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Show Notes
The moment the director called action, the horse jumped. Stay with me for these next few sentences.
When you sit down to write, do you sometimes feel a creeping sense of tension?
Do you, uh, feel this paralysis come on you when you hit record on your iPhone camera.
Do you sometimes feel that your voice sounds a bit hollow when you start sharing your genuine feelings in a conversation?
Perhaps you're wondering why this happens and all comes down to why the horse jumped and this sense of needing to perform rather than just to play and explore.
So the horse jumping, when the assistant director called action occurred on Clint Eastwood's movie set when he was directing a Western, and he decided that if the horse jumped, then the actor jumped.
If the horse felt tension, then the actor felt tension, and whether you love his movies or appreciated him as a human being, Clint Eastwood is renowned as one of the best directors of actors in Hollywood over the last 20, 30, 40 years.
And so what he does now. When he hits record, he just says quietly, " whenever you're ready". And the actors begin when they wanna start. And rather than call cut at the end, he says "that'll do" nice and quietly.
And this is to eliminate tension or any sense of performance, just to allow you to be truthful in the moment.
Five Ways to Reduce Tension When Creating Online Content
There are five ways that you can get rid of tension when you're sitting down to create online content.
The first way is to not think too much at the start, and I've realized that the Pontificators and the Overthinkers will absolutely hate this idea, but if you start your process by thinking too much, then you're gonna take that the whole way through and you're gonna be always second guessing yourself. So start with a blank slate. Don't always know what you're gonna say next. This requires self-trust, but it also gives you a huge amount of. Freedom to explore and to play. And that way you're not trying to perform 'cause you have no idea what's about to happen.
The second way is to. I understand that nervous energy is your friend. Two actors are auditioning for the same role. Both feel incredibly nervous. Both know that this is a life-changing career-defining role. One actor says, I'm so nervous. This could mean so much. I better not fuck it up. The second actor says, I'm so nervous. This could mean so much. This could change my life. I'm so excited. I've got this opportunity. They feel the same nervous energy, but one is excited and the other is afraid. Which one gets the role?
The third way is to play and not perform. The third way is to understand. That there is no right or wrong here, that you are exploring, that you're trying things, and so one of the ways to do this is just to not take it all too seriously. It doesn't exist until you hit publish. It doesn't exist until you upload it. So have fun, explore, let things happen naturally. Don't try and force them, play. Don't perform.
And the fourth way is my absolute favorite, and that is do it wrong deliberately. Say something you shouldn't say, make a mistake, throw something up in the air, drop it, right? You'll have. An authentic moment and doing it wrong deliberately stops you from getting tense because you know there is no right way and there is no wrong way. There's only one way you're doing it right now.
The fifth way is really deciding what it is you're going to talk about and share. Because if you are feeling too much tension, if it's dry, if it's not easy, if it's not. Coming out of you naturally, there is a good chance that you have chosen the wrong topic. That the topic and the thing you're talking about isn't something that flows out of you easily. And so when we choose something that we are passionate about, that's number one. And then two, choose a really strong point of view about that subject. Choose something that you believe to be absolutely and utterly true, and then you'll find it. Much more, much, powerful, much easier to get out of you because your, your passion takes over. But when we are being strategic and thinking too much, it's harder and it takes longer and it's not as good.
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