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Writer's pictureMatt Pipes

Why Do I Focus So Much On Self Development?


Self Development
Photo by TedEly

I was having a little moment during my morning meditation in which I had a thought. One of the topics that I really love to teach and talk about and practice is self development. Productivity, optimizing workflow, templatizing, note taking. You name it, I'll probably look into it and love it. I never used to be a "Type A" person, but it just sort of came to be. Though I realize that it's cutting into what I'm really trying to sell which is "I'M AN ACTOR! HEAR ME!"

However, these things have never been disconnected for me. Self development, is, in my opinion, acting, and acting is self development. For both, you're taking a person that you would like to be, studying those qualities and then putting those qualities into practice to create a developmental shift within yourself. You're connecting to an entirely new person and making that person you. It's just like what you would do for acting, you compare the qualities of the character you are looking to play and your own, and you find the gaps to step into.

Though, alright, I get it, it's an entirely different niche, and that's the thing, no market is going to understand that I'm an actor if I'm promoting productivity, I'll become a productivity guru like Ali Abdaal, or Thomas Frank. So I'm sort of running through my head how I can marry the two, because both are incredibly valuable forms. I just don't like pinning down markets because I want to offer value to EVERYONE! It's hard, but I guess then I should focus in on one thing at a time.

I also really like to talk about productivity and systems of the sort because it's more tangible. Acting is really subjective and I don't see a lot of case studies remarking how using one technique as opposed to another offers this % of increase in ability or audience. At this point it's all conjecture based on subjective study. Which works just fine. So then we offer what we have personally found and allow the student to search the goal or capacity within themselves. Our work as educators within the craft is guidance as opposed to stone cold fixes.

On that however, I do have a lot of ideas in terms of how I might be able to access both Productivity and Acting. In terms of templatizing your notes, that is something that I'd love to build as a resource for people. My notes involve the Ivana Chubbuck 12 step technique from The Power of The Actor. I want to be able to offer that as a resource and templatize it for my students. My job is to create the least amount of resistance for my students to actually do the work, and then continue promoting that work, so that any resistance in doing the work thereafter becomes minuscule. Because productivity, works like a muscle, it's intertwined with discipline and the more you show up the easier it gets.

So then why? Let's distill further. I believe people have the ability and capacity to make change within their life, and I believe the productivity movement is one way of doing that. And it's holistic right? My content is, I mean. I want to give value within all areas because I wish to be the extrinsic motivation for someone to spark intrinsic motivation within their hearts to create positive change. That's why I love productivity. It's also just something I know how to communicate better, and I think that's really all I had to say, but of course, that would be reductive, and I'm writing a blog post! No short form content here ;).

So being able to communicate productivity, is just something I'm a little better at, and how I like to teach. I promote self development, so that you can take that learning and realize your ability to continue making changes within yourself. So that you gain autonomy, and also aren't financially indebted to coaches and teachers everywhere. I cannot minimize the value of coaches and teachers, but I know for a fact that there is many things in this life that you are capable of achieving on your own. And when you find yourself stuck, never be afraid to ask for help. That's the balance. My goal as a teacher is to give you the principles so that you feel comfortable and confident to face the industry on your own.


I hope that gave a little more clarity into the content I'm currently making, and a little bit of how I teach. I'm a beginner within the world of social media and media management, but I'm here to continue and be consistent. Whether I have a niche or not, I'm sure something will appear, I think something is rearing it's head, I'll continue to explore and also always, provide you with something of value. Much love!


If you're in need of coaching and improving your systems, note taking, research and overall acting ability I currently have 8 coaching slots available! You can click here for more resources on coaching. For more resources, you can follow me on instagram, and twitter.




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