Winter
is coming
That time of the year when it's just dark is coming.
Dark in the morning, dark in the afternoon and yes, dark at night.
On the one hand, this should make us more productive, as there is little point in leaving the house.
But it doesn't work that way, at least for me.
It just makes me sleepy.
But!
Have no fear; I don't get the luxury of sleeping as we are still swamped.
I spent some time reflecting on my work attitude over the last couple of weeks. I had good chats with professionals and my tutors and I am taking it easier.
Stressing out and worrying doesn't help anyone. Also, people can sense your vibe and the stress, like a virus, can contaminate the whole environment.
Eat healthily, work out and chill out - that's the rule for decent days.
But enough about work, let's talk about something else - long-term thinking and musicals!
We went to see Beauty and the Beast as they were showing in Bristol (my review is below), and when chatting to a mate from kickboxing, I mentioned that his kids would love it.
He said they wanted to go, but the tickets were expensive, and there weren't good seats left anyway.
Well, I felt smug and vindicated because I got ours eight months ago and these were not only less than half-price but also good stall seats.
I usually scan what's happening 6–12 months ahead and get the tickets early, plus we have something to look forward to.
There is a saying that people overestimate what they can do in 12 months but underestimate what they can do in 5 years.
I want to focus on the latter part of this quote, which has to do with long-term thinking. It's difficult for us to imagine a future. It's easy to daydream but hard to take actions now that will only bear fruit in months or years. It's easier to focus on what's in front of us, what we can manage and affect today.
Long-term has a lot of unknowns - let's take the example of buying musical tickets eight months in advance.
What if I am sick that day?
What if there is bad weather?
What if there are strikes?
So many things can happen and ultimately make us lose the ticket money.
But in reality, the time will pass anyway. Faster than we would like.
The musical we want to see will arrive, and we will regret not getting the tickets because they are now overpriced if not sold out.
The example of theatre is just that - an example. But this type of thinking can and should be applied dramatically in our life.
We don't want to spend it sitting in crappy expensive seats, do we?
PODCAST PRODUCER LATEST
Most things have stayed the same since last week, but we did have a good production team call to discuss the next steps.
It's not just about what's happening now but how we can prepare for the future.
One of my ideas is to create a series of training videos before the end of this year, available when we bring additional people on board.
It will be a manual on how we work on Casefile and Casefile Presents shows and what are the different approaches we take.
YOUTUBE
We've released a video which I recorded some time ago about habits.
It's not about life habits like waking up early or meditating, but rather work practices for editors. Some tricks and tips I picked up over the years working with audio.
LEARNING
I'm finishing my second assignment for the master's, and I booked a 1-2-1 call with a tutor to check if everything is in order before I submit it!
It's been a year since I passed my orange belt in kickboxing, and in a few weeks, I will be trying for a green belt. We must follow a strict syllabus - show the techniques for all the belts before, plus plenty of new stuff for the green.
The green belt is the first of the intermediate belts, so the trainers expect to see a good improvement. Plus, there is a sparring session at the end.
The training and prep have already begun, and I'm already in pain.
Remind me, why do I do this?
Apart from everything else, Paulina and I have a small online business. Things had plateaued a bit for a while. Although we understood that we needed help to take things to the next level, we needed the business skills and knowledge to do it ourselves.
After research, search and calls, we've signed up for an expensive business coaching and consulting program. It will be intense, but I have a good feeling about it!
BOOKS
Film Music by Kathryn Kalinak. I finished the book this week, which was an excellent introduction to film music. I will reference it for my commentaries.
The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku. It's the next book for Rebel Book Club, and I just started it. I love Kaku, physics and futurism, so I am excited about this one. It's the first book in 6 months from the club that I am genuinely interested in.
FUN
Beauty and the Beast musical. As I mentioned at the beginning of the newsletter, we went to see the musical as they were touring in Bristol for a few weeks. B&B is not my favourite Disney movie, but the musical was top-notch, as expected. The set designs, the costumes and the dance numbers were outstanding. And the choreography is the best I've seen so far.
Everything Everywhere All at Once. I heard about the movie a while back, and finally, it's available on Prime. One of the funniest and most well-made films I've seen in a long time. Go and watch it!
Deliver us the Moon. I completed the game this week. An excellent play but a bit short!
Exception. We finished the anime. It was meh. 6/10
Andor. Another episode is out! Things got hairy for Andor, and the TV show kept up the quality.
Tick Tick...Boom! My friend and fellow musical lover Jess (Casefile writer) recommended this film a while ago, and I finally got to it. A tremendous musical about musicals! Andrew Garfield is fantastic in it.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you (hopefully!) next week!
Mike
https://mikemigas.com/
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