8 Tips to Discover the Producer in You

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Discover the Producer in You.
Discover the Leader in You.
Discover the Entrepreneur in You.
Take control.
Produce Results.

NOTE: This was was originally given as a Free PDF download – 8 Tips to Discover the Producer in You. I’m now sharing it as a blog post for easier access, because these key lessons help me daily. I don’t want the PDF and the lessons to get lost as I continue to put out new materials, like the upcoming eBook – How to be a Great Leader.

If you would still like to read in a PDF format, you can still download it by clicking here.


Hi Producer in Training! 

The goal of my blog is to help discover the Producer in You to produce the life that you want. There’re many things I’ve had to learn along the way in order to get to a point where I felt like I was producing my own life.

I wanted my life run by me and not by someone else – even though it sometimes feels like my kids run my life

Here’re 8 Tips I learned to bring out the Producer in Me: 

1. Tell Your Story

Overly simplified, the core elements of a good story include characters, setting, plot, conflict, a beginning, a middle and an end. 

The first six elements we all know, because they’re in the past and the present. It’s always the last element – The End – that’s the unknown in our lives. We all want to know how it ends. When talking about our own stories, we all want that fairy tale happy ending. The only difference for each of us is the definition of “happy ending” and what that means.

Unfortunately, no one can guarantee your ending will be “happy.” What is guaranteed is that there will be an “ending” and it will be a direct result of the actions you take every day. Knowing that everything you do from this day forward will directly affect your ending, it’s time to define your ending. 

2. Be Flexible

One of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with early on in life is being flexible – honestly, it’s still tough. We all make plans and we expect that things will turn out as planned, but that doesn’t always happen. Early in my career, my stubbornness toward my viewpoints being the ‘right one’ would get the better of me. I began to have more success when I listened more, kept an open mind about changes, and was ‘flexible.’

As a Producer, I now expect that things will go sideways, so I always try to look at things from different angles. In the course of planning, I think about backup plans and other options if something unexpected were to happen. I don’t like being unprepared.

Pre-production for a film is where all the logistics planning for the shoot happens. The schedule is planned out in incredible detail, but that’s always if everything goes perfect. We stay flexible with cover days in case of bad weather, we create backup plans for shooting indoors and shuffling the schedule. On those rare days that the planned film- ing is completed early, we try to take advantage of that extra time to get more shots in for that location or to give the crew much-needed rest before the next day.

3. Be Curious

In line with being flexible and keeping an open mind – be curious. Don’t just take things ‘as-is.’ Ask questions. Seek the ‘why.’ There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

If you don’t know the answer to something, don’t pretend you do and hope to let it slip by. Seek the answer. The More You Know.

I’m a sponge for information. I’m always asking the ‘Why’ question, because I like to understand the reasons for why something is. I will ask others to share their knowledge with me, because I want to learn. As an added bonus – if you’re an introvert and you’re out asking others about themselves and what they do, you actually will be perceived as more of an extrovert and personable. You’re expressing interest in others and aren’t afraid to engage in conversation.

The more you know, the more you’re able to engage with people from all walks of life. Knowing more will result in faster decision-making. Life will feel simpler and easier. You’ll have more peace of mind, because there’ll be less unknowns and surprises.

4. Just Do It

Be bold. Be brave. Be Fearless. Be courageous. Take a chance. Don’t be afraid to fail.

Too many people are risk-averse and don’t want to fail. They’re not willing to journey into the unknown. Uncharted territory is scary to them.

To produce your life, you’ll set goals and make plans to reach those goals. As you plan, you’ll start seeing that there are things you don’t know / have no experience with. When you to that point, be strong and take that path. If you fail, get up, dust yourself off, think about why you failed, and take another crack at it. Failing is part of the process. Once you know that, you’ll find a renewed courage helping you tackle every step of the jour- ney.

Fear doing nothing.

