In the moment, my brain was convincing me that this party was the be-all and end-all of all parties and that my decision to go to sleep early was preposterous. I remember lying there reevaluating my entire life and thinking, “Is this the type of career you want? You’re missing this once-in-a-lifetime fun for work? And probably your only chance of ever meeting Winnie?”
I had two options: (1) rip off my blanket, speed down the stairs doing the running man, and grab two beers to catch up, or (2) shut up, close my eyes, and go to sleep so I could perform well the next day. I’m proud to say I chose the latter. But it wasn’t easy. I put a pillow over my face and forced myself to go to sleep while envisioning myself on a billboard in Times Square. My FOMO was conquered for one night, but I still had two nights to go. FOMO is like that annoying computer update that you ignore but it comes back the next night trying to get your attention all over again. It’s a constant test, and it’s one every Bawse needs to learn how to pass.
How? Train your brain to pay attention to the rewards you receive when hustle beats FOMO on the battlefield. Fast-forward six months and I’m standing in Times Square with my family, taking pictures in front of my billboard. My face is painted on the side of a building in Manhattan. A bus just passed by and my goofy grin is plastered all over it. Do you think for even a second that I stood there in New York City, watching tourists take pictures with my face as a backdrop and thought, “Damn, I wish I didn’t miss that little party that one night”? No. The answer is no.
So pay close attention to the good grade you got when you studied instead of partied. Don’t just let that moment pass. Really take it in and think about how it makes you feel. Think about the promotion you got for staying late instead of going for drinks with your co-workers. Make a list of your accomplishments and recognize how you achieved them. Focusing on your work moves you closer to reaching your goals. That is a fact. Keep training your brain to pay attention to how rewarding it is to work hard. Soon you’ll stop worrying about what parties you missed, and you’ll develop a hustler’s FOMO: the fear of missing out on accomplishment.
So the next time you’re faced with FOMO (and I promise you, there will be a next time), ask yourself one question: “What will my future self thank me for doing today?” Once you answer that question, shut up, work hard, and go accomplish your goals.
Also, I learned that Winnie wasn’t there and I didn’t hear a bear. One of my friends just coughed and sneezed at the same time. Oh, FOMO, you’re so silly.
Attack FOMO
List three accomplishments that were a result of your hard work.
I WOULD NEED more than two hands to count the number of times I’ve been in the middle of a commute on the highway and stressing out because my gas light is on. It’s a super-huge first-world problem, I know, but filling up my tank is one of the most annoying parts of my week. Chances are I’m running late and this pit stop will make me EVEN later. And if it’s winter, I might as well just say goodbye to the functionality of my fingers. True pain is pulling up at a gas station in winter and realizing you don’t have gloves. And I’m not talking about a cute little Los Angeles winter; I’m talking about a real, ruthless Toronto winter. It feels like you’re shaking hands with Olaf, but he doesn’t let go for five whole minutes. But you have no choice because you need gas to get from one destination to another.
Inspiration is the fuel for your hustle. It runs through our inner engine and gives us the drive (see what I did there?) to get from our starting point to the accomplishment of our goals. Just like a car, when you’re running low on inspiration you need to refuel to get to your final destination.
No matter how much you love doing something and how happy it makes you, you’re human and you will have moments when you’re feeling unmotivated. I love making videos and I am grateful every day to have the career I have, but some Mondays I’ll wake up and I’d rather put my hair in a blender than make a video. The thought of writing a script, setting up my camera on my broken tripod, pretending I know how to use my lights, recording myself, editing the footage, and waiting for a video to upload makes me want to curl up into a fetal position and cry. And that’s okay. A Bawse knows that a lack of motivation doesn’t equal failure, nor is it a permanent weakness. A Bawse expects it and addresses it.
Often we think about inspiration as something that just hits us suddenly. Maybe we overheard a great conversation, won tickets to a great musical, or met someone new with a fresh perspective—something that ignited (or reignited) a spark within us. Spontaneous inspiration is one of the greatest surprises that can happen in your day, but if it doesn’t, don’t be discouraged. I’ve become a big believer in scheduling inspiration. For me, that means proactively orchestrating events that will help make me feel inspired. I don’t want my hustle to rely solely on spontaneous events, so I take matters into my own hands.
My daily to-do list includes items like:
??Clear inbox
??Read movie script
??Conference call
??Make video
??Send creative pitch
And then at the very end of the list will be a shining gem that says:
??Watch The Walking Dead
Anyone who’s known me for a while might laugh at that because I’m always the one to say, “I don’t have time to watch shows, I’m too busy creating my own.” It’s true, I am busy creating my own content, but watching shows and movies has become part of my work (#blessedlife). I discovered their value last year when I had my wisdom teeth removed. Like most people, I was a useless chipmunk, high on painkillers, trying to distract myself from the hell that was my current life. I took the opportunity to finally listen to my friends and Twitter (same thing?) and started watching Game of Thrones. It was a strange idea to me, to sit in one place for several hours and mindlessly stare at a show on a screen, but I did it to ease my pain. In exactly sixty minutes, I was hooked. The story line was one I’d never encountered before, the costumes and set design were so extravagant, and the dialogue made me want to shed tears of joy. Want to see a grown woman cry? Let Emilia Clarke drop a one-liner about girl power.
Watching Game of Thrones inspired me to think about my own content differently. Suddenly I had new ideas, I was paying more attention to one-liners in my own script, and I was increasing the production value of my shoots. Watching the show wasn’t JUST helping me relax—it was also helping me become better at my craft.
Once I flew through all the seasons, like most of the population, I had major Game of Thrones withdrawal. That’s when I decided to fill the void with The Walking Dead. I thought, “There’s no way a show about zombies could inspire me the way Game of Thrones did. I’ve seen a million zombie movies.” To my surprise, I was completely wrong. The Walking Dead inspired me in a completely different way, with unique character development, plot twists, and tension that provoked extreme anxiety in me. Watching this show not only got the wheels spinning in my creative mind but created brand-new wheels that hadn’t been there before.
“INSPIRATION IS THE FUEL FOR YOUR HUSTLE.