I’m thrilled to connect with James Kyson and to be able to bring you his story in today’s podcast. You might know James from his starring role in the NBC hit show, ‘Heroes,’ and since then he’s made many other appearances on the big and small screens.
According to James, there's actually a lot of overlap between the life of an entrepreneur and an actor. He’s learned a lot from his time in Hollywood, and one thing in particular is how to deal with the rejection and struggle that actors often face. Some actors dread the necessary but ultimately painful act of auditions, but not James. He’s learned to reframe and relanguage the experience: Instead of an "audition" it's simply "an appointment to share." He’s not going out there to try and win some thing, but instead he’s sharing himself with others and any job that comes from that is a byproduct or “icing on the cake.”
Entrepreneurs can use this mindset when thinking about their products or content, and therefore can take the pressure of. Share value (do your research to know it's valueable) and avoid concerning yourself with haters or rejection for what you're putting out there.
James also embodies an intentional entrepreneurial mindset in that he finds freedom within the structure of the morning ritual he's created with his wife Jamee. Their mornings are blocked off for time spent with each other doing things that enrich their lives like exercise, breakfast, reading and meditation. By the time he hits the computer and email at 11am he’s already had a very productive and enriching day. These morning rituals ensure that his personal life is fed first and that spills over to his professional life as well.
In addition to his morning routine, James habitually keeps his phone on airplane mode and then batches reactive tasks throughout the day. He'll also combine these mandatory to-dos with other activities he enjoys to further create the type of life he wants to be leading. For example he’ll make all his calls at once, but do so while he’s out for an hour long walk. This practice of avoiding the distractions of email, texts and instant messenger requests has led him to being much more productive.
“When things are focused and allocated to a specific structure, you allow yourself to be more honed in and more productive within that time frame.”
One of the great things about batching and doing things on your own schedule is that people just get used to it, they adjust to your pattern. What you do and how you respond will become their expectations of you.
A great practice that James has is taking stock of a typical week and seeing how his time is spent because what is measured can be controlled. This comes in two steps:
If he knows he’ll have a computer-heavy week, he’ll make adjustments for balance. “Human beings weren’t meant to live in a series of boxes.” Many of us are stuck in a terrible cycle: waking up in a box, driving to work in one, sitting all day in one, heading back home and spending the next 12 hours in one. Look for ways to break this pattern and do the things that humans were meant to do like move around, get sunlight, enjoy nature and communicate with others.
In addition to his acting, these days James keeps busy working on a handful of projects with his wife, Jamee. One example is a series of videos they are developing focused on finding your soul mate. He says that the first step for those looking for love is to first come to a place of love within yourself. With online dating and social media nowadays, it’s very stressful looking for the perfect mate. Why not instead ask yourself, “What is the best partner that I can become for somebody else?” When you focus your energy and time into that journey, dating and romance takes care of itself.
SOME QUESTIONS I ASK:
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:
DON’T STOP HERE…
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: