Matthew McConaughey mines 35 years of his personal journal entries to offer a playbook for entrepreneurs in “Greenlights”
Matthew McConaughey offers a playbook in “Greenlights”
McConaughey opening line is, “This is not a traditional memoir.” He tells stories from his life and shares insights, but his objective is to offer approaches. Written when he turned 50, it draws on 35 years of journals he kept, starting when he turned 15.
“This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life. […] This is a story about greenlights. This is the first fifty years of my life, of my resume so far on the way to my eulogy.”
Matthew McConaughey in “Greenlights“
I found the book a quick read that was funny and thought-provoking.
Greenlights
“What’s a greenlight?
Greenlights mean go advance, carry on, continue on the road. They’re set up to give the flow of traffic right away, and when scheduled properly, more vehicles catch more greenlights in succession. They say proceed.
Catching greenlights is about skill: intent, context, consideration, endurance, anticipation, resilience, speed and discipline. We can catch more greenlights by simply identifying where the red lights are in our life, and then change course to hit fewer of them. We can also earn greenlights, engineer and design for them. We can create more and schedule them in our future–a path of least resistance–through force of will, hard work and the choices we make. We can be responsible for greenlights.
Catching greenlights is also about timing. The world’s timing, and ours. When we are in the zone, on the frequency and with the flow. We can catch greenlights by sheer luck, because we’re in the right place the right time. Catching more of them in our future can be about intuition, karma, and fortune. Sometimes catching green lights is about fate.”
I have preserved the formatting from the book which always renders greenlights as a single word in green text and bolding words that were bold in the original, this is true throughout. I like his list of skills: intent, context, consideration, endurance, anticipation, resilience, speed and discipline. Because all of these can be developed by any entrepreneur.
The Consequences of Negligence
In a chapter entitled, “The Art of Running Downhill”, McConaughey recounts a string of luck getting cast in getting cast in “Angels in the Outfield” and “Boys on the Side” based on his ability to feel the character and act intuitively in auditions. Now feeling very lucky he goes to Las Vegas with his brother Pat and they both win several thousand dollars at the blackjack tables. They proceed to lose it all in some sports bets, forcing McConaughey to acknowledge he did not now enough to be betting. He accepted a walk on part for one scene in an independent film without reading the script, only a brief synopsis of the character, but feeling confident he can wing it. Come the day of the shoot he glances a the script and sees he has a four page monologue in Spanish–and he does not speak Spanish. He observes, “We must learn the consequences of negligence– it’s not just what we do, it’s what we don’t do as well, we are guilty by omission.”
The Truth
McConaughey offers the following rubric:
“First we have to put ourselves in the place to receive the truth.
Then we have to be aware enough to receive it, and conscious enough to recognize it.
Then we need the presence to personalize it.
Then comes the harder part, having the patience to preserve it–getting it from our intellect into our bones, soul, and instinct.
Finally, having the courage to live it.”
I like this sequence of putting yourself in the right place, maintaining awareness, applying a general truth to your particular situation, the importance of applying what you have learned repeatedly until it becomes instinct, and the need for courage when you are going against common practice.
Bumper Stickers
McConaughey makes a distinction between reputation, where someone is “Good from afar, but far from good,” and their true nature where they are “Good from close, better close up.” The latter are the people you want to work with.
He observes, “It’s not a risk unless you can lose the fight.” You don’t have to go all in. He makes it clear that one of the reasons he was able to pivot his career from romantic comedies to meatier roles was that he could turn down the roles he had been typecast for two years so that he would then be considered for the more serious roles he wanted.
He makes a point that this career pivot put him “At a crossroads not a catastrophe.”
When facing a crisis, I’ve found that a good plan is to first recognize the problem, then stabilize the situation, organize the response, then respond.
Matthew McConaughey in “Greenlights“
I really liked this advice, in particular the need to recognize the root cause, the importance of stopping further deterioration, and getting organized in your response.
Related Blog Posts
- Seth Godin: This is Strategy, Make Better Plans
- Jordan Peterson: Benchmark Yourself Against Your Past Self
- M. C. A. Hogarth on Business for the Right-Brained
- Andrew Grove on Recognizing Reality
- Eliza Calvert Hall: Piecing a Quilt is Like Living a Life
- Austin Kleon’s “Keep Going” Offers Practical Advice on Perseverance
- Innovation Principles from Ken Iverson’s “Plain Talk”