, tips and tricks.

I’ll end with the words of Leo Tolstoy who said "If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.”

Now take control of your own destiny, keep on shooting and join me next time on Film Pro Productivity and Success.


UNLOCK YOUR SUCCESS

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