ITalk Los Angeles successfully debuted this month in front of a capacity crowd at the former residence of Frank Sinatra in LA, the star event included well know Hollywood names in film, television and music including MTV’s Chanel West Coast, actor James Pratt, rising star Aneesha Madhok, celebrity stylist Ali Levine and actress Jessica Ross. Whilst the event was aimed at inspiring and educating those in the entertainment industry, Sean Stone, son of legendary film maker Oliver Stone left a lasting impression with his talk on Consciousness, he detailed how in Hollywood film professionals often focus on the wrong things and then they can’t understand why they haven’t had success. He also mentioned the distractions that come with success.
Of his talk, here is some key notes Sean spoke about to help those film makers and actors in the entertainment industry.
Cultivate self-awareness
Becoming self-aware is vital. This is the act of getting to know yourself not only as a leader, but as a person. You may already know your strengths and weaknesses, but are you aware of your thoughts, feelings, and motives? This narrative is especially true when in the film industry artists often get saturated with distractions and with success comes excess. Asking yourself key questions on a daily basis, such as “What three things do I love most in life?”, “How can I bring more joy into my every day?” Where am I falling short and how can I do better? These questions will help give you more awareness to what you are doing.
Be intentional
Conscious artists succeed because they bring intention to everything they do. Whether that’s the way they spend their time and money, or where they choose to travel and vacation. Being intentional is the preface for living life on your terms. Spend this weekend setting intentions for any area of your life you’re not fully satisfied with and watch your dissatisfaction turn into experiences you take pride in.
Check your influence
This means that while we are individuals, our innermost circle actually plays a huge role in our personal character and success. Make a list of the five people you spend the most time with and write down notes about their attitude, behaviour, and worldview. Next, ask yourself if you feel satisfied being the average sum of those people. If not, make some adjustments and restructure your network. In Hollywood make sure you are aware that when you succeed more people will hang off you and be around you, keep focused on who you spend time with and how much time you are spending.
Think Ahead
So many times, people are focused on the short term, but the more we look ahead the better clarity we get for the immediate, for example. If we look ahead and understand I want to be working as an actor on $100 Million Dollar Hollywood feature films, then we realise this is why we are doing the actions right now, such as classes, auditions and the gym. But if that’s not what you want in the future to be doing, then your actions now need to reflect whatever you are aiming for.
On the night, other key messages were the notion of being true to yourself and following your passion, which is the reason you get up in the morning.
