***Excerpt from my new time management book at bottom. Keep reading!***
First, before I get into what's going on, please become my friend on Facebook. Search for Monroe Mann--I'm the only one. :)
Second, before I forget, I am teaching a FREE TIME MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP called, "Winners Do It Now" at 36th Street Studios, from 2 - 4PM on Monday, August 3rd. It is based on my upcoming book, "Time Zen - The Shortest, Most Effective Book on Time Management and Success Ever Written" and also based on my www.AccountabilitySchool.com. (An excerpt from the book is at the bottom of this email.) Want to come and learn how I get so much done and learn how to apply the same principles to your life and career? RSVP today in reply to this email, or by sending an email directly to RSVP@36streetstudios.com. Space is limited to 15 students, so DO NOT PROCRASTINATE (haha)---if you're interested, register right now.
Okay, so yes, it is true, I have even more inspiring updates for you. I honestly hope this inspires you to go out there and kick your ass into overdrive as well. Yes, I know I just sent out an update about what I was doing, but hey, things are moving fast---what's a boy to do?
Okay, so what's going on?
1) GET OFF YOUR ASS! Watch my latest 'Get Off Your Ass' video (Topic: NOTHING is impossible) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7hvPXoVgXw I am getting better and better at these videos, and am having a blast doing them. Thanks to everyone for rooting me on to keep recording more of them!
2) PETE'S CANDY STORE & PERFORMANCE TIPS: For those who couldn't make it to my show at Pete's Candy Store, you can watch a video of the performance that my friend Rachel Hill recorded for me. The first song, "Hollywood Girls" is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBIL5uEpgp4 and the second song, "Rob Lowe (Melody)" is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGQfGhAUhpc For you performers out there, here are some on-stage tips I learned after watching these videos: a) you have GOT to learn to play without looking at the chords. The audience wants to see your face. So now, I am practising all my songs with my eyes closed, to learn to find the chords without having to look. b) you have GOT to keep the same rhythm despite the adrenaline. I could hear myself speeding up every once in a while. Time for me to practice with a metronome every day to calm those excitable nerves. c) RECORD YOUR SHOWS AND WATCH THEM. Wow---I can't believe how many other things I picked up on just by watching this video on how to better my performance, stage presence, costumes, patter, and the list goes on. If you have any tips for me, give me your feedback on the youtube videos. I'm all ears. :)
3) OPEN MICS: If you want a full open mic list, go to www.badslava.com. If you want to perform at an awesome open mic (or see some amazing musicians), come to Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn this Sunday. No cover, no 2 drink minimum, and I was blown away with the talent. 3 hours of some of the best musicians I've seen in YEARS. No joke. I'm gonna be there again this Sunday, playing from 5 - 8. This time, I'm playing my songs, "Look Around" and "Wonderful"---and I'm not gonna look at my hands, haha! Hope you can make it. RACHEL: If you can come and record it again, I'd be so grateful. Yuri, hope to see you there again!
4) ONE-MAN SHOW: I forgot how much I loved performing on stage. Directing and acting in movies is fun, and I love helping my clients through Unstoppable Artists, but damn, nothing compares to performing before a live audience. Shazam! So... Pete's Candy Store has now become my practice arena for the 15 songs I am going to play in my own one-man show that I am putting together for November/December. It is tentatively called, "Running for Famous" and will be the most inspiring and heartfelt one-man show you have ever seen---chronicling my life from the day I decided to become a professional performer and my 100 'almost big breaks' to my deployment to Iraq and decision to go to law school and continue to take over this business. You are gonna LOVE IT. More to come!
5) NEW T-SHIRT LINE: By popular demand, I am finally taking the plunge, and it's getting so close to becoming official---my trademarked "No Rules, No Excuses, No Regrets" t-shirt line. I am partnering up with two of my friends to make it happen: Faith Smith, CEO of IceCreamShades.com (a kids sunglasses company in Los Angeles) and Knox Vanderpool (CEO of SayIWont.com, a motivational t-shirt company). I'm making adult t-shirts, baby doll t-shirts for women, and tiny little baby tshirts for little tikes. How awesome to see little kids running around with NRNENR t shirts! haha! Awesome. Would you be interested in purchasing one or more of these shirts for yourself, friends, or children? Let me know--I'm trying to gauge the interest.
