Things that aren't an excuse for not getting stuff done...
I was at The Green Film Festival in London over the weekend. It's the first time that The Green Film Festival (can I abbreviate from now on to GFF please) was held in London. It was started in San Francisco by a British woman called Rachel Caplin in 2011. (LGG Wednesday 17th - Friday 26th July, Regents Place, London NW1 regentsplace.com).
The vision for the GFF grew out of the need to bring communities together to share environemntal stories in San Francisco; a city that's important to both independent film and the global green movement.
I was fortunate to have a chance to speak to Rachel and she struck me as a woman of vision, ambition and personal humility. With a will to get stuff done.
I didn't ask her how many favours she's called in to get GFF to London, how many sleepless nights she'd had during the planning (which she did reveal was a scarily short timescale) or whether it had all gone to plan. On the day that I was there (Sunday 21st July) none of that mattered. It was enough that she was there at Regents Place, an impressive audience was there, the subject matter was vital and relelvant, the Q&A guests were likewise, the Q&A that I attended and the screening all worked like clockwork and then she virtually had to ask people to stop asking questions so that she could wind it up - the audience was so engaged and involved. It was a success.
Just shows that if you set your mind to something, so much can be achieved. Start small. Don't expect to win hearts, minds and money all in one go. But just get on and do something.
Same goes for launches and fulfillment of ambitions in any sphere. Careers and work decisions too. You just have to get on a do it. Well - first off, work out what it is that you're aiming to do. Be strategic, be creative and get going.
Things that aren't an excuse are:
- Not the right timing. Honestly, it probably never is the right time. There'll always be a logical reason why NOT to do something. You'll find a way.
- Not enough money. See above - start small and if it's a good idea, peoplewill like it and it will get bigger.
- I'm too old/too young. Pardon? I'm not sure tht you really meant to say that!
- Yeah, but... You certainly didn't mean to say that!
You may find it helpful to have someone to nag, cajole, support, coach, ask questions that need to be asked while your're dong your strategizing and creative planning. But then you really do just have to do it.