Do You Want A Life Of Success Or Significance?

“When it comes down to it, I just want to be happy and live a life I’m proud of.”

Isn’t that interesting?

We all want the same thing–Happiness.

But yet, we seem to look in all the wrong places for it.

And I’m not saying I haven’t gone through this experience myself.

I think life has a way of reminding us what really matters most.

And funny enough, it’s quite often the complete opposite of what we are doing.

I’ve met a lot of people over the years, some insanely “successful” and others struggling to get by.

But the ones I remember being the most impressed by, were the ones who lived their life with a genuine desire to add value to others.

If you’ve ever been on a sales call as the customer, it’s very unusual to feel like the sales guy actually gives a crap about you.

Normally I find myself virtually cornered when I’m in these conversations, and it’s anything but enjoyable.

But what if you did give a crap about the other person?

Do you know how much better our world would be?

The reality is life is nothing without the people in it.

So take care of the people in your life and life will take care of you!

Your family, friends, clients, coworkers, neighbors, the cashier at the grocery store–You get what I’m saying.

I don’t care how cheesy or professional it is, how can you add value to those who are both permanent parts of your life and those who enter your story and exit just as quickly?

A genuine smile, a thoughtful text, a spontaneous visit or a killer final edit for your client–Whatever it is, do it with your ALL.

I love what John Maxwell says:

“Successful people that live for themselves get unhappy very quickly. But I’ve never met an unhappy person that lived a life of significance.”

A significant life in my mind, is not only a successful life, but a happy one.

I think the quicker we realize that, the sooner we live a life we’re genuinely proud of.

So let’s stop overcomplicating what a happy, fulfilled life looks like.

As soon as you make it your goal to leave someone else better than you found them, you have won.

Once we admit to ourselves that we need others to live a “successful” life, our game plan is pretty simple really.

If you’re working on becoming the best version of yourself while serving others, the sky is the limit.

But it’s up to you to actually live a life of significance.

You got this👊🏻

-Landon

PS - John C. Maxwell’s interview on The School of Greatness Podcast was the inspiration behind this week’s topic. You can check out the full YouTube video HERE.

BRAND NEW COLOR GRADING CRASH COURSE

The day has finally come! Our brand new Color Grading Crash Course with master colorist Jake Pierrelee releases TODAY inside of the Full Time Filmmaker course.

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You can check it out HERE.

CREATOR SPOTLIGHT

Turning Adversity into Art: How One Life-Changing Accident Sparked a Career Driven by Storytelling

The story of Ben Tinsley

Hey I’m Ben Tinsley, Co-Owner of Six and Twenty, a production company based in the South Eastern United States. Lauren, my Wife and I own the company together. Our business has two divisions, on one side we are corporate branding and marketing strategists; while the other specializes in luxury wedding and events.

When I was just a freshman in high-school I got into a pretty gnarly wreck. I had many surgeries and stitches to hold my head together. The rescue team found me facedown in a creek not breathing. I’m blessed to be here today. In a unique way this taught me to tell stories. I had two years of physical therapy, weekly where I would have interactions with strangers multiple times a week, and they would always ask “What happened?”. I quickly learned how to tell my story.

Later in college I went to school for marketing at Anderson University, and most classes I took seemed to relate to media. I enjoyed it, but still I never thought I’d be in this business. That all changed when I met Lauren. Lauren was a great photographer, and just seemed to “get it”. She and I would go on dates to new locations and play around with our cameras.

Being an entrepreneur I started taking risks and making videos, biting off more than I should have at times. My first big win of my career was making a video for myself from a duck hunting trip in Mississippi. My cousin saw the video I made and sent it to a buddy of his who owned a hunting company. From there on I knew that was my passion. I wanted to make videos that told stories in the best ways possible, so I chased it. Fast forward a few years and Lauren and I have chased that dream together, we have worked with companies that we originally had only dreamed of, and we’ve had opportunities that we can only credit God Himself for blessing us with. It’s been a ride!

My video career sparked from meeting Lauren, and grew through continuing our education. Full Time Filmmaker was more than a stepping stone. I knew what I needed to do theoretically from college, but didn’t have any actual filmmaking knowledge that would propel us when it came to being on the job itself. The FTF community and source of knowledge has been the backbone of our education in the media world.  Forever thankful to the FTF community.

What advice would you give to someone getting started?

The best advice I could give is to keep your head up and keep moving forward. Like everything filmmaking has its ups and downs. It can be a really competitive field and creatively challenging at times, but you have to get up and keep moving. It is easy to spiral into the circle of comparison, becoming protective of your work, taking creative criticism badly, etc. but the only way out of it is through. Grab your "imaginative" shovel and get digging, because once you've cleared that mindset, it can all be worth it. 

Channeling your creativity and imagination into art can be one of the most rewarding things there is. Keep moving and find your circle, whether it is this group or another it can help tremendously. Stay kind and stay appreciative. 

Remember where you came from and what you've done. Celebrate the small wins because any win is monumental. You are your best chance and be proud of your work, even on the days you can't get it done. 

Keep your head up and keep forging forward, you never know what can come of it and who you'll meet.  

Check out Ben’s Instagram HERE.