Lessons from a Social Impact Filmmaker
Lessons from a Social Impact Filmmaker
Avthar's Weekly Wisdom #32 (12/5/2020)
Hello fellow learners, doers and curious people!
I'm grateful to write to you from New York City. Welcome to edition #32 of Avthar's Weekly Wisdom.
🔥 This newsletter is where I share practical wisdom about self-mastery, startups, health and happiness, all to help you live better. My goal is for you to discover one thing that can change your life, in a big or small way, every week.
ICYMI: You can read all previous editions of Avthar's Weekly Wisdom here and find more useful things on my website.
Here's what I want to share with you this week:
1. Lessons from a Social Impact Filmmaker
In this episode of Learn with Avthar, I speak with one of the most multi-hyphenated people I've ever met. Not only is he a Swiss-Mexican-Costa Rican filmmaker, but he's also a creative, writer and entrepreneur.
He's none other than my good friend, Andrés Bronnimann.
I was excited to invite Andrés onto the podcast to celebrate the release of his first feature-length documentary entitled, "The Universality of It All".
The film focuses on the topics of human migration, climate change and social inequality, and blurs the boundaries between film and documentary.
I was also curious about what he learned from making the film, as well as his creative and entrepreneurial lessons he picked up as an independent filmmaker with 30+ productions in 25+ countries.
I learned so much about the themes of his film, as well as the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations that come the hefty endeavor that is making a documentary.
We also dug into the inner experience of being a creative, discussing the importance of authenticity, gratitude, and perspective in our work.
I know you're going to walk away from the episode with so many gems to revisit!
Listen Now
🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Online
If you don't have time to listen to the whole episode, listen to these 3-7 minute highlights:
Filmmaking as a vehicle for learning …Our projects guide us toward things we seek to discover, as well as things we never imagined we needed to know.
Independent Filmmakers: Entrepreneurs by necessity! …The financial and emotional struggles Andres faced on the way to developing and releasing his latest feature film.
The value of having a plan B …It is easier to go all in and commit your full self to something when you know that failure is not going to be the end of the world.
You can find these + 6 more highlights + more info about Andres here.
2. Life-changing Links
🏆 On Self-Mastery —
Championship Mindset: I plan to play this at the beginning of everyday until the end of 2020. It gave me a kick up the butt just when I needed one. It helped me re-define what "hard work", "adversity" and "having a lot on my plate" meant. It also reminded me that despite things being rough sometimes, I live a truly blessed life compared to my parents and grandparents and what they had to endure at my age.
I am a champion. I never complain. When you're a champion, there's nothing to complain about.
Somebody asked me the other day, "How was your flight"
I said "Is that a joke!? It landed!"
🚀 On Business and Money —
"Enough": I am currently reading a book inspired by this wonderful commencement address by John C Bogle. Bogle is the founder of the Vanguard Group, and the inventor of the Index Mutual Fund. He was richer than most of us can ever dream, and yet his wisdom about knowing when you have "enough" is just as profound as his wisdom about gaining wealth through investing in low-cost index funds.
Here’s how I recall the wonderful story that sets the theme for my remarks today:
At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, the author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch 22 over its whole history.
Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have . . . Enough.”
Enough. I was stunned by its simple eloquence, to say nothing of its relevance to some of the vital issues arising in American society today.
💪 On Health —
How Modern Lifestyles Impact Fitness (and what to do about it): How does modern life inevitably leads us to poor health outcomes? Learn the perils of waking up to alarms, drinking coffee and cereal for breakfast, sitting all day, and chronic work stress. You'll also get a range of suggestions about how to combat modern life's structural pitfalls and regain control over your health and wellness.
We shouldn't underestimate the extent to which our lifestyles and habits shape our bodies and brains - far more than a few hours-per-week spent in the gym!
In this video, I look at factors such as sunlight exposure, sleep deprivation, poor posture, chronic stress and more, all of which might have an impact on your health, fitness, and training.
This video suggests ways to change environment and habits to reverse some of these issues. The problem with our modern lifestyles is not that they are modern, but rather that they lack challenge and discomfort.
We can fix this with incidental training methods and a number of health "hacks."
🙏 On Happiness —
Why gratitude matters in the age of comparison: In this extremely vulnerable clip from my podcast with Andrés Bronniman, we discuss the importance of shifting your perspective in order to see your life and environment from a place of gratitude. "Comparison is the thief of joy" and "the grass is greener on the other side"— we have heard these phrases a million times, but for good reason. Come along as Andres and I remind us all of the value of gratitude, using lessons from our own entrepreneurial and artistic endeavors.
As an entrepreneur, I was envious of my friends who had a salary and took weekends off, but they were envious of my startup and me pursuing my passion...
We're all just going around being jealous and envious of each other!
So you might as well be happy with your own life at the end of the day.
Wishing you a week filled with happiness, peace and success.
Reply to this email if you’d like to reach me directly - for feedback, suggestions or just to chat!
- Avthar
🐦 @avthars