Phil Kings Life Purpose Journal

[Phil King]

Going to be using this as a record of my progress in my Life Purpose and as a sort of digital accountability community.

Life Purpose = "Raising Humanities Consciousness Through Media." I want to become a world class filmmaker and create a multimedia production company that produces movies, shows, music, books, news, educational resources, and more. Right now all I see on youtube and much of mass media is low consciousness trash and I honestly truly believe I can produce better content than them to swing the pendulum in the other direction. Some of my idols are Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Rick Rubin, Owen Cook, Leo, Daniel Schmactenberger, Tim Ferriss, Ryan Holiday, Terence Mckenna, Richard Linklater, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, and lot others. 

Right now im focusing my efforts on youtube because thats where I think I can break into some sort of mainstream attention while building filmmaking, writing, and speaking skills. I have a list of 150+ video ideas and ive brainstormed scripts for about 10 of them. Im going to write a bunch of video scripts and then record 50+ over winter break and start posting on youtube on january 1. Its difficult for me to film high quality videos right now because Im in college

Today I:

• Read 60 pages of the book "4000 weeks" by Oliver Burkeman. Very interesting book about toxic productivity and how little time we really have.
• Worked on two video scripts
• Recorded a video in my car to practice speaking skills and camera presence
• Did about an hour of work on screenplay 

 

Tomorrow I have to wake up early for running club. After that I will go to library to work on two video scripts and my screenplay. Will also finish reading 4000 weeks, about 60 pages left. Also need to meditate and stretch. Ill try to film another video in my car before I go to sleep. 

 

[Phil King]

Today I: 

• Finished two books, "4000 Weeks" By Oliver Burkeman and "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin. Both were really good
• Wrote 1000+ words on YouTube scripts
• Did some work on screenplay
• Recorded a 10 minute video in my car
• Listened to a Tim Ferris podcast #506 with Balaji Srinavasam. Really interesting ideas about the future of economics, politics, and cryptocurrency

I overslept and missed running club today, oops. Still an overall pretty productive. I wrote some solid youtube scripts. Screenplay writing is somewhat difficult, but I know I need to give myself opportunity to suck at something since its my first one. Just show up everyday and work on a little at a time and it will eventually be finished. I finished reading two books so that was good. Need to do more implementation of stuff I learned. I have a tendency to power through books without properly digesting and taking action on them. I didnt expect Rick Rubins book to be as good as it was. Very profound and spiritual, must read for any creative people. 

I should review some of the videos I recorded and analyze my speaking. I can tell that I usually speak to fast and in turn stumble over words. Take more time and think about what Im gonna say. Tomorrow I will continue to work on screenplay and youtube vids. Try and put screenplay in Heroes Journey model to give more structure. Also gonna watch a movie or two. I want to see "Full Metal Jacket" by Kubrik, I heard its a classic.

 

 

[Phil King]

Valuable advice.^^^

This is one of my favorite movies. Its richard linklaters first ever film and it has almost no dialogue. In this version theres a commentary track dubbed over it and he gives amazing perspective on being a filmmaker. This is gonna be a decade long journey. There are no overnight successes, its a culmination of years of work

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Did some scripting for youtube vids, not much tho
• Watched "Full Metal Jacket" by Stanley Kubrik 8/10
• Recorded video
• Bought Dan Koe's 2 Hour Writer Course

Today wasnt as productive as I would have liked, but still got some work done. I want to keep the writing and recording streak going. I didnt work on my screenplay today, Idk I was facing resistance and decided to watch a movie i guess as a way to get inspiration. I bought Dan Koes course and started going through it. So far its definitely helpful for creating a personal brand and getting many topics to write about while having them able to go viral and provide value. I will finish the course this week and start implementing. He says twitter/X is the backbone of his content, so I want to look into it. It could definitely be helpful to start on X and build some sort of following so when I start posting on YouTube at the start of next year, Ill have a few people who will already be interested.

Tomorrow I have a class and I scheduled out Monday as a free/inspiration day not to that much work and just read and watch movies. I will still write youtube scripts and record a video though. Im currently reading "The Master and His Emissary" by Iain Mcghilchrist. I watched his interview on TOE and he was really insightful. 

