I’m about to recommend a movie to you. That alone is a risky bet, but there is rationale behind my madness.
I’m talking about “The Gambler,” starring Mark Wahlberg, one of the major holiday releases out now. Critics are not hating it, but to be honest they’re comparing it to Applebees on a street full of fine steak houses.
I get that. It’s not a perfect movie. But I found it perfectly entertaining, and, as a novelist and especially as someone who is in touch with thousands of other novelists (via this site), it’s my job to alert you to this opportunity.
See it for the script.
See it for an in-your-face wake-up call.
The elegant, rapturous, too-true dialogue in this film could only come from the mind of a true writer – writing about writing – as spoken by an actor who embellishes it with the grit and emotion and angst that writing fiction with professional ambitions culls from us.
He speaks the truth. And he nails it better than anything I’ve ever heard.
If you want to know why so many writing teachers (present company included) seem grumpy and impatient, go see this movie… if nothing else than for the second scene, in which Wahlberg gives his students a stark lesson in writing reality. You can also visit https://indosbobet178.com
The hero – Wahlberg – is one of us.
His day job is teaching “the modern novel” at a major Los Angeles university, with a well reviewed and under-achieving “first novel” under his belt.
Maybe now you understand why I related to this guy.
He has an attitude and a point of view on it all. And that‘s why you should see this. It just might shift you into a higher writing gear.
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How risk averse are you?
I realized that me and risk weren’t natural friends back in college when I went to Atlantic City on an overnight bus trip. I lost the forty dollars I’d given myself permission to spend on the slot machines within the first thirty minutes of being there.
Determined not to lose any more of my hard earned money, I took myself out of the game and spent the rest of the night wandering around watching other people play. Boo.
Unfortunately, far too many entrepreneurs adopt the mindset I ‘used to have’ about risk. They shy away from placing necessary bets, to minimize their losses, rather than figuring out a way to maximize their wins.
That’s a shame, because risk is part of the official definition of being an entrepreneur:
“A person who organizes and manages an enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.”
Billy Murphy, founder of Forever Jobless is a serial entrepreneur who’s built more than 20 eCommerce stores, and a multi-million dollar poker training and media company. As a former pro-poker player from Poker online Indonesia he told me being comfortable with risk has been a major part of his success. You can visit https://kampuspoker.net/ for more information.
It’s essential for your success too. Here are three ways to get better at taking the risks you need to grow your business.
1. Dig into the numbers
A major reason why people are risk averse, is because they are flying blind. Their risk strategy is based upon a hope and a prayer, rather than one that provides a true assessment of what the likelihood of payoff will be.
Billy says that isn’t the way to approach it at all:
“Every decision you make in poker, there’s a mathematical expectancy to the decisions that you make. So it gets you thinking about risk at a very high level, where you don’t view it as risk, you view it as ‘I have a 55% chance, and here’s the money in the pot, and here’s what’s going to happen. It’s very analytical.”
Before you chase after an opportunity that seems promising, do your due diligence. Take a more analytical, and less emotional approach as to whether or not to move forward.
2. Let your goals be your guide
A lot of entrepreneurs are scared of losing their shirts. So they make decisions designed for them to not lose, instead of ones that move them closer to their big vision.
Billy’s advice is to view every opportunity through the lens of your goals:
“I don’t think I fear risk very much. A lot of people take that the wrong way. I’m not like a crazy gambler. It’s more of I’m ok with failing, because if they line up with my goals, I’m ok with losing a bit of temporary money or time, it doesn’t matter. It’s much worse to pursue something that’s “safe”, if it doesn’t get me to my goals. And I think that’s the way a lot of people operate…It’s better to start taking bets that actually make sense…take ten thousand that’s a “risky bet” that’s going to help you reach your goal. Take twenty thousand to make a bet to help you reach your goal.”
As you try to evaluate whether or not to pursue a specific area, direct your attention on the goals you want to achieve, rather than the negative outcomes you want to avoid.
That doesn’t mean you’re ignoring potential downsides. It just puts you in the position to play smart offense that will help you score. Even with the best defense, you’ll never win the game if you don’t put any points on the board.
3. Place bets more often
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Billy didn’t start out being a master risk taker. He started small in the poker world, and worked his way up. Over time, he learned how to make better, more strategic bets and strengthened his risk tolerance along the way.
Here’s what he says you’ll learn as you start to do the same:
“The more people start taking these risks, they’ll realize they aren’t really risks. It’s riskier to never risk anything and guarantee you’ll lose the game.”