5. Say YES

Be open to new ideas and opportunities. Say “Yes” when someone comes to you with an idea or opportunity. You don’t know what lies ahead and the results, but what you do know is you’ll experience something new.

Keep an eye out for “Firsts.” You ever notice that children are magnets to something they’ve never seen before? Their eyes go big when they see something new. That youthful energy and spirit chasing after the unknown, to explore. That’s the energy you want to bring to experience more. There’s always a ‘first’ time for everything, don’t be afraid of the new.

Trying new things also means you’re continuing to build your knowledge base. You’re expanding your repertoire and will be able to engage with people from all walks of life.

6. Say NO

Learn to say “No” when it’s appropriate too. “But wait, didn’t you just tell us to say ‘Yes’?” I sure did. Embrace new ideas and opportunities. Say “No” in situations when you know you are already overstretched and when you know that saying “Yes” would be unproductive, inefficient, negative, illegal, etc.

“How will if I know if I should say ‘No’ to this ‘thing’?” You won’t know 100% of the time and you’ll need to rely on your experience and knowledge.

“Time” is the one thing that puts everyone on the same playing field. How people decide to utilize their time is what separates one person from another. Every tip in this list is to help you with deciding on how you spend your time to bring out the Producer in you.

You can also say “No” to these tips if it doesn’t work for your specific situation, but I would suggest you first say “Yes,” try it out, and if it doesn’t work, then stop.

7. Circle of the ‘Right’ People

“She’s born with it.” vs. “You are who you surround yourself with.”

There’s truth to both those sayings, but who you surround yourself with has more influence. As a baby, you’re surrounded by your parents, their friends and other relatives. As you grow older, you start choosing your own circles – friends, classmates, coworkers, etc. Every single person you surround yourself with is a ‘teacher’ and they influence your knowledge and actions.

We can all agree that teachers have an influence on students – good or bad. Teachers help us to expand our knowledge in various subjects. Here’s what people seem to forget, ‘teachers’ are not only in school. We’re surrounded by ’teachers’ each and every day of our lives.

To be a better Producer of your own life, you want to surround yourself with other Producers. People that you feel are leading their lives in the way that you want to lead your life. Others doing the same things you’re doing. You will understand each other’s struggles and triumphs, and more importantly, support each other.

8. Be the Example

Treat others how you would want to be treated. As you surround yourself with the other Producers you plan to learn from, don’t forget that they’re also looking to learn from you, get support from you. As others are influencing you with their words and actions, you’re also influencing them with your words and actions – both positively and negatively. Care for others. Care about others. Respect others. Be humble.

As the Producer of your own life, you set the goals and decide how you get there. I won’t lie, the journey won’t be easy, nor will it be quick. What will set the tone of how much fun, enjoyment, fulfillment you get out of the journey will depend on you.

As the world dives further into negativity, that doesn’t mean you have to follow suit.

Find the good and the positives in everyone and everything. You’ll quickly find yourself having a different outlook of life. You won’t be dwelling on how things went bad, instead you’ll look at what went wrong and start looking at how to succeed the next time. You’ll be enjoying each moment more and more. There’s this thing you’ll end up with more of optimism.

Producers need optimism. Seek more of it. Optimism gives us the energy to keep going, keep plugging away on the way to our goals.

Now – Go Produce!

These are just 8 tips to help you on your way to being the Producer of Your Own Life.

I hope that this has given you some insights into how to start producing your life for success. Do continue to visit the site for more tips in the future!

Handy recap of the 8 tips to discovering the Producer / Entrepreneur / Leader in You:

8 Tips to Discover the Producer in You

1. Tell Your Story
2. Be Flexible
3. Be Curious
4. Just Do It
5. Say YES
6. Say NO
7. Circle of the ‘Right’ People
8. Be the Example

Simon Sinek is an author and speaker who’s one of the top authorities on leadership. Here he talks about #3 – Be Curious:

No One is an Expert in Leadership | Simon Sinek