51. Your Midpoint: Refocus, Recalibrate, and Renew

What I had to do was realize this is the time to refocus, recalibrate, renew my life. And you can't do it all at once, so you have to find that one thing to double down on, and that will get you out. That's when you make progress. My wife says this intro sounds like a conspiracy mystery. So I'll stop that voice and I'll just tell you, this show is here to give you some cinematic fuel, tools, and excitement so you can stop drifting and start directing your life better than any movie. Welcome to another episode of Direct Your Life. I'm Tony Suriano, and this is part 9 of a 15-part miniseries within the podcast All about paralleling filmmaking techniques for a great film with your life to make your life better than any film. And I am a film director and screenwriter. I love the concept because I like to think about each year of our lives as a film. And within that year, there's usually about 15 beats that make that year great. Or if you're not intentional, it's just another year. So let me talk about this part 9, and we're calling them beats just because in filmmaking, that's how we talk about them. So beat 9 in filmmaking is called the midpoint. It's the middle of the story. And remember, your year could have a middle, not directly in the middle. It could be latter part of the year or early part. But there is a midpoint, and that could be where usually you have a false victory or a false defeat. Now, last episode we talked about the fun and games section, the trailer moments of your life, the best parts that if you told someone what your life was about or that year, they would be like, wow, you lived, you traveled. And that was one of the tools— travel. Just get novelty in your brain. But here's the thing, the fun and games do end each year, maybe each month, and that's okay because this is what takes you to that midpoint, which is kind of like your first comeback, your first time in the year or in the month, sometimes even in your day, that you have to narrow your focus. So this is the last thing I'm going to say about the filmmaking aspect. Mm-hmm. And I think it, And can help you conceptualize how we're gonna apply this to your life. I'm gonna read it. So the midpoint is the middle of the story and the culmination of the fun and games. I said it before, but this beat is the false victory or a false defeat. The midpoint raises the stakes for you, the hero, forcing you to narrow your focus on winning the day, or sometimes just surviving. And often a ticking clock is introduced and there's more tension and urgency. So think of a time that you had this happen to you. I'll share something that happened to me during a year. There was a financial, horrible financial downfall moment in one of my years, and it was really the midpoint because It felt like a true defeat. But with the midpoint, it's really a false defeat. Although it was hard, although I felt like a loser, I felt like, why don't I have my crap together? I, I should already have things smoother. I should have more money. I should have my finances together. Oh man, I'm just the struggling artist. What I had to do was realize this is the time to refocus, recalibrate, renew my life. And you can't do it all at once. So you have to find that one thing to double down on, and that will get you out. And I remember that I was needing some money, and I, I'm an actor coach, I'm a film director. And I haven't really, or at that time I wasn't pushing for that as much, but I realized, you know, if I put together something that these actors need, something unique that can help them and I can do it live and then I could record it and maybe I could sell it later for people that couldn't attend, I think that would bring massive value. So I dropped everything else I wanted to do and I focused on creating this value. So that month changed dramatically because by the end of the month, I actually brought in some new income. My stress levels lower, lowered, and it allowed me to think about the upcoming months with a clearer head. And that's how I got out of that midpoint, or let's not say get out of it. That's how I self-actualized. I realized that this was my midpoint. This was my false Defeat, and I doubled down. I focused. I made that course or that live, that live presentation into a course, and it brought in the funds I needed at the time. And that really, really goes to show if you're aware, which is seriously the number one tool to self-growth is to be aware more and journal about your thoughts and document what's going on. So then you can get out of defeat moments or false defeat moments. Quick pause. If this resonated with you, I invite you to join the Direct Your Life newsletter. It's free. It comes to your inbox every week with behind-the-scenes lessons, exclusive content, and other free tools designed to make your life better than any movie. Go to tonysuriano.com/directyourlife. And now back to the episode. Now let's talk about the other side. Sometimes it's a false victory. You, you think I've done it, I've won, I'm great. And then you slack and then you go retract into old habits. And then that false victory