6) MY DBA APPLICATION WAS RECEIVED! I apparently am a glutten for punishment. As I near the end of my educational forays with my MBA and my JD this year, I am embarking on yet another: a doctorate. DBA stands for what? Doctor of Business Administration. It's a joint 5-year program through University of Newcastle in England and Grenoble University in France. Aww, shucks, so now I'll have to go to Europe two weeks a year to meet my graduate adviser and meet my fellow students. LIFE SUCKS. Oh, and check this out: the Army is paying for half of my school from this point forward, thanks to the new GI Bill, and my service in Iraq in 2005. Is that awesome!!! My semester law school bills went from $25,000 to $11,000. And... apparently I get a $1200 housing allowance as well, every month. Who said sacrificing for your country only made you feel good on the inside! And all I had to do was put my life on the line, suffer some nerve damage, and live through the paranoia and downright fright of loud noises for the rest of my life ha ha.
7) NEW APARTMENT: I just signed the lease on my new apartment in Port Chester. Pretty stoked, because I've been crashing at my parent's place ever since I got back from Iraq. Guess what: the place has a pool! So, if anyone wants to come visit me and go swimming, let me know. I move in on August 1st, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
8) PERMIT: Those of you on Facebook have been trying to guess what the heck I meant when I said I was just approved for the most awesome permit by Westchester County. It is something I had to fight really hard for, something I had to go on many interviews for, something that required filling out affidavits, appeals, and pleadings. But in the end, I was APPROVED! I can't share with you what I was approved for, unfortunately. I know, you're annoyed with me now, but they put their trust in me, and I am not going to violate that trust. I just wanted to let you know that ANYTHING is possible if you put your mind to it. I was absolutely floored when I got the letter yesterday that read, "APPROVED." Scha-wing!
9) AFS FILM FESTIVAL: Mark your calendars. Saturday August 15th 7 - 9PM is the day you can come to the Helen Mills Theater in Manhattan and watch all of the movies my students and I have shot in my Actors Film School film program to date. Admission is free, but limited to only about 40 people from this email list. If you are interested in seeing the films (particularly if you're interested in attending the film school), this would be a great opportunity to meet the filmmakers, to meet me, and to see how much more awesome my film school is than any other you could invest your time or money in. Reply to this email if you are interested in attending. There will be an after party from 9 - ?? at the Black Door bar, right next door---everyone is welcome. Note: If you check my page on IMDb.com, you'll see that all AFS film school projects get listings on IMDb. Not all of them are up yet, but a good number of them are. If you want four awesome IMDb credits (as actor AND producer), Actors Film School is the easiest solution you can find, and guess what: you already found it!
9) MY PROGRAMS: I've got a ton of programs going on, and I'd love you to jump on board. If you really want to jump into time management success immediately, register for www.AccountabilitySchool.com right now. Remember WINNERS DO IT NOW(tm). Admission is rolling, and only costs $300 for three months. If you'd like to write, produce, direct, star in, and edit your own film, the next Actors Film School program (on Saturdays) starts Saturday, August 29th for only $2495 (payment plans available). Finally, if you want one-on-one help with your career, life, or business---from a financial, marketing, strategy, or business perspective---my coaching programs are top-notch, and start at $375 for three weeks.
10) EXCERPT FROM MY UPCOMING BOOK "TIME ZEN"
FROM THE INTRODUCTION: A NEW PARADIGM (c) 2009 by Monroe Mann
The truth of the matter is that most major success in this right-brain, internet-connected, uber-competitive world no longer comes from doing things consecutively. If you do things consecutively, you lose. That is a fact. Slow and steady may have won the race in the past, but today, in order to even get into the race, you have to be the one organizing it too, and doing everything all at the same time.
In other words, in today's world, it's the multitasker who wins the race—because often you can't get into the race unless you put the thing together too. Sure, forty years ago, you could focus on one trade and get a job that would support you for the rest of your life. These days, though, you're fortunate if you have the same job in the same industry for a few years. The time to become a little bit more diverse in your pursuits has returned. Da Vinci would be proud.
And in this new day and age, if you can't keep up with those of us who know 'how to juggle' multiple projects, then tough luck, you're gonna be left in the dust. Yes, we have entered the age of the time masters, and you would choose well to join us. While time itself moves forward on a single timeline, that doesn't mean your projects have to move forward on that single timeline. Instead, the idea is to propel many projects forward on a whole bunch of timelines.
