0022: Predict Your Future By Designing It, Then Creating It
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Show notes
Hey there, hero!
The times we’re living in are not ones we would have expected or predicted. And we can chalk that up to external developments that we neither asked for nor engaged in.
But for some people, that notion of unpredictability applies to everything about their existence. It isn’t just about external events, but everything that happens in their lives. They are more comfortable just “letting life happen” and hoping for the best.
I learned early on that I was not at all comfortable letting life just happen to me. And maybe, if you’re not at ease with that, this podcast might give you some insight into two tools you can use to be more proactive about shaping your future, not just watching it unfold.
And speaking of shaping your future…
You only have until tonight, Friday evening, June 5th at 9p PT, to decide to study with me in the 2020 ACX Master Class. Act now, as registration closes at 9p PT. Here’s the link:
https://acxmasterclass.com
Raw captioning:
I don’t know when you started counting
when the era that we’re living in now
began was it March or maybe April or
February maybe even earlier because
you’re really on top of things and you
saw what was happening but I can pretty
much be assured that no matter when you
started counting this is not a future
that even five months ago any of us
could have predicted or would have
contemplated and so it got me thinking
about my future and your future and I’d
like to share with you a couple of tools
that I think will make our futures a lot
better and we’ll do so
coming up next on this episode of the vo
heroes podcast
there’s a quote that is erroneously
attributed to Abraham Lincoln usually
the the people that it rests on Alan Kay
who is a futuristic technologist dennis
gabor who is credited with creating
holography you know Holograms even
Forrest Shaklee from the shaklee
corporation and the quote goes something
like this the best way to predict your
future is to create it or the best way
to predict your future is to invent it
and for me growing up I had just a
terrible relationship with my stepfather
who was in my life from very early like
when I was three or four or five and I
don’t really remember he just didn’t get
me and his world view was very limited I
have a feeling that if today he was
alive he would be a you know one of
those people who wants to make America
great again you know and I think
everybody does don’t we just how we go
about it that’s a little different
anyway he never got me he never
understood what I wanted for my future
because he was living a future that I
don’t think he was very happy with and
when I started thinking about the fact
that many many people feel as though
life is so unpredictable and so
uncontrollable
that they don’t even want to contemplate
the idea of helping to guide it
you know life happens to them and that
makes me very uncomfortable for me
I don’t want life to just happen what I
want is to make choices and learn what I
need to know to help guide and shape my
future and that becomes a choice and I
think it’s a choice that you can make as
well
you may not think you’re capable of it
you may not think you have the power to
do it you may not think you have the
personality to do it you may not think
you have the information that you need
to do it but I’m here to tell you you do
you do it’s a simple binary choice now
you may choose not to that’s great but
think about the difference this can make
in your life these two tools are
designing your future and then actually
creating or inventing your future
now certainly as I’ve noted unexpected
things external events can put the
kibosh on the best laid plans right but
if you never make plans if you never
think to yourself okay I’m gonna make a
difference here I’m gonna actually try
to guide my future I’m just gonna let
life happen to me whatever happens
happens
it’s gotten me this far right but what
if you took the moment and said to
yourself no I’m actually only on this
earth for a short amount of time so I’m
gonna make some decisions that are for
me without feeling like I’m being
selfish without feeling like I’m not
taking other people in my life into
consideration but just making sure that
I get what I want out of life that I get
the future that I want so the first
thing that I want you to do is think
about designing your future what is it
that you want what do you want
and that can be hard for some people to
answer because they just don’t know but
I want you to write that down on a piece
of paper what do you want by the way
that was a drinking game when when
scandal from Shonda Rhimes was on
because the characters used to say that
all the time what do you want Olivia
what do you want take a drink but it’s a
question that can really help design
what you do after that
so jotting down what you want and be
crazy awesome with yourself not you know
I’d like health which is great and in
some cases when people aren’t healthy
wanting health is a big deal but what do
you want from your future occupation
what do you want for your future social
life what do you want for your future
