Here are some more gems from Judd Apatow's collection of interviews in "Sicker in the Head", and how coaches can apply them to their businesses: 

In his chat with Kevin Hart, Hart talked about how he approached his auditions: 

• "I'm just trying to make this casting person laugh so they remember me for something at some point. The audition is just for me to show you I'm talented, I don't even care if I get the part" 

With that attitude, Hart often got roles that he didn't even audition for, and I think there are a few reasons for that: 

1) He knew that people in Hollywood have lots of projects on the go, and they have friends working on other projects, so a good audition can pay off in unexpected ways ... I love the story that Harrison Ford (Han Solo in the "Star Wars" movies) came to George Lucas' attention when he was a carpenter installing a door at Francis Coppola’s house!   

I've seen the same thing in the coaching world, when someone has chosen not to hire or partner with me, but later refers a friend to do business with me ... so you never know where business is going to come from. 

2) By adopting an attitude of detachment, Hart relaxed and had less pressure on his shoulders during his auditions since he had nothing to lose! The same goes for coaches: if you go into every discovery call like it's life or death and you NEED to get that person as a client, they're going to sense that energy and you'll chase them off. 

Next up is Will Ferrell, who's starred in a few of my favourite comedies ("Old School" and "The Other Guys") ... Ferrell's father told him that making it in show business would take luck and if he didn't make it not to worry about it since he could just go try something else. Ferrell said: 

• "Oh, I'm just playing the lottery here so I might as well just go have fun ... I tired to throw as many darts against the dartboard as I could" 

Like Kevin Hart, this sense of detachment served Ferrell well - he nabbed a spot in the cast of "Saturday Night Live" just three years after starting his career, an almost-unheard of achievement. And everything a coach puts out there, whether it be a blog, social media post, video, podcast, email, etc is one more lottery ticket that could just be a winner ... 

Finally, John Cleese talked to Apatow about creativity and the importance of eliminating distractions (by the way, Cleese wrote a great little book on the subject called "Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide" that I recommend checking out): 

• "I believe you have to sit down somewhere where you're not going to be interrupted. Go sit in the park. One of my friends was reduced to locking himself in the loo because he was in a family of six. If you're a CEO, just say to the secretary, 'Shut the door. Don't interrupt me unless the building is burning.' You create a quiet place where you're not going to be interrupted, where the phone isn't ringing, and that's what enables you to to sit there while the mind settles ..." 

I'm not saying anything earth-shattering when I say that coaches (and all humans) struggle with the constant interruptions from social media and technology in 2022. With each distraction it can take 20 minutes (or longer) to get back into the groove, so I've been making liberal use of my iPhone's "Do Not Disturb" feature lately! 

Speaking of interviews, I've cleared up some space in my calendar to get out to be interviewed on more podcasts, so if you have a show in the coaching/personal development/entrepreneurship world you can book me as a guest by going here:

https://www.naturalborncoaches.com/media-inquiries/

Marc Mawhinney 

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www.NaturalBornCoaches.com/website