‘You gotta commit.. you’ve gotta be completely unafraid to die’ Bill Murray

“You gotta commit. You’ve gotta go out there and improvise and you’ve gotta be completely unafraid to die. You’ve got to be able to take a chance to die. And you have to die lots. You have to die all the time. You’re goin’ out there with just a whisper of an idea. The fear will make you clench up. That’s the fear of dying. When you start and the first few lines don’t grab and people are going like, “What’s this? I’m not laughing and I’m not interested,” then you just put your arms out like this and open way up and that allows your stuff to go out.”

Bill Murray interview in this months Esquire

Esquire interview with Bill Murray

I have actually done this, failed, died on stage, had people walk out of the show., had reviews that still make me wince. Did I enjoy it? No, but I did get back out again the next night. Even now the fear of starting again can be crippling but you have to be prepared to risk failure and humiliation when you are bringing your vision to the table. That’s how artists change the world. You have to dream and take concrete daily action.

Do you want to start a new business, write a book about your past, throw old techniques out and try a new style you are sure everyone will hate?

13 minute Task of the Day

* Collect a pen and paper

* Set your timer for 13 minutes

*Dream what you would love to produce. No limits, what idea makes you scared, yet exhilarated, what subject do you want to cover, what new medium do you want to try? If there were no barriers for you to create something, what would you create?

* After the timer rings, stop and put it away for a week.

*One week later look at it again, is it viable? Does it still excite and scare you? Have you been thinking about this idea in odd moments in the week? Is there a small action you can do today towards walking towards fulfilling it? Is there some research, photos, dreaming, writing, walking about it that you can do