relationships what do you want for your
future knowledge base what do you want
just going through that exercise is
something most people never do it just
kind of happens
oh I met this guy or this woman one day
and we hit it off and they were doing
this and I kind of fell into that and
but what about if you actually write
down what it is you want and you might
find that those answers come very
quickly I’ve always wanted to do this
I’ve always wanted to do that if a
homerun is this jot it down right so
just take the time to declare what it is
you want
and how you get there it’s entirely up
to you sometimes you need money
sometimes you need knowledge sometimes
you need a relationship with someone who
can help you sometimes you need tools
physical tools sometimes you need a
change in attitude sometimes you need to
be open to possibilities so the first
one is what do you want design your
future state it say this is what you’re
gonna do and then the big step the
second step create it just create it now
you could be saying to yourself right
now you’re crazy
what do you mean just created how do you
possibly do that well look around you
it’s not a race but other people have
done what you want to do and it wasn’t
because they were born to it it wasn’t
because the universe conspired to keep
you from doing it but let them do it
right even if you’re into the attraction
theory the universe wants your success
so figure out the first step take that
first step
move toward creating your future just
one step then take the second step then
the third step and then the fourth step
and all of a sudden you’re on a journey
to creating the future you designed now
all of this you might be thinking to
yourself that’s really simplistic it we
work for you but you have some advantage
I don’t I don’t have I don’t know what
that advantage would be I mean look at
me
you know so why not give yourself those
two gifts at the very least the
knowledge of what you want for your
future and at least the first maybe the
first second and third maybe the first
10 but moving toward your future by
creating it I just want that for you
especially now at a time when we’re all
still kind of given more time than we
thought we’d have and can ponder these
things and make these things if this
resonates with you I’m thrilled I really
am I’ve had conversations
over the past week with people like how
do you decide to do the things that you
do and my answer became very clear it’s
an overt choice I know what I want and I
figure out how to go get it I designed
my future and I figure out how to create
it and then create it and I want that
for you
this makes sense to you I’d love to know
your thoughts in the comments below this
video especially if there are speed
bumps in this process for you I don’t
deserve it I’m I’m not smart enough I’m
not well-connected enough whatever they
are I would love to know what they are
and I’d also like to know if you think
to yourself oh you just codified what I
decided to do
I’d love to know in the comments below
and you’ll also find a little note in
the show notes for the this particular
episode that one of the things that many
of the people that I know because
they’re my tribe want for their future
is voiceover and in particular they want
to explore audiobooks because it’s the
quickest way to make money in voiceover
and if you’re watching this podcast the
day it’s released it’s the last day that
we have registration open for the ACX
master class 9 o’clock tonight Pacific
is when the doors closed we start class
on Monday and I would love to be the
person that helps introduce you to and
make sure at least contributes to your
success in the world of audiobooks the
ECX master class at a CX master class
comm if you want to register for it
you’ve only got a few hours it closes
for sure tonight at 9 o’clock because
I’m the guy that closes the doors but
think about your future if that’s a part
of it you might want to apply what I’ve
said in this podcast to that but I
really want to know if the message of
the best way to predict the future is to
invent it make sense if you can design
your future which nobody can stop you
from doing right nobody says you can’t
say the answer to the question what do
you want and then taking those steps
starting with the first baby step maybe
it’s a big step
I don’t know but design your future and
then create your future as opposed to
letting life just happen letting your
future just occur
let me know I’d love to hear go to vo
heroes comm that’s where the
conversation is safe and moderated I’d
love to hear what you have to say I’m
David H Lawrence the 17th I thank you so
much for watching and for listening and
I’ll talk to you next time
Hey David, been watching these lately and they’ve been pretty cool!
Adding to what you’ve said, I’ve had an interesting career. I wanted to do voice over when I was in my 20’s. I wanted to have my own television show. These have been two goals I’ve had over the years that I’ve worked at and have had lots of success. I’ve worked at the top in major games and cartoons and TV shows. I’ve had my own shows. And while it never was exactly the way I wanted it to be and I was never perfect in execution, I did have that success happen.