isn't serving you anymore. And then you're back to square one. And you don't wanna go backwards. We just wanna move forward steady. And while we move forward to those goals, to the dreams, to the ambitions, we wanna of course enjoy that journey. And that is your hero's journey because you are the hero of your own film. Don't be the background character. So many people pull you around, direct you around, and you're in this background character. That's not where you belong. It's your life. Direct it. Own it. Be aware. Remember these moments of false defeat, false victories. Did you think about some of your own false victories while I was just sharing that? Your false defeats and the times that you doubled down and you refocused. How did that turn out for you? I'm sure it turned out better than some of the other times That we've all had where we did nothing. We actually felt defeated and we just either let go of that dream, let go of that relationship, let go of that career because we just thought we were done. Or again, we slacked off because we thought it was a real victory. And talking about relationships, you know, you think you're doing good. You got married. Oh, I'm done. Victory. No, that's a false victory. You gotta keep working on the relationship. You gotta keep being like it's the beginning of the relationship so it doesn't end. Have you had those moments? I think we all have. And that's why just being aware that back to that, that, that year being a movie of your life each year, where's your midpoint and what do you need to focus on? I think if you narrowed it down to those 2 questions, wherever you're at right now in your life movie, it can aid you. It can help you decide your needle mover for the next thing. I was actually contacted by my sister the other day, and she was sharing me this great concept that can help my business. And I agreed with everything she was saying. But because I am aware of my midpoint and my false victories that I'm having right now, I decided I cannot commit to that great idea right now. Later, I might bring that into the sphere, but I know what moves the needle for me. I know what's moving my business forward. And it took a lot of effort to know these things, a lot of journaling, a lot of classes and courses and books. Mentors and coaches. And I was sharing that to her, that I will reassess that great idea she was bringing up. But if I focus on that now, it's gonna dilute my, my laser focus I have on the needle mover. So that's another reason to be aware of your midpoint, because when you focus on the thing you need to focus on, and disregard some of the other stuff, that's when you make progress. And that is when you feel your strength and your confidence grow and your shoulders get straightened up. And now you know what you're meant to do during this period. So again, my challenge to you today is to ask yourself what Is your false victory or false defeat currently? And what's the number one thing you need to focus on and implement? There's nothing better than listening to some new information or getting some ideas and awareness and then taking action. If you don't, if you're just listening in passively to this wacky guy named Tony Suriano here on the podcast, and then you go about your day without jotting down a new action, You're doing yourself a disservice. I know personally when I listen to great content and then I have an idea, but let's say I'm driving and I don't pull over or I don't pull out my phone to make a voice memo, I forget that idea. Or 3 days later, maybe I remember it, but it just doesn't have the zest. It doesn't have the fuel. So if you're having fuel right now, pause what you're doing, jot down these ideas, Get yourself going. Get out of that false defeat. Get out of that false victory. Laser in. Focus. Recalibrate. I hope you understand that this, this is excitement once you're aware of this. And this excitement is a ripple effect. So get excited. Direct your life. Because if you don't, someone else will. That's it. This episode's a quick one. This episode 51. I'm one episode away from just meeting my goal of 52. So I'm giving myself a pat on the back here on this podcast. Thank you so much for being here with me. It means a lot. And I plan to continue rolling this, this series out. And this is part 9. So if you haven't listened to the last 8, Binge listen because they all work together and they're all about directing your life and your year coming up or current year as if it's a movie. And then you can craft it and make it better with intentionality. This is real stuff. It's not just theory. And if you like this episode, I would really, really appreciate you sending it, sharing it, and commenting. Following it so you don't miss an episode, leaving a review on Apple. This helps me more than you know. That's it again. I know I said that's it like 50 times, but I am not the best at ending these things yet. Still, after 51 episodes, I kind of don't know when to shut up. But wait, I'm aware that was me telling myself to shut up, so I'll shut up. You go direct your life. Take action on your, your new focus and have fun with it. Thanks again for tuning in.