Book Notes: Greenlights
By Matthew McConaughey - Link to Book
I believe everything we do in life is part of a plan. Sometimes the plan goes as intended, and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s part of the plan. Realizing this is a greenlight in itself.
This one, as expected, was quite the ride with wild stories. His parents loved hard. I don’t agree with how they did things but I love the 3 rules they held to ruthlessly and expected no matter what. “They taught me not to hate. To never say I can’t. To never lie.”
One major theme was looking within and finding your authentic self, style, and voice. I like his strategy of using a process of elimination for our search. "The first step that leads to our identity in life is usually not I know who I am, but rather I know who I’m not."
The podcast interviews leading up to his book release were some of the most fun conversations that I listened too all year. Joe Wells compiled some good takeways from the Daily Stoic one and my favorite was with Tim Ferriss.
While McConaughey is pretty esoteric at times, I'm a fan of his work and the Hollywood philosophizer persona he's built. His unique memoir has helped me see the Greenlights in my own life this year and keep optimistic.
“My parents didn’t hope we would follow their rules, they expected us to. A denied expectation hurts more than a denied hope, while a fulfilled hope makes us happier than a fulfilled expectation.”
“The more we travel, the more we realize how similar our human needs are. We want to be loved, have a family, community, have something to look forward to. These basic needs are present in all socioeconomic and cultural civilizations.”
“just keep livin…lower case because life is nobody’s proper noun, and there’s no “g” on the end of livin because life’s a verb.”
“Man is never more masculine than after the birth of his first child. Not macho. Masculine. After his firstborn, a new father’s head, heart, and gut are more aligned than they have ever been. His five senses on the same frequency, his intuition is in tune, he should engrave any instinct he has for the next six months—personal, financial, spiritual, or career. He should trust that he kn-owwws and kn-owww that he can tell the future, because now, for the first time in his life, he is livin for it and it is livin for him. Bet it all and sweep the board.”
“What is success to us? More money? Okay. A healthy family? A happy marriage? Helping others? To be famous? Spiritually sound? To express ourselves? To create art? To leave the world a better place than we found it? “What is success to me?” Continue to ask yourself that question. How are you prosperous? What is your relevance? Your answer may change over time and that’s fine, but do yourself this favor: Whatever your answer is, don’t choose anything that will jeopardize your soul. Prioritize who you are, who you want to be, and don’t spend time with anything that antagonizes your character.”
“when two people who are meant to be together unite, the adventure of livin side by side does not steal the individual’s sense of self, rather it enlightens and informs it.”
“I hope to give my children the opportunity to find what they love to do, work to be great at it, pursue it, and do it. Rather than cover their eyes from ugly truths, I want to cover their eyes from fictional fantasies that will handicap their ability to negotiate tomorrow’s reality. I believe they can handle it.”
“when we have kids, there is no intellectual discussion or philosophy as to how or how much to love, protect, and guide them, it’s an instinctual commitment, an immediate, infinite, and ever-growing responsibility. A privilege. A greenlight.”
“Why pray? A time to take inventory. To take a look from high and wide at our self, our loved ones, our mortality. A time to smile upon our blessings, to humble our selfish yearnings, to embrace those we know are in need with our compassion,”
“You’ve got to know who you are before you know what you want to say then not give a damn. But knowing who you are is the base that everything else comes from.”
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