As a creative in these industries, a lot of those opportunities have been things that have to be bestowed upon you in a way. You get selected to do be in the cast. You get selected to go into production or development. Most of the work I was doing wasn’t making the thing happen. It was doing every step that let me buy the lottery ticket. Making great demos. Auditioning. Putting myself out there. Doing great work. Getting known by casting directors and producers. Making great material for pitching. Building relationships. And at many points, my life was just buying lottery tickets.
For some, that’s already leaps and bounds ahead. But for me, it never felt like enough. Even though I put myself in positions to be heard, found, discovered, my creative dreams were always contingent upon being selected by others. And in many ways, I allowed my feelings of success and validation to be contingent upon the validation from others. The validation being booking the job and receiving creative or financial returns on my efforts. My persistence in following through on those goals helped me see some good gains. But it wasn’t everything. I was fortunate enough to see there was another piece to the puzzle.
I always think back to this one speech by Mark Duplass that always helps me rethink my purpose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZeWOAliA6Y
And adding to what you said in your video, one thing that helped me out was digging a little deeper into my goals. Why did I want these goals? And buy understanding the why, I could see that I was in more control of my life and career than before.
So one of the reasons I wanted a show and to do voice over was to entertain people. Make them laugh. Lighten up their day. Free them from concern. Use my off-beat sense of humor to get people to open up and find lightness and joy in our exceptionally tough world.
And I looked at my goals and said, “do I really need someone else’s system to make that goal happen?” A decade ago, I was pitching shows, putting together decks and setting up meetings, begging for representation. I put everything into my auditions. I figured out how to build the home studio and get the right ears listening. I was doing all the “right” things in the Hollywood system. Until I went back to what it is that I wanted. And that was to be creative, write, entertain, and tell the stories and jokes that I want to tell. So I just took the joy in making and made stuff. I stopped asking permission from others with the means and found my own ways. I ended up writing my own comics, which turned into animated versions, which turned into live shows (before corona) with large followings. And I got to do exactly what it is I wanted to do. Entertain, have my own shows, and play the characters I wanted to play. So as someone who had success on larger networks, I found I was getting what I wanted. I found a way to forge that path. And while I love working on larger projects and in the games/animation system and being a part of it, my goals and goal planning have let me be happy when the successes do or don’t come in that system.
But just that moment to reflect upon “why” helped me many times to stop spinning my wheels when things didn’t go my way. To not bemoan the system when it didn’t let me in. To not see success in terms of viewers, followers, dollar amounts, bookings, and these other factors that we believe determine success. And to help me course correct when my actions weren’t helping me achieve my goals.
So if I have anything to contribute to your words of inspiration, it’s that clarity and purpose on those goals and actions can be achieved by also asking, “why?”
Three quotes popped into my mind as I listened to this:
“Luck is the residue of design”-Branch Rickey
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” John Lennon
“You wanna make God laugh? Tell Him your plans”
Hi David, Thank you for this video. I haven’t watched in a while and I didn’t realize how much I missed hearing your voice and fantastic take on life and various topics. When I was 13 my very successful uncle told me to make a list of the things I wanted in life. That started my list-making habit. I loved it because It worked. Then, I learned about map-making. Each time I had something special I wanted to achieve I’d make a map with images, and words, and things that had meaning for me. They worked too. I had a speed bump a few years back and just couldn’t seem to figure out what I wanted. That really is the first step. It is really hard to hit a goal if you don’t even know what that goal is. It took me a bit but when I finally figured out what I wanted I started a new map. This is a big map so some of the steps have taken time. Other things manifested in ways I couldn’t imagine but were much better than what I had in my head. Set your big intention then get the hell out of the way and take action on the steps you can but don’t force things. That is what has worked for me so far.
What happened to the awesome little bit of music you used to play at the beginning and end of your videos? I love that; I always have to listen to the end so I can hear it one more time.