November 24, 2020 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time.

The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice.

Would the concept of “going for it“ have any meaning, value or sentiment if there were no risk attached?

Of course not. At that point it would be no different than pulling a carton of milk out of the refrigerator.

So then by definition, “going for it” requires taking a risk and potentially exposing oneself to the downside of that risk. Why then make the attempt at all?

Fame? Glory? Reward? Self satisfaction? Adulation? Which of these variables ultimately pushes one into the threshold of chance?

At some point everybody ultimately takes the risk and goes for it. Whether it’s trying to get the right job, the right school, the right spouse, win an award, a title, ribbon, statue or payday.

Making a decision like that, and living up to it, requires discipline. Whether it is the discipline to practice in order to be ready, or whether it is the requirement to speak the truth in the face of power or bare one’s soul in the hope that there is reciprocity from another.

The sacrifice required to ultimately achieve one’s goal cannot be underestimated. Time, frustration, pain, anguish, determination and courage are the prerequisite ante for even getting in the ring.

As Ernest Hemingway aptly states, these virues create vulnerabilities, which can destroy someone if they are not fully aware of the risk.

I think the risk/reward spectrum is fascinating. I, myself, have been fully absorbed over the course of my life in the spectrum. Over the decades of making countless insane deadlines at the Illusion Factory, I realized how addicted I had become to the art of coming through. The science of saying we would do something and delivering even more than what we might have promised. Understanding the variables that ultimately motivate you, can be incredibly powerful in helping you to attain your next great leap.

I hope this Tuesday delivers you huge rewards for everything that you have risked to get here🥂🎉

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!