Keep Going

I love Bryan Cranston.

Dude made me laugh hard for years in Malcolm in the Middle.

Then he gave a nuanced and interesting portrayal of Walter White in Breaking Bad.

That show and his character made me confront uncomfortable things about myself.

That’s what great storytellers do.

I’m about halfway through reading his memoir “A Life in Parts”.

It’s an honest and unpretentious (so far) of his journey as an actor, from childhood to present.

My big takeaway so far?

Don’t give up.

Focus on processes, not outcomes.

Know what matters to you.

I’ve failed at this often in the past. I’ve become fixated and driven by outcomes. It doesn’t work.

I gave up on following my heart and the creative path it desired in my mid 20s.

Your heart never forgets.

Mine didn’t.

No matter how hard I ran away or hid, my heart was too fucking loud.

You don’t have to do what I did.

I deferred my creative and artistic journey by a decade and a half. You don’t have to do the same.

Focus on processes, not outcomes.

Bryan Cranston’s career really took off when he become more focused on his craft. He just wanted to become a better actor.

He didn’t get upset when others landed opportunities he went for. He reached a point where he was genuinely when others landed gigs he went for!

He kept chipping away and focusing on his craft, on his love of acting.

It worked.

He landed Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad in the same decade.

One role was in his 40s, the other in his 50s.

Know what matters to you.

This took me until much later in my life to realise.

You have to know yourself.

Do you know what you can and can’t live without?

I’ll leave you with this quote from Bryan Cranston:

“I didn’t want to spend my life doing something I was good at, but didn’t love.

I wanted to do something I loved, and hopefully become good at it.”