A fancy director took time to chat with me about some concerns I had about my own career. I shared that I feel like I keep hitting a wall and didn't know how to respond to the wall. Here are some nuggets they shared that made me feel better as we head into a new & better year.

1) You need to learn how to put up blinders to other peoples' successes. Everyone gets jealous, and you need to learn how to not be impacted by their wins. I do feel excited for my colleagues when they achieve but it still stings. I still need to grow these "blinders."

2) Everyone is rejected all the time. Fancy people included. They offered up a short history of rejections and I was shocked by how often people say no to them, a person who has achieved so much in their career! Your rejections are not unique. This town is FULL of them.

3) Representation, though sought after, was not helpful for this director for a while. And I've been hearing that a lot lately. This thing that most indie filmmakers want may not be what we envision it to be.

Most of their TV directing opps came from friends. I heard something similar about another repped director I know whose reps would not help them get to name cast. I believe now I have romanticized representation wrongly thinking it will get me to the next level.

4) Write your annual goals down and revisit them weekly. Write down what you want to do and every week, work towards the big goals for your career. I LOVE this learn. Think big picture and act granularly. Hold yourself accountable.

5) Do things that sound fun. I asked them about my newest turn into horror and they said, as long as you're doing something for the joy of it, that's how you should build your career. That's where the energy is. Apologies for the typos. Hope these help. They helped me!