What’s harder?

We say we want to direct films, write novels, and perform on stage, but we don’t put in the work to get there. We say we don’t have time to put in the work—that if we didn’t have these pesky jobs and responsibilities, we could make something great. So if there’s no time to make something great, what’s the point in tinkering with the ten and twenty minutes we do have tonight?

The point is this: What’s harder? Directing a film with producers breathing down your neck, actors who don’t respect you, and a studio that needs this to be profitable? Or finding something to shoot with he 30 minutes you do have tonight? What’s harder? Finishing a novel by the deadline for a publisher that is taking a chance on you before the advance runs out? Or writing something compelling with the 30 minutes you do have tonight. What’s harder? Opening for an artist, with an audience that has no interest in you, and a label that needs you to sell 50 shirts? Or going live on Instagram to perform a few songs with the 30 minutes you do have tonight? 

All the stuff we daydream about is so much harder than the opportunities we have today. And believe me—if we don’t take full advantage of today’s opportunities, tomorrow’s will certainly never come.