Day 4 – My discipline is getting better, but my titles are getting much, much worse!
Practicing Extraction
Jay Acunzo uses the term extraction to mean taking a formula used by a storyteller and attempt to tell your own stories using that formula. I plan on practicing that this weekend. I don’t know if this will even make sense, but I am going to try and tell a story about John D. Rockefeller’s childhood using This American Life intros.
I am going to listen to the intro of the 5-10 most recent This American Life podcasts. Then, I am going to try and determine a formula for intro. Once I do that, I am going to use that formula to create the intro for a podcast about the childhood of John D. Rockefeller – Can I do this? Who the hell knows?! – But I’m going to give it a shot.
Practicing Business
I came across this a few times in Titan – John D. Rockefeller’s biography. I think practicing business is helpful to anyone who isn’t working yet. Some examples included him raising money for his church (a lot of money), being put in charge of building a house when he was 17. Come to think of it, his practice was much more in depth and of higher importance than mine. I think I did this when I was younger by collecting sports cards, playing Sim City, taking leadership roles in various clubs, and being president of my fraternity.
About 8 years ago, my buddy, Moot created an awesome slideshow presentation for our fraternity. He presented this slideshow at a meeting for potential new members. We were trying to get new young men to join Phi Sig. The most distinctive slide said “Fuck Up Now”. The main idea is that you want to fuck up when you’re young, in college, and you don’t have a wife and kids depending on you. You learn the management, budgeting, and goal setting skills while you’re still in school so you can have them when it “really counts” in the real world.
The Johari Window
The Johari Window – I first read about it in Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi 10 years ago. I most recently read it in Never Eat Alone a few days ago. Yes – sometimes I read books more than once! It’s an interesting concept if you’ve never heard of it. It’s the idea that you have to morph your outward personality to better communicate with different people. Talking to someone shy? You should be more reserved than you usually are. Talking to someone boisterous? You should be a little more loud and outgoing than normal if you want to keep up.
Quote
Drawing used to be a civilized thing to do, like reading and writing.
It was taught in elementary schools. It was democratic.
It was a boon to happiness
-Michael Kimmelman
Take Time To Celebrate and Have Fun
I wrote this a day early. Don’t forget to take time to have fun! Instead of writing this on a Friday night, I’ll be at The Harpoon Brewery eating a delicious pretzel and downing some cold ones. It’s my buddy Scott’s birthday!
1 comment
Comments are closed.