In other words (and here's the basic time philosophy of the book):
Doing one thing at a time is a recipe for a life that won't keep up with your dreams.
You see, while each of us does only have 24 hours in a day, that's the wrong way to look at time management. The key to successfully doing more, in less time, and with better results, is to stop thinking linearly, and start thinking spacially and synergistically.
Think about it conceptually: we may only have 24 hours in a day, but if we can each learn to juggle three or four balls during every hour (instead of just one), we essentially end up with 96 hours of effectiveness per day. Quite a jump in productivity.
And while the floor space of our lives—like the floor space of our offices—may be limited, if we conceptually understand the idea of 'juggling', it should be clear that by juggling your various projects and dreams up off the two dimensional timeline, and into the three dimensional space above and around you, you are going to be able to take on and handle a heck of a lot more projects than you normally could.
Remember the key premise of this book: doing one thing at a time is a recipe for a life that won't keep up with your dreams. I know we've all heard that it's better to do one thing at a time, and put all of our energy into that one thing until completion, and then move onto the next thing… but that just won't work if you have great ambition and want to live a greater than average life. Think of all those people who have done amazing things with their lives. For example, Da Vinci, Edison, Thatcher, and even in our own time, Spielberg or Stefani. Do you really think that they've done so much with their lives by focusing on just one thing, and then moving to the next in a linear manner? Da Vinci was working on scientific musings at the same time he was drawing, inventing, and theoreticizing. Spielberg was writing screenplays while he was directing them, producing them, and casting them. Edison was failing for the thousandth time on the light bulb while he was working on hundreds of other inventions at the same time. Stefani was recording while designing clothes. And I am writing this book while I am also writing three others, while in law school, while shooting two films, while running my businesses, and while rehearsing my songs to perform at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. Focusing is for losers—for those boring people who have the ability to speak only to a select group of people at a cocktail party that understand or care about their particular niche.
I know that some studies have concluded that multitasking actually reduces the amount of brain power we are using, citing examples that today's youth know all about multitasking and processing, but little about focusing and analysis. There may be a lot of truth to that analysis but it leaves out an important point: multitasking and processing by itself may be of little use, but when you combine those qualities with focus and analysis, it's quite amazing what one can accomplish. And that is what this book is all about.
My point is simply this: you can come up with as many excuses as you like to rationalize what I call 'your laziness', but in the end, if you want to make things happen in this life, you have to learn to multitask. And that requires the mastery of your time.
You have to learn to squeeze every valuable second out of every valuable minute in such a way that it encourages the time efficiency you are seeking. In other words, in order to juggle projects, you need to have control over your time; you cannot let time control you.
And not surprisingly, the more efficient you are with time, the more organized your space will become too—they are absolutely related. And the more organized your space, the more quickly you will get things done because everything is well organized. Make sense? Good, because now this is where things get confusing.
When I say 'time', I don't just mean 60 minutes in every hour. I mean that the more efficient you become, you'll actually learn how to get 180 minutes out of every hour—through efficiency, delegation, productivity, etc. Said another way, your space is where you are able to apply the time you have. If you are the most amazing time zen master ever… but your life as a whole is a mess, then you're not going to get very far. Conversely, if your life's space is clearly organized, but you are not able to manage time very well… again, you're not going to get very far. In other words, you cannot be good at time management if you are disorganized, and you cannot be organized if you don't know how to properly manage your time—for what is time management but clearly organized use of your time. That's what this book is going to show you how to do.
The Break Diver's Creed
NO RULES, NO EXCUSES, NO REGRETS ®
I am a break diver, and I will find a way.
Thanks for all your support! I couldn't do what I do if it weren't for you. (Hey, that rhymes--that's my new song. No one can take that title!!!! I claim it as my own. :)
P.S. - Check out my new Time Management Program; my Actors Film School short film program; and my career, financial, and marketing coaching program. Remember: if you'd like to chat with me (at no charge) for 20 minutes about your particular situation, I would be more than happy to do so. Call me! 646.764.1764 (c) and 914.481.1641 (o).
Sincerely,
Monroe Mann, ME, GMC
(JD/MBA, May 2010)
UnstoppableArtists.com