^^ This was a really good movie about Vietnam war. Really good cinematography

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Woke up at 6am for running club. Did a good 5x800m workout
• Started reading "A curious Mind" by Brian Grazer(Movie Producer) 
• Read some of Master and His Emmissary
• Worked on 2 Hour Writer Course
• Watched "12 Angry Men" 10/10 movie
• Recorded video

Solid day. From the books and courses, Im learning that networking is literally everything. Brian Grazer made it a goal to meet someone influential in the entertainment biz every single day. Dan Koe says its crucial to DM and collab and have mutually beneficial relationships on social media to grow. They both say not to ask for anything and just have a genuine interest in the other person you want to connect with. Then provide value because humans are hardwired to want to return favor, but really you should give value without expecting anything in return. My speaking in vids is slowly getting better, Im trying to correct for speaking too fast by taking longer pauses to think through what im gonna say better. Also have to annunciate/articulate my words better since I have a slight lisp when I start talking too fast.

Tomorrow I have 2 classes and running club. Going to try and do as much of course content as I can, record a video, and maybe watch a movie.

^^^ This was a masterpiece movie. Incredible how theyre able to tell a great story in a single room. Shows that the core of a great movie is great characters and the philosophical conflict between their ideologies. Also great use of camera angles and long shots to keep visuals from getting boring. I have some ideas for limited location movies that could be shot for a low budget

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Ran 4 miles
• Went to class
• Did more work on 2 Hour Writer Course

Didnt do that much today except for working on course. Its funny, in the course Dan Koe wrote how Actualized.org is the one channel that literally everyone should be watching because its the most powerful personal development resource and great for idea generation. He linked The Social Matrix and 65 Core principles of the Good Life videos. I guess now I have a leg up on competition since Ive watched almost every Actualized vid. I should finish the course tomorrow and start taking action on it. I already have some good ideas for content and I think this will supercharge that. 

I cant wait till I graduate, only 8 more months. I hate jumping through academic hoops when I know I can spend my time doing stuff that I actually care about. At least this gives more some runway to build skills and momentum towards life purpose. 

Tomorrow I only have 1 class so I should be able to get finish the course, read, write youtube scripts or content ideas, and record a video. 

^^ This is one of, if not my favorite movie. Literally one of a kind that theyre able to make a whole movie on a single philosophical conversation. One day I will make a movie this good

 

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Went to class
• Finished 2 Hour Writer Course
• Recorded video

I finished the course today. Definitely worth the money, got a lot of insights into how to make a successful social media brand and how to make engaging content. Going to start writing newsletter to base content off of and it will also help focus my learning and personal development on a weekly basis. I need to fix my sleep schedule, too many naps and late nights. 

Tomorrow I have 2 classes and running club. Im gonna start newsletter outline and set up twitter/X profile + brainstorm content ideas. Also going to read some more of "A curious mind." Also record a video.

^^ This is the best romantic movie of all time. Such a simple yet powerful movie/trilogy. Barely any action, just a purely dialogue driven story. I saw that Richard Linklaters production company DetourFilmProduction has internship opportunities in Austin http://www.detourfilm.com/#internships. It would be cool to work there, I could live with my cousin in Austin.

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Outlined my first newsletter
• Created my X/Twitter account 
• Brainstormed content ideas
• Recorded a video

I created the outline for my first newsletter today and Im gonna send it out next Sunday and then keep it up on a weekly basis to build an audience. My goal is to post consistently post 7 tweets a day and do 10-20 replies a day on larger accounts to reach more people. Im also gonna DM 5 people a day in my niche to build relationships. Im pretty confident I can get a few thousand followers by the end of the year with this strategy as long as Im making good content. Im gonna focus on spirituality, art/creativity, and philosophy as my content pillars. 

To reset my sleep schedule Im gonna stay up all night tonight and tomorrow. I took a nap earlier so I should be good. Tomorrow I will start posting on X and doing routine content + work on newsletter. I am aiming for 1500-2000ish words. Its about the power of curiosity.

