” I’m a multi-hyphenate whatever. I’m a creative and an artist. I make and share things with the world that hopefully add to the quality of people’s lives. Whatever you do, you have to have deep interest and desire and passion, or you shouldn’t be doing it. My work is never a job. My work is my life. If you work your fucking ass off, you can get a lot done.”
― Jared Leto
I shared Oscar 2014 speeches. ( Please refer an earlier post) The Academy award winner is a tour de force: Actor. Musician. Documentary film director. Entreprenuer. Investor in tech start- ups.
I read a ” Fast company ” article and it blew my mind. I always liked great work. I was just stumped at the work rate and spectrum of work. I was deeply embarrased at myself and told my friend so yesterday, he dismissively said ” Oh don’t think that way, we all have different lives, challenges…” Perhaps rightly so.
More from the fast company article :
” Backstage in Romania, Jared Leto has a few spare minutes–not to talk about acting, which earned him an Oscar for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, or singing, which has brought him an international fan base as lead singer of his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, despite the early bashings of critics. Leto wants to talk about Leto Inc. The enterprise starts with the band, a demanding venture: It performed in Hungary two days earlier, with several other European countries ahead, then on to the U.S., Canada, most of South America, and South Africa before the tour ends. “It could last a year,” Leto says, and that wouldn’t be its longest road trip ever. The group is recognized in the Guinness World Records for a marathon 309-show tour that started in 2009 and ended in 2011.
This isn’t enough to satiate Leto. What he really wants to do is reengineer the business of being a performer. He uses social media to connect with some 2 million Twitter followers who buy Thirty Seconds to Mars products and attend special-access events. He has directed an award-winning documentary about his battles with a former music label. More impressively, he’s got a team of coders working for him in Silicon Valley on Vyrt, a real-time streaming video platform that combines merchandise sales, fan management and social engagement, and he’s an active investor in startups including Nest, Blue Bottle Coffee, and mobile-payments platform Stripe.
So is he a musician, an actor, a director, or an entrepreneur? “I’m a multi-hyphenate whatever,” Leto says. “I’m a creative and an artist. I make and share things with the world that hopefully add to the quality of people’s lives.” His entrepreneurship “comes from the same place. I don’t compartmentalize,” he says. “My work is never a job. My work is my life. If you work your fucking ass off, you can get a lot done.”
Not many of us will ever find ourselves shirtless before thousands of Romanians screaming our name, as Leto does later that evening. But his attitude is one that we can embrace. Leto channels his creative passion into business, and more and more evidence suggests that this is the key to creating a meaningful career. ”
Source : Please see : http://www.fastcompany.com/3035975/generation-flux/find-your-mission
This is a great article for many reasons, please do read it for connecting to your mission. I know my mission. They are ten possibilities. I am at three right now. I will get there soon. Jared Leto piece did leave me speech less.
” In my youth, listening to music was the dominant activity, in terms of consuming content. It captured my attention. Sometimes there was the smoking of a joint, but it was about listening intently, active participation. Today music can be secondary, it’s background, a lubricant to other experiences. It’s all because our ability to access music is now mobile. Music can be more a part of our lives, but in a more transient way. The same is true for movies. People will watch TV or movies, and they’ve got their phones out, texting, not solely engaged.” ( Jared Leto)
” I never wanted to make the most movies, to make the most albums,” he explains. “So I like to employ the power of no. We all want to say yes, because with yes comes so much opportunity, but with the power of no comes focus and engagement. ” ( ( Jared Leto)
” His larger point is that valuable interactions require higher engagement. It’s what he strives for with his fans (and one reason he loves live performances); it’s what he strives for in his films and other artistic ventures. It’s also what he’s after with his business activities: real impact that matters. ”
Source: Please see : http://www.fastcompany.com/3036585/generation-flux/i-like-to-employ-the-power-of-no-jared-leto
” It is curious, to some, that Hollywood’s man of the moment would disappear off in the vital afterglow of his Best Supporting Actor win to revel so intimately with the global masses. But then Leto doesn’t follow protocol. Six years before his return to film as Rayon, an HIV-positive, pre-operative transwoman in Dallas Buyers Club, he walked away from Hollywood to tour with his band despite consistent critical acclaim for his gritty, transformative roles. Leto has eschewed the blockbuster juggernaut to success in favour of the slow train, via occasional, challenging roles in the likes of Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club and Panic Room. Plus, he has other commitments. He is not only a method actor and singer-songwriter, but a video and documentary producer-director, photographer, painter, businessman and activist. ‘I just follow my gut — as Andy Warhol said, “Labels are for cans not people,” ’ he tells me after the gig. ”
” We start sensible: he doesn’t seem the type, I say, to care about Hollywood accolades. ‘I don’t.’ He slumps down on a black leather sofa. ‘But I would never say, “I don’t give a shit about the Oscars,” because it’s not the whole truth. It’s not about the shiny, naked golden man, or the pat on the back, it’s about being able to stand on a world stage for two minutes in front of a billion people and say something that is meaningful, important to you.”
“‘I thought about dragging up for the Oscars, going as Rayon, because I knew that she would have loved to be there,’ he says. ‘It’s so much work for girls to get ready. I was brought up by my mum, so I always had an appreciation of women. But now I have more respect for the process. It’s a lot, what women have to do to themselves. But in the end, when you put that final dash of lipstick on and your look all comes together, it really is a glorious reward.”
” I wonder if he is considering another career, in politics. ‘My mum was a teenager when she had us; she used food stamps to feed us, she got helped by social services to go back to school and train as a nurse to try to give her kids some stability. So if I can help or be of service in any way…’ he says. ‘But you know what? I’m too impatient. I’d probably swear in a speech. As George Clooney says, “I’ve f***ed too many chicks and done too many drugs to be in politics.”
” Now in his forties, Leto still looks and acts at least a decade younger. There are no plans to stop touring now that, after years of graft, the band has achieved global recognition: Love Lust Faith + Dreams has sold ten million copies and their shows are mainly sold out. ‘We don’t give a shit about our ages. We’re not worrying about that. There are no rules,’ he tells me. And what if he met some girl he wanted to settle down with? ‘Then she’d better have a passport… look at the Rolling Stones, they just keep on going. Maybe me and my brother will be shaking it up there in our sixties. Who knows? Or maybe I’ll just walk away.”
―” On cloud nine with man of the moment and Oscar winner Jared Leto” by Stephanie Rafanelli ( March 21, 2014)
Source: Please see : http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/exclusive-on-cloud-nine-with-man-of-the-moment-and-oscar-winner-jared-leto-9203074.html
Iam still embarrassed at myself after reading these pieces on Jared Leto. I want to do one great work in life. I started at 21. My friends now have second careers. Iam 43. It’s been twenty two years journey. Its been halted many times. I always used pain and experiences as an incentive. Iam clear about possibilities now. I share the same age as the actor. May be like Jared leto says in shared interview ” We don’t give a shit about our ages. We’re not worrying about that. There are no rules.”
Yes, give a damn about ages. There are no rules. Leonard Cohen has released an album at 80 and doing live gigs. The master is having a great third act. The great Amitabh Bachchan is sexy and brillantly prolific at seventy two. There is no one in the great artiste’s league here..
I want to be with my friend. I am still embarrased. May be together we give a damn…
I will write about my weakness tomorrow. I have always posted here transparently and sincerely about challenges and failures. My friends know me well, they will be okay, my enemies can have a field day tomorrow 🙂
Have a lovely day my friends! Hope the brilliant Jared Leto inspires you as he inspires me.
Thank you!
neverlamentcasually 