How to Channel Your PASSION Like George Lucas | 8-Minute Insight

Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael, and welcome to another edition of Modeling the Masters. I believe the fastest and most effective way to grow your business is to model the strategies of people who've already done what you're trying to do. So today we're going to look at how a young man who dreamed of becoming a professional race car driver changed his career after meeting the right mentor, and rose to the top of his industry. This is the story of Star Wars creator George Lucas and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.

George Lucas is an American film producer, screenwriter, director, and entrepreneur. He's the founder, chairman, and chief executive of Lucasfilm and is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Lucas's father owned a small office supply store that Lucas was destined to take over, but he had other plans. He wanted to become a professional race car driver. Almost his entire childhood was dedicated to cars. When he was in a near-fatal car accident just days before his high school graduation, Lucas gave up racing and went to college. He enrolled in the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television because he liked photography and thought, "Maybe this will be interesting." The program would change his life. He met Francis Ford Coppola at the film school who served as his mentor and inspired him to become a producer-director. Upon graduation, he committed himself to doing films as his profession. Today Lucas is one of the film industry's most financially successful director-producers. His estimated 2011 net worth is $3.2 billion and he's received numerous honors such as being named among the 100 Greatest Americans by the Discovery Channel and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute.

By listening to his mentor and by following his curiosity, George Lucas was able to rise to the top of his industry. To help your company rise to the top, here are 3 action items that you can learn from George Lucas.

Action Item #1: Love what you do. If you want to find success as an entrepreneur, you need to be in business because you truly love what you're doing. You're not doing it just to make money. You're not doing it because others expect you to do it. You do it because you want to do it, and you can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning and do it again. You may not be excited about the results you're seeing with your business so far, but you have to be excited about the actual work you're doing if you hope to become the next George Lucas of your industry. Lucas knew he never wanted to take over his father's office supply store. He didn't even think of himself as a businessman. Once he discovered his love of making films, that's all he wanted to do. Just like he had done earlier in his life with race car driving, Lucas devoted himself fully to filmmaking, even though filmmakers rarely made very much money. He wasn't in it for the money. He was in it because he loved it, and he ended up making millions in the process. According to Lucas, "My first 6 years in the business were hopeless. There are a lot of times when you sit and you say, 'What Why am I doing this? I'll never make it. It's just not gonna happen. I should go out and get a real job and try to survive. You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over hurdles, and break through the brick walls that are gonna be placed in front of you. Otherwise, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle. Action Item #2: Find something you're great at. To make a mark on your industry, you have to be really great at something. Create a niche where you are the absolute best at what you do and start building a name for yourself. As you expand your expertise, you can offer more products and services, but keep a specialized focus so you can easily separate yourself from everyone else in your industry. When Lucas enrolled in film school, he thought, "Maybe that'll be interesting." He had no idea that making movies would become his calling. All he did was start following his interests in the hope that it would lead him somewhere he enjoyed. When he first enrolled, he was interested in social sciences, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and photography. He managed to combine all of them into filmmaking, and by tapping into what he was curious about, success eventually became his. According to Lucas, "I'm a storyteller, but to enable me to tell my stories, I've had to develop the necessary technology. A lot of people like to do certain things, but they're not good at it." Keep going through the things that you like to do until you find something that you actually seem to be good at. Talent is a combination of something you love a great deal, something you can lose yourself in, something that you can start at 9 in the morning, look up from your work, and it's 10 o'clock at night, and something that you have a natural ability to do very well. Action Item #3: Keep going. Entrepreneurship is hard, and you're gonna have days when you want to give up. Keep going. If you love what you're doing and you're making a significant difference in the lives of your customers, you need to find a way to keep going. Believe that what you're doing is right and that things will work out. The dots will connect in your future, even if it doesn't make complete sense right now. Trust that you're on the proper path. When Lucas first decided to go to film school, he was told he'd never find a job afterwards. When he graduated and decided to make a film about androids, He was told to come back when he was serious. And when his film about androids was made, not everyone was singing its praises. But Lucas pressed on and soon became one of the wealthiest and most well-known filmmakers in history. According to Lucas, "You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead. If you want to be successful in a particular field of endeavor, I think perseverance is one of the key qualities." The secret is not to give up hope. It's very hard not to because if you're really doing something worthwhile, I think you'll be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through on the other side. You just have to hang in through that.

So remember, love what you do, find something you're great at, and keep going. To finish up this video, I wanted to share one of my favorite true stories about George Lucas and some of his best quotes.

Lucas wrote the screenplay for Star Wars after being inspired by Flash Gordon and Planet of the Apes. While writing it, he thought it was too wacky for the general public, but he insisted on finishing it. When the script was finished, only 20th Century Fox was willing to take a chance on the movie. In a groundbreaking move at the time, Lucas agreed to give up his director's salary in exchange for 40% of the film's box office takes, as well as merchandising rights and sequel rights. Breaking all box office records and winning 7 Academy Awards, Star Wars made Lucas an instant millionaire as well as a household name.

Thank you for joining me for another edition of Modeling the Masters. If you like this video and want to see more, please give it a thumbs up below. I'd also love to hear your thoughts and feedback if you want to leave a comment under the video, and stay tuned for the next episode.