by Matthew Mcconaughey
Summary
Greenlights is the memoir of matthew mcconaughey. He wrote journals for 30+ years and this book is a compilation of different anecdotes, notes-to-self, and points that painted his journey and career success.
It was eye opening to see how successful he and his siblings were even from a young age. Super popular, super talented, in pretty much all of his anecdotes. For example he was a low handicapper in golf. He dated “the best looking girl” from both his school and the neighboring school. He was the guy who had a loud speaker and sat in the high school parking lot and would make funny comments about people as they walked by and everyone loved it. He was very good in school and took it very seriously.
When he finally got his first acting gig (dazed and confused) he did so well just being the character of wooderson that he was invited to improvise as the character in a number of scenes he wasn’t in otherwise. The very first scene he ever acted he improvised the “alright alright alright” scene which he’s now pretty much known for.
In his early 20s he went on a trip across europe on a motorbike. It was interesting seeing how he was able to create friends particularly with the motorbike rental guy. They didn’t have enough money for the whole trip but the motorbike rental guy just wanted them to create some stories and share them with him at the end of the trip.
Contents
1. part one: outlaw logic
2. part two: find your frequency
3. part three: dirt roads and autobahns
4. part four: the ART of running DOWNhill
5. part five: turn the page
6. part six: the arrow doesn’t seek the target, the target draws the arrow
7. part eight: live your legacy now
Quotes
Don’t walk into a place like you wanna buy it, walk in like you own it.
This is what Mcconaughey’s mom used to say to him to give him confidence.
We all step in shit from time to time. We hit roadblocks, we fuck up, we get fucked, we get sick, we don’t get what we want, we cross thousands of “could have done better”s and “wish that wouldn’t have happened”s in life. Stepping in shit is inevitable, so let’s either see it as good luck, or figure out how to do it less often.
Good take on trying to live a less regretful life.
Sometimes which choice you make is not as important as making a choice and committing to it.
Another point about regret - you make your best decision and the outcome is what it is.
So the question that we gotta ask ourselves is what success is to us? what success is to you? Is it more money? That's fine? I got nothing against money. Maybe it's a healthy family. Maybe it's a happy marriage. Maybe it's to help others to be famous, to be spiritually sound. Leave the world a little bit better place than you found it. Continue to ask yourself that question. Now your answer may change over time and that's fine, but do yourself this favor. Whatever your answer is don't choose anything that will jeopardize your soul. Prioritize who you are who you want to be. and don't spend time with anything that antagonizes your character
Another good motiviational quote.
My thoughts
To be honest, I feel like Matthew Mcconaughey has been so ridiculously naturally successful that it’s hard to take much away. He definitely did work for his success though. For example when he got his first gig (wooderson) it happened because he went up to one of the producers at a bar and befriended him. He was prepared.