11 Responses
Hey Larry,
I just went to see the film on your suggestion and I loved it. I’m happy to see Hollywood make a film like this. It had it’s weaknesses, but, over all a very well told story and every character/actor was so invested in the material. It clearly connected with them, which I feel speaks to your comment Larry. Everyone struggles, jeopardy shadows successes and we rarely win. Like Jamar the basketball players bum knee, how long will he last? And he’s one of the best. Just because someone has something, it doesn’t mean they can keep it, even if they feel they earned it. That unavoidable reality makes many people uncomfortable.
Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) expresses the existential angst in class and his life through rage/ego, forever trying to match up in the world to others (metaphorically, in the safety of a university.) The polarity of complaining about life in the classroom, transitioning into self-destruction by design or default and finally engaging something real/greater than himself (which is all he ever really wanted) is in my mind the journey of all true artists (which, I think, he discovers.) My take away from the film was this, if you want accolades, fairness and money especially in writing, you’re a dilettante.
Genius is born out of necessity. Passion creates talent, passion=suffering. If it hurts enough, you really need to get something out of you then you will go deep and come back with that message that connects. Jim Bennet/Wahlberg’s character wasn’t willing to do the direct soul diving himself, so he chose a Henry Miller-esque route.
As the tagline suggests, “The only way out is All in.”
I love the self-destruction metaphors, clearing maya, drinking, gambling, limits, soft spots and breaking points. Jim Bennet is a writer forces to go all the way. Which speaks to your point.
Yes, we all get wounded out there. We hope for help or wish some stroke of luck will come our way, change our stars. But rarely does that happen and, unfortunately, nothing is convenient.
There is a bit of magic we can employ.
I’ve had some writing successes of late. All have come from extremes in effort, but more so acceptance of costs. Working the double shift, the real job and the writing job for 20 years. My only suggestion for starting writers, take the work seriously, not yourself – it makes it easier when you fail, cause it’s not about you, it’s never been about you.
For those of you who didn’t find that little monologue in “The Gambler” as profound as I did, if you found it a bit of a downer… I hear you. I’ve posted a response in a new post today, if you haven’t seen it. Hope it clarifies.
Also, the actual performance in the film is a little different – it plays a little softer – than how it appears in the script, which was linked in one of the comments.
Thanks for reading my stuff. I do appreciate you being here.
“It’s a damned-strange scene,” he said, diplomatically withholding further comment.
To my way of thinking, there are only two attitudes that can keep you from getting anywhere you want to go. The first is to think that you’ve already got it – which means that you never try. The second is to think that you’ll never get it – which means that you never try.
Every person who I’ve ever met who was really-good at anything spent a lot of self-motivated time patiently learning it. She never sought anyone else’s affirmations or ego strokes, but she was a compulsory observer of what everyone else was doing. She never asked, “am I there yet?” But one day she looked up and noticed she was there. Shrugging her shoulders, she simply went back to work.
Whoops, I was trying to quote this –
— “it’s that second scene – Walhberg lecturing to a room full of wide-eyed, terrified college writing students – that just might give you the wake-up call you need.”
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Maybe I’m misunderstanding the lecture scene. But the prof seems to be telling the students that it (writing or any other endeavour) isn’t worth the effort unless you can be among the top few.
As a beginner, I fight this feeling all the time since there are plenty of really good writers out there, and while in some ways I think my writing’s great, I have lots to learn regarding structure and “all that”. So if I’m not already one of the best, then I should give up??
Unless there is a different takeaway from this scene, I find it much less than helpful.
Another awesome post! Oh..just an idea..have you ever thought about podcasting? Just a New Year wish from a HUGEvfan! Happy New Year!!
Larry, Thanks for the tip to read the critics, we can learn a lot from where they felt disappointed and where they felt satisfied.
Talia, thanks for the link to the script, it always helps me to see it on paper, then see it enacted.
Can’t wait to see this movie.
Mindy
Here is the scene if you would like to read it:
http://www.paramountguilds.com/pdf/the-gambler-screenplay.pdf
It begins on page 15.
The Player (1992)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Larry and everybody. I had a long rant about the meaning of life relative to story development but deleted it. Seems in general that people want to skip to the part that says “how to do it” and ignore the learning and understanding of the why.
Kerry
I’m having trouble finding The Player. Looked on my library catalog and on Amazon. Is this the correct title by this author?