9 Lessons from Matthew McConaughey
In my tent, grappling with my demons, I couldn’t sleep, so I quit trying. Instead, I stripped off my clothes, along with every badge, banner, expectation, and affiliation I had on me...
I was genuinely surprised by how insightful ‘Greenlights’ was and how introspective Matthew McConaughey is (McConaughey is an Academy Award Winner. His movies include A Time to Kill, The Lincoln Lawyer, Mud, Interstellar and more).
I’ve always enjoyed his movies... even the Rom-Com ones. And so reading the “behind-the-scenes” of a man I had only seen on TV was a fascinating and entertaining adventure revealing his personality and philosophy like never before.
Throughout the book you see McConaughey grappling with fame, money, meaning, living with conviction, and the death of his father.
There are some wild stories in there. I highlight some of them in the episode, especially his father’s idea of “initiation”... Don’t recommend the method, but the idea of initiation of boys → men and girls → women is needed in society.
Add this book to your list if you haven’t read it.
Onwards!
12 Lessons from Matthew McConaughey
Cull distractions to find your identity.
Don’t half-ass anything. When McConaughey decided to drop out of Law school to pursue film his father said, “Don’t half-ass it.”
The sooner you realize what’s important to you the better your life will become. “All the mortal things that I had been revering in my life, everything I was looking up to in awe, suddenly came down to eye level in front of me. All the mortal things that I looked down upon and patronized in my life suddenly rose up to eye level… It was time for me to get real courage, it was time for me to become a man.”
Solitude is your friend. McConaughey tried to find solitude when his life got hectic and he needed direction.
Face your demons. “In my tent, grappling with my demons, I couldn’t sleep, so I quit trying. Instead, I stripped off my clothes, along with every badge, banner, expectation, and affiliation I had on me.. I removed every idol that ever gave me comfort and security, pride, or confidence.. who was I? Not only on this trip but in life. Now naked and stripped down to nothing, I was only a child of God, and nothing more.”
Love the work. Find a craft you can dedicate your whole life to. “The box office failures didn’t dampen my love of acting. If anything they made me more feverishly committed to my craft. I loved performing. I loved creating. I loved getting lost in a character and then found. I loved going so deep as to see my man from the inside out. I loved the work, the process, the construction, the architecture of the building and owning my man. I loved having a wife who never interrupted my belief that each role I played was the only and last role I’d ever play. I loved acting more than ever.”
Is your attention spread thin? If so, do the hard work of removing distractions and focus on a few things that are most meaningful to you. “I felt like I was making B’s in all give. By shutting down the production company and the music label, I eliminated two of my five commitments with plans to make A’s in the other three.”
There is only this moment. You live in the now. “We are all made for every moment we encounter. Whether the moment makes us or we make the moment. Whether we are helpless in it or on top of it. The predator or the prey. We are made for that moment.”
Ignore the accolades and prizes. Those things are impermanent. “The sooner we become less impressed with our life, our accomplishments, our career, our relationship, the prospects in front of us—the sooner we become less impressed and more involved with these things—the sooner we get better at them.”
Till next week,
Peace!