After All…

Be careful criticizing your director, questioning their motives and decisions.

After all, they did cast you.

On Punishing Creativity

Be careful punishing someone for drifting outside their lane and coloring outside the lines. 

That creativity you might punish them for is probably the same creativity for which you pay them, and is often the creativity that solves your seemingly unsolvable problems.

Followers Matter

Make no mistake—followers matter. 

Don’t apologize, feel bad, feel embarrassed, or feel guilty for getting excited about a new subscriber. 

If we are writing to be read, if we are posting to raise awareness, if we are sharing to make an impact, then followers and the quality of those followers matter.

Every Moment Matters?

Sure, every moment in the show matters, but not every moment in the show matters equally. 

Start with why the show matters. This will clarify which moments need to matter most.

To Just Do the Next Thing

All in, I have completed over 15,000 performances of some sort since moving to Orlando. 

This is a fun exercise to do and here’s why: If someone had told me, “Rob, before you fill out all this paperwork and sign these contracts, you should probably know that you’ll be required to do 15,000 performances over the next few years.” 

I would have been hesitant for sure. 

But rather, my only responsibility was to rehearse and perform one show. Then rehearse and perform the one after that, and the one after that; to just do the next show, today, for this audience. 

Whatever line of work you’re in, there’s something you can measure that if you knew how much work it was going to be on the front end, how long it would take, you probably would have been hesitant to sign up. 

But that’s the thing for all of us: Just do the next thing. And every now and then look back and see just how many mountains you’ve climbed.

Twenty Minutes

There’s something magical about the length of twenty minutes. 

Twenty minutes can be the starting line, the finish line, or simply a leg of the race. 

Everyone can find twenty minutes a day to devote to their something—their next thing. 

Writing. Reading. Memorizing. Composing. Drawing. Strengthening. Creating. 

All of it can start, finish, and be made better twenty minutes at a time. 

Try it. 

(It’ll just take twenty minutes.)

The Clarifying Question

When faced with any tough decision, a clarifying question for me has long been: What’s the wise thing to do?

Not: What’s the smart thing to do? (Because while wise and smart are similar, they are not the same.)

Not: What will make me the most money?

Not: What will make me more successful more quickly?

Not even: What’s the right thing to do?

While those questions may play into the bigger question, the clarifying question for me has always been: 

What’s the wise thing to do?