Great scenes from a perfect movie

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Recorded a video
• Did twitter work
• Watched Oceans Eleven

I started posting on X today. I posted 6 tweets and about 15 replies to people. No crazy engagement but thats to be expected on day 1. 

Currently watching this interview with a guy who was working at mcdonalds 15 months ago and started writing one thread a day on twitter and has since grown to 1.5 million followers. I think this is a good strategy and Im going to do the same, except focus my threads on artists/creatives and how they broke into the industry. I always research any creative person that I admire to see how they got to where they are and I think this will be a good way to both deepen my knowledge about how highly succesful creative people do it and gain a following. My newsletter will be about lessons you could take from these people to enhance your own art. 

Tomorrow Im going to read, post a thread, watch a movie, and do more research

I liked this movie. 7/10. A classic heist movie

Edited September 24, 2023 by Phil King

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Went to class and did HW
• Read 70 pages of book
• Watched Rashomon by Akira Kurosowa (9/10)
• Recorded a video

I came to a realization today that my endeavor into growing a twitter account is a waste of time. To realistically grow it to the level I want, it would take like 20+ hours a week, and I can see that my end desire for it was just money and some sort of internet clout. That time could be much better spent working on Life Purpose. 

^^^ This is what I need to do. Set aside all distractions and searching for the magic pill. Just work on the 5 things that will move me 1% closer to my goal everyday. Continually invest in myself day after day for 5 years and Im sure all my goals will be manifested

Those 5 things will be :

1. Write 5 pages of screenplay per day
2. Record a video 
3. Film something to work on cinematography skills. No matter how small
4. Read/Learn 1Hr + Take notes
5. Study film through watching movies and reading screenplays

^^^ I watched this movie today. Amazing movie that explores how people lie to shape others image of themselves. This was my first Kurosawa film, I want to watch more from him

Edited September 26, 2023 by Phil King

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Went to class
• Ran 4 miles
• Read 60 pages
• Watched "Close Up" (7.5/10)
• Worked on screenplay writing
• Recorded a video

Pretty solid day. I want to have a good commonplace notebook on my computer to organize the stuff im learning, my insights, writing, book notes, and whetever else. I like notion the best since its free and offers a lot of customizability but it seems complex. Rn I just have a bunch of unorganized google docs so I could try to see how i could copy those over. Im doing good in my classes, cant wait to graduate. Im racing in a 5k on saturday. I havent raced in almost 3 years so I wonder how Ill do. I used to be in such good shape but smoking weed everyday for 2 years really killed me. Glad I quit it.

Tomorrow I only have 1 class. Im gonna do my daily 5 things. I didnt work on cinematography/camera skills today. I should watch movies and take notes of specific shots I want to recreate. The difficult thing is I dont have any friends who i could ask to be in short films. I probably could put a flyer or something for wanna be actors if they want to be in a short film. Maybe ill just start with shots that dont require humans.

^^^ This movie was interesting. Very little action and at time boring, but the story was so bizzare that i kept watching. Its based on a true story where a poor Iranian man pretended to be a famous director and was accused of fraud by a family he met. All the actors are the real people who were involved so it blurs the lines between reality and fiction.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Phil King

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Did screenplay work
• Watched "Paths of Glory" by Stanley Kubrick
• Recorded a video
• Finished the book "A Curious Mind" by Brian Grazer
• Settled on Obsidian as my commonplace notebook

Solid day. Im doing a course on screenwriting. Today I learned about character arcs, conflict, and story structure. I also finished the book by movie producer Brian Grazer. His movie Rush is one of my favorites. Networking is key in entertainment business. I should make a list of 100 directors, actors, cinematographers, lighting people, producers, etc to try and get in contact with. Just being curious about their job and not asking for anything, simply conveying interest in how they achieved their success. 

I started working on Obsidian commonplace book. I like it because of the note linking functionality, its free to use, all files are locally stored, and the customizability. Mostly going to use it for book notes, video and podcast notes, and movie ideas, and insights. 

