Archive for January, 2010

Writer / Futurist Alvin Toffler

A thought-provoking quote from writer / futurist Alvin Toffler to start your week:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

- Alvin Toffler

That’s a really intriguing idea, that what you know isn’t as important as the ability to acquire and implement knowledge. It doesn’t take long to see there are some exceptions to this broad statement, e.g. I’m not letting someone operate on me who says ’sure I’m dentist, but I got some books on surgery this weekend and I’m a quick study.’ So does that disprove Toffler’s idea or is it just an exception? With the rapid development of technology, haven’t ‘learning, unlearning, and relearning’ become the new 3 R’s?

Do you agree with Toffler? Disagree? Share your thoughts on this quote in the comments section.

- Matthew Porter

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Yesterday, we started talking about goals. I posited that no goal, no matter how well thought-out, can be accomplished until the goalmaker is first truly and irrevocably committed. This act of going all-in is what allows us to lose our big ‘buts’.

Around this time last year, three friends of mine each set out to accomplish goals of their own. Each goal was unique; each goal was daunting.

Here’s the rundown:

Scott W. Smith

Scott W. Smith

Scott is an award-winning director / producer and screenwriter. In 2007, he started an inspiring blog called ‘Screenwriting From Iowa’, focusing on Hollywood success stories that had roots in ‘flyover country’, in Iowa and beyond. The blog netted him an Emmy. Based on this success, he committed himself to a formidable goal: to post a blog entry every single day of 2009. As of last Thursday, Scott completed his goal. Now, before you just blow past this accomplishment, think about this: the bad stuff we do is nearly always easier and more fun than the good stuff, but we don’t even do the bad stuff every day. Scott could have said, ‘but I’m constantly traveling all over the country.’ Instead, Scott lost his big ‘but’.

Carl Creasman

Carl Creasman

As a full-time professor, full-time pastor, and full-time father of three, Carl didn’t need to add another title to this list to feel accomplished. Yet, his passion for speaking and challenging young people to live a life of success inspired him to write and launch an additional career as a motivational speaker. Throughout 2009, Carl continued to invest himself in this venture, increasing his number of speaking engagements by 40%. Today, he has written and/or contributed to three books and become an in-demand speaker, addressing thousands all over the country. Carl could have said ‘but I’ve already accomplished a lot.’ Instead, Carl lost his big ‘but’.

Erik Guzman

Erik Guzman

As executive producer for a nationally syndicated radio show and father of three, Erik had plenty on his plate, metaphorically speaking. But Erik also decided he had too much on his plate, literally. So Erik– my dear fun-loving friend who never met a scotch he didn’t like– set his phaser to ‘radical’. He stopped drinking and smoking cold turkey, became a vegetarian (he’s still meat-curious), started working out 5-6 times a week, and dropped 50 pounds. Erik could have said ‘but I’m too busy.’ Instead, Erik lost his big ‘but’.

Losing our big ‘buts’ means that we’ve decided no matter what happens, no matter how differently 2010 turns out than we’d imagined, we will accomplish our goals. This is a pretty stringent litmus test, but that’s the idea, to sift out the honest-to-God must-do goals from the resolution / wishes. The latter are fine and have their place, but when our lives get upended, they quickly become expendable ballast.

So, what’s your primary goal for 2010?

What’s your big ‘but’?

What’s your plan for losing your big ‘but’?

I’ll be sharing some of my goals and big ‘buts’ in the coming days. In the meantime, please share yours in the Comments section.

- Matthew Porter

PS: See you here first thing next week for the launch of Great Quote Monday!

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Welcome to Hey Porter!

Hello, Happy New Year, and welcome to Hey Porter! My name is Matthew Porter. I’m a full-time husband and daddy and also writer / director / producer. I created Hey Porter! as an online hub for all the projects I’m working on. As you can see I’m still ‘moving in.’ However, in the meantime, I’ll begin posting regularly on the blog section of the website. What kind of posts? Basically anything that falls out of my head that I think you’ll find entertaining or useful. We will have at least one regular feature: Great Quote Monday. On Great Quote Monday, I’ll share with you a challenging or inspiring quote to help start your week off right.

So take a look around, breathe in deep (ahh… that ‘new website’ smell), and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

- Matthew Porter

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A lot of articles and blogs will be published today with titles like ‘How To Achieve Your Goals in 2010’ and ‘How To Foolproof Your New Year’s Resolutions.’ I believe each of these will probably have something useful to offer. But there’s another element of the goalsetting that doesn’t get talked about much, and it’s shame, because you can set your goals, you can even create a detailed gameplan for achieving each of goals, but if you’re missing this one thing, you have just sabotaged your success.

What is this one thing? Let me introduce it by first sharing a golden moment in cinematic history known as Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. In this 1985 cult classic, the inimitable Paul Reubens plays Pee Wee Herman, a frenetic man-child on a cross-country search for his stolen bike. In the course of his adventures, Pee Wee meets Simone, a waitress with big dreams of visiting Paris…

PEE WEE: Simone, this is your dream. You have to follow it.

SIMONE: I know you’re right, but…

PEE WEE: But what? Everyone I know has a big “but.” Come on, Simone. Let’s talk about your big “but.”

Before distilling your dreams into goals, before forming a gameplan for achieving those goals, you need to determine how much that goal really means to you. In short, are you truly committed?

You’ve probably heard movie stars talk about ‘committing to a role.’ As a director, that’s what I ask of my actors. But what does that mean? It means the actor abandons himself to the part. He holds nothing back. He puts it all out there, swings for the fence. If you saw Dark Knight and witnessed Heath Ledger’s astonishing performance, then you’ve seen the magic that happens when an actor truly commits.

Let me put it another way… I can do a backflip. Or rather, I could do a backflip. I possess the physical ability to do this. What I lack is the mental commitment to jump in the air, throw my upper body backward, then tuck my knees to my chest as I rotate and land. Stop and think about that for a second: there are an infinite number of backflips inside me. It would only take commitment to make them all a reality.

So, what extraordinary things are inside you?

How do you plan to make these extraordinary things a reality?

As you think about your goals for 2010 in the coming days, be sure to first ask yourself– honestly– if you are fully committed. If not, you may still have a big ‘but’. BUT, that’s okay. We can lose our big ‘buts’. Three of my friends did. These are three ordinary guys who accomplished extraordinary things in 2009, just by losing their big ‘buts.’ I’ll introduce them, and their stories, to you tomorrow.

See you then.

- Matthew Porter

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