What Are You Holding Back?

This weekend I re-watched Midnight In Paris.

I’ve seen it a million times.

Only this time I noticed something that I never had before; Midnight in Paris was written and directed by Woody Allen.

In truth, I’m not a fan. (At least I thought I wasn’t.) I mostly think of him as the neurotic protagonist who married his girlfriend’s adopted daughter.

Seeing what I thought I knew about him was clearly incomplete, I looked him up.

Here’s what I learned:

• By all accounts, his “best” work was 1977’s Annie Hall

• He directs the majority of the films he writes.

• He stars in many of them.

• His work has mixed reviews ranging from “brilliant” and “iconic” (Annie Hall) to “a disastrous fall” (Hollywood Ending)

• 16 of his films have received Oscar nominations.

• He has written (and executed) one film every year for 50 years.

Did you catch that last one?

He has written (and executed) one film every year for 50 years.

Even though virtually ALL critics say that his best work was in 1977.
Even though his track record of winners and losers is about 50/50.

It’s something to think about.

What if he stopped working because so many influential critics said his best days were over? What if he got derailed when the sex scandal with Mia Farrow’s daughter broke?

There would be no Midnight In Paris, that’s what.

Am I suggesting that we all have (or should have) his level of tenacity and dedication to a craft?

No.

But I would like you to ask yourself if there’s anything that you’ve hesitated to complete or put out into the world because you were afraid it wasn’t your best, or it was criticized, or something in your personal life derailed you.

No self-judgement here.

Just ask yourself what might be different if you consistently did what you loved, put it out into the world, and then moved on.

This Week: Do it. Share it. Let it go.

That’s it…

Do it.
Share it.
Let it go.

Repeat.