I feel like theres just not enough time in the day because of my classes and homework. I dont even care for it. Its not like the work is difficult but its simply just jumping through hoops and takes up like 20 hours a week. Its difficult to find time to do all the 5 daily things so I think Ill just carry my camera in my backpack and whenever I see something that could be a cool shot, Ill be able to shoot some footage. When May comes and I graduate Ill have so much more free time to do stuff I actually want to do.

^^ I watched this Kubrick classic. It was really good and way ahead of its time. He was only 28 when he made it and people consider it one of the greatest movies of all time. He also met his wife who played a minor but important role in it near the end.

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Went to class
• Read 70 pages of book
• Did screenwriting work
• Watched "Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" by Stanley Kubrick
• Recorded a video
• Ran 3 miles

Pretty good day. Ive basically fixed my sleeping schedule, though I have to wake up at 5 AM on saturday for my race. Im almost finished with the screenwriting course, I learned about exposition and dialogue today. Also started reading "Thick Face, Black Heart" its pretty good so far and I like the spiritual themes and how it understands God is ultimate love and perfection, definitely didnt think this would be that type of book based on cover. I should transfer the videos from my camera onto my external hardrive and upload them as unlisted to youtube just to save space.

I went to running club today and ran 3 miles. On saturday ill be running my first 5k since highschool and my first actual race since 3 years ago. Im aiming to run around 22 minutes or like 7 minute pace. Id be pretty happy with that.

^^^ I watched this today. Funny satirical comedy about the cold war. Ive been on a kubrick binge in an attempt to study the masters. I also want to watch more of Kirosawas work

 

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Read 100 pages
• Did screenplay work
• Recorded a video
• Took book notes

I finished the screenwriting course. No I just have to actually put pen to paper and start writing. I have all the theory I need, now simply just start practicing. Writers block is the fear that what you write will not be perfect and perfectionism keeps most people from starting. I am setting a goal to finish my first screenplay by November 1. If I work everyday at it, I will be able to accomplish it. 

I was reading Robert Greene's "Mastery" today. There are no shortcuts to greatness, its simply a matter of putting the hours in. One of my problems was that I had so many interests that I didnt want to pick a single field. I was debating between film, music, writing, communication, and art. I chose film because all the other ones could feed into it. Film requires great writing through screenplays, it requires communication through directing, it requires music through soundtrack scoring, and it requires art through storyboard drawing and special effects. Pursuing mastery in film will allow me to engage with all my interests.

I have to wake up early for race tomorrow. Im excited.

 

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Raced 5k
• Took a nap for rest of day

Not the most productive day. I had to wake up at 5am for my race. I ran a 24 minute 5k, I would have been faster but i threw up at the 2 mile mark. I didnt get back home until like 2 pm and I just slept the rest of the day. Its ok though, I did at least one hard thing today. Tomorrow Im gonna read for a couple hours, make an outline for screenplay, and I have to do my logic homework. After that Ill watch a movie

^^^ One of the greatest movies of all time. Study this screenplay

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Outlined screenplay and have at least first 25-50% of movie plotted out
• Read the screenplay for "Arrival". It inspired this current movie im working on
• Read 60 pages of Mastery by Robert Greene
• Went to class
• Recorded video
• Went to movies and saw "Stop Making Sense" which was a concert movie from the Talking Heads

Solid day. I have some pretty good ideas for the screenplay, I have a lot plotted out but I havent actually started writing the scenes and dialogue. Just a rough idea of the story. The main focus here is just finish a rough draft by the end of the month. Then edit and revise next month. 

I went to the movies. I went alone but its ok cause i usually do that but it would be nice to have someone to go with. I went because my professor told us it was the best concert movie of all time, and i was a fan of the Talking Heads. Definitely really good. It brought me back to freshman year of college when I first started using LSD. The cover of their album looks like it was inspired by Be Here Now by Ram Das. 

Tomorrow im gonna start the first act of the screenplay. Just 1000 words a day and we'll have a full script by november 1. Focus on creative detachment. Be a receiver and transmuter of the ether for your work. Have intention but detach from the outcome. The work is already out there.

