Be the Daniel Day Lewis of Your Life!
Shakespeare once said, “All the world is a stage.” Well, if Bill is right, then I guess that makes us actors. Ok. I can deal with that. But, we also get to be Director as well huh? You bet. With this in mind, let’s use the acting metaphor to the fullest.
Daniel Day Lewis is one of, if not, my favorite actor of all time. The man is simply amazing. From Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood,” to “Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting” in “Gangs of New York, he kills it every time. Day-Lewis is what is known as a ‘method actor.’ This is a form of acting in which the performer never breaks character even when not on set.
Daniel Day-Lewis is widely considered to be one of the most accomplished performing artists of all time. He is the only actor to have won three Academy Awards for Best Actor and has various other accolades to his name, including four BAFTAs and two Golden Globes, among others. Over the course of his distinguished career, Day-Lewis built his reputation as an extremely talented method actor capable of absolutely anything.
In preparation for ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ he learned how to survive in the wilderness by actually learning how to skin and cook animals.
When he played Abraham Lincoln, he was Abe whether the cameras were rolling or not. It’s a way for the actor to truly immerse himself in a role. Given Lewis’ success it obviously works for him.
Well, I was recently doing some research for a course I’m writing, and I came across a quote in Brendan Burchard’s book “High Performance Habits.” In it he writes, “Imagine your best future self and start acting like that person today.”
That’s a pretty simple yet powerful notion. As you know the motto for The Jason Wright Show is, “Improve always in ALL ways.” As such I personally try to perform a little better every day than I did the previous. When I think of who I want my future self to be-what I look like, how I treat others, what I will do on a day to day basis-I have very clear expectations.
Future Jason is amazing. Seriously, he’s like James Bond meets Thor meets Andrew Huberman meets some superhero that hasn’t even been thought up yet. He’s really really amazing.
So here’s my question to present Jason-”Why wait? Why not start acting like the person you want to be in the future today?”
Good question J Dub. Oh, and does future Jason also slip into third person every now and again? Oh yea. Did you not see the above description?
On a more mortal note, below are some characteristics I’d like future Jason to have down pat.
I want to be generous, not easily angered, strong both physically and mentally. I want to be a father my daughters and their children love to be around. I want to be a husband who still gives my wife butterflies.
But why wait? Why not start preparing future Jason right now by acting like him in the present? Granted, I won’t master the role immediately, but even Daniel Day Lewis doesn’t do that. He takes sometimes years to prepare for a role. Well, I’ve got the rest of my life to prepare for this one. Only God knows when the role will come to an end. He’s the one who will eventually call out, “Cut.” Until then, why not start acting like the person I want to be today?
What about you? Who do you want to be in the future? Have you reached your zenith as a human? I doubt it. There’s always room for growth. There’s room to learn more, to be more, to appreciate more, to love more, to live more!
Here’s my challenge to you-one which I have given myself. I’m going to be the Daniel Day Lewis of my life. I want to start method acting right now. If this is all a stage and I’m acting out a one man play I want to crush this role. I’m going to relish all the retakes and try to get them better the second, third and fourth time.
I’m fully aware I will never truly master this role. However, that’s no excuse to not try to act it to the best of my ability. What say you?
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