Motivation
My oldest son, Quentin, struggled with motivation…until he didn’t.
Quentin has the quintessential outgoing, visionary, knows no stranger, larger-than-life personality, which often serves him well…and sometimes it doesn’t.
His mom and I watched as he bounced from one activity to another; from one interest to another. Most of the time, he’d lose interest in one endeavor upon discovering another.
Then he picked up a camera.
I have seen someone go all in on one thing to the level Quentin has only a few times in my life –learning everything possible from books, videos, courses, mentors, and the like.
Quentin was a good student but he was not sold on going to college; his original gap year has turned into 4.
During that first gap year, he started his own business (he was 19), printed business cards, spun up a website, and went to work. Within one year, he had over 20 clients and was working near full-time hours.
Next came an internship opportunity in the film industry, which was his dream.
As I dropped him off in Nashville, TN a mere 6 weeks after his surgery for testicular cancer, he asked me what he should do. My advice: work harder than anyone else, be more curious than anyone else, meet more people than anyone else. If you are asked to come in at 7am, come in at 6am; if you are asked to stay until 6pm, stay until pm.
He did all of that…and more.
Now Quentin is a fully independent film-maker, with his own equipment, and his own contacts in the film industry. He has been on set for well over a dozen full-feature films; multiple commercials; several music videos; a handful of short films; and multiple documentaries.
He has edited, shot B-roll, been on the primary crew, a 2nd AC, a 1st AC, and a DP; he has led small crews and large crews…and he turns 23 years young next week. If you have seen a project he has been part of, you may have seen his name in the end credits.
What about you? What motivates you? What inspires you? What are your dreams and aspirations?
The bottom-line: life is wild, precious, and short. May we all have the courage and the motivation to dive-in deep, burn the ships, and be all-in pursuing that which we are passionate about, called to, are really good at, and contribute value.
May it be so!