^^^ This is one of the inspirations for my current film. Im writing about aliens who send psychedelic drugs to earth which give pure hearted people siddhis

Edited October 3, 2023 by Phil King

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Worked on screenplay
• Recorded video
• Went to class
• Ran 4 miles

Fuucckkk writing is so hard. I did more outlining today, but I only wrote 2 pages of actual screenplay. Im putting too much pressure on my first draft to be perfect. I watched a video about how Greta Gerwigs first draft of Ladybird was like 350 pages. She just wrote a shit ton to figure out the core of the story and the characters, and then just chopped and honed it down to a concise 90-100 pages. I just need to write without interruption and let everything flow out of my mind. At the end of the day, all creative thought comes from divine intelligence so just write a shit ton and then edit later. Writers block is infertility.

Ive had more thoughts about becoming a comedian. Ive tried writing jokes before and had aspirations of doing standup comedy last year, but I never really stuck with it. I do to much hopping around and dabbling. In the past 2 years ive tried game development/programming, writing for standup comedy, music production, writing non fiction, and screenwriting/filmmaking. My ideal life path is being a filmmaker, musician, comedian, writer, and artist. I honestly think its possible for me to achieve this in my lifetime but I cant do it all at once. Just focus on becoming a master writer for the next 3-5 years. Woody Allen is someone who was able to do all these things.

I had a good idea for a documentary series today about how at each level of sports gets more competitive and more intense. It would start with elementary schoolers playing basketball and end with the contrast of division 1 or even professional basketball and everything in between to see how the focus and mentality changes

This is one of my favorite documentaries. Ive seen it probably a dozen times. Really good at showing the creative process especially for writers and comedians

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Went to class
• Took my Formal Logic midterm ( I got an 83)
• Did more brainstorming for screenplays
• Watched Aguirre, the Wrath of God
• Recorded a video
• Ran 2 miles

I didnt do much work on screenplay writing today or yesterday because I had to study for midterm. I was pretty stressed but i did way better than i thought, i think he graded pretty generously. I should be gauranteed to pass the class now as long as i do all the homework. I have off for the next 3 days so im gonna go hard on writing. 

^^ Yesterday I watched a great documentary about this guy titled "Searching for Sugarman" it won an oscar for best documentary. Amazing music, this guy should have been as popular as bob dylan

 

^^^ I watched this movie today. I thought it was a little overrated. The camera work was really good but it was pretty slow paced and felt super long for a 90 minute movie

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Finished my philosophy essay
• Recorded a video
• Read about 60 pages
• Watched "F For Fake" by Orson Welles

I basically didnt do any screenplay writing these past couple days. I can use the excuse that I had a lot of schoolwork and felt drained but deep down I know that im procrastinating. I just keep collecting good ideas for movies instead of actually trying to write them out. I started writing my current project and as soon as I get a few pages in, I think about how I should work on a different idea. I should just commit to one and ride it out until the end. Maybe a full length film is too much to start, maybe I should write a couple short films or scripts of my fav TV shows to get used to writing. 

^^^ I watched this movie yesterday. It was pretty good despite the slow start. Its about a guy whos running from himself. 

^^^ I watched this today. Crazy how Orson Welles was so ahead of his time. This movie was made in 1972 and it would fit in with a movie made today, same with Citizen Kane

[Phil King]

Today I:

• Worked on screenplay for short film
• Read about 100 pages. I finished Mastery by Robert Greene
• Recorded a video
• Watched the movie "American Animals"

I decided I will first finish a short film script instead of trying to tackle a 100+ page feature film. I had a great idea for it while I was walking back from the library. Right now I just have a couple pages in my notebook of scatterbrained ideas. Tomorrow Ill do more brainstorming and create an actual outline. I was practicing speed reading techniques today and I can consistently hit 500 WPM on the low end and 1000WPM on the high end. It is kinda annoying though and a rather intensive way of reading. 

^^ I watched this movie today. It had a cool narrative and editing style. It was a true story about an art heist done by 4 college kids. I like these types of movies that blend fiction with documentary