Transcript
Speaker: Another Dirty Brief with Alex Hooper.
Speaker: Yup, that's me everybody.
Speaker: And I am calling myself out because I missed a couple of weeks of doing this podcast.
Speaker: And that is 100% on me.
Speaker: I have to take accountability for my actions and tell you that when I got back from Japan,
Speaker: I just wasn't really feeling it.
Speaker: I don't know why.
Speaker: It's not that I didn't have any ideas because of course I have ideas.
Speaker: I convinced myself that none of them were good, but that's because I was being hesitant to actually do the work.
Speaker: So I continually talked myself out of ideas and maybe they were good, maybe they weren't,
Speaker: But you don't know until you actually move forward with one of those ideas.
Speaker: And I wasn't doing that.
Speaker: I allowed myself to slack.
Speaker: And I'm not thrilled about that.
Speaker: And I think I told myself that, Alex, it's okay.
Speaker: This is a brand new podcast.
Speaker: There's not a lot of people listening to it yet.
Speaker: So don't worry if you miss a week or two.
Speaker: Well...
Speaker: That's not okay because staying consistent is important.
Speaker: It is so crucial to growing a podcast.
Speaker: Even if right now I don't have a lot of listeners for dirty briefs yet.
Speaker: it's still important that I do the work because I still have to make my voice heard.
Speaker: I still have to put things out so that people are able to find them.
Speaker: If I'm doing nothing, how is anyone supposed to find me?
Speaker: And that's my job.
Speaker: I got to keep screaming into this void.
Speaker: Consistency is very important.
Speaker: I was telling myself that I wasn't doing it because my skin was kind of messed up and I was allowing myself to heal.
Speaker: And look, that is okay.
Speaker: I did an episode before about not letting ambition get in the way of my healing.
Speaker: And that is important because I do.
Speaker: I'm filled up with all this fire and all of this fuel that's just ready to be sparked.
Speaker: And I just want to ignite everything and keep this going.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: Certain days, if I don't feel like it, that's okay.
Speaker: Heal.
Speaker: Relax.
Speaker: Meditate.
Speaker: Do breath work.
Speaker: Take cold showers.
Speaker: All of the things that allow me to heal.
Speaker: Go outside and soak up the sun.
Speaker: You have to do the work.
Speaker: You have to.
Speaker: And I didn't.
Speaker: I allowed myself to slack and that is on me.
Speaker: And maybe right now there's something in your life that you're ignoring, procrastinating, putting off onto the side, putting on top of a higher shelf so you don't have to look at it anymore.
Speaker: But somewhere in the back of your brain, it's just gnawing at you.
Speaker: Because you know you're supposed to be doing this thing.
Speaker: And no one is going to tell you to do it if you work for yourself.
Speaker: And that's the thing.
Speaker: No one's going to say to me, Alex, where the fuck's my podcast, dude?
Speaker: No one's going to tell me that.
Speaker: Because I work for myself.
Speaker: So when I didn't do my own work, yes, I was upset with myself.
Speaker: But I just moved on.
Speaker: And then I let it go one week, another week.
Speaker: And I was like, no, Alex, this is not the way.
Speaker: Because...
Speaker: Even when I'm not in the mood to do something, sometimes you gotta make yourself do it.
Speaker: Sometimes.
Speaker: Not always.
Speaker: But I think it does help.
Speaker: Consistency breeds creativity.
Speaker: When I think my ideas are shit, the best thing I can do is to try to apply a couple of them and make episodes.
Speaker: And if I don't like it, I don't have to put it out.
Speaker: But so many times we have to sift through the biggest pieces of shit in our core, sift through the biggest pieces of corn in our shit in order to
Speaker: To find the nutrients, the little grains of magic that are contained within all of them.
Speaker: And I know my most creative self is at my best when I am creating.
Speaker: If I allow myself to stop until, well, I better just feel good about everything I'm doing.
Speaker: Because you know what happens when I put out an episode of the show?
Speaker: Even if it doesn't get a ton of downloads.
Speaker: Even if it only gets a couple of comments, a couple of shares.
Speaker: I feel competent.
Speaker: I accomplished something.
Speaker: I have this feeling of deep satisfaction knowing that at least for today, I did the work.
Speaker: It's so important.
Speaker: It's the hardest part about running your own life as an artist.
Speaker: So much of your job is procuring more work and doing work that's not going to pay you right now, but maybe it will in the future.
Speaker: And I believe this podcast will be monetized and will set me up for a monetary future.
Speaker: However, right now it's not, and that still means I have to do it.
Speaker: because you never know when something will hit.
Speaker: But I'll tell you when it won't hit, when you don't do it and you don't release it.
Speaker: An artist's job, primarily, it is not to create.
Speaker: An artist's job is to ship.
Speaker: We need to ship products constantly.
Speaker: We need to put something out that you can watch, listen to, hold, feel, play, whatever it is.
Speaker: But if I'm not doing that, then I'm not providing myself the best opportunity for you all to be entertained.
Speaker: And that's all I want to do.
Speaker: I allowed myself to take a back seat.
Speaker: Well, I had to take a back seat.
Speaker: The cancer forced me to take a back seat.
Speaker: And look, I was grateful for that time off.
Speaker: But now that I feel good and I'm back in the world creating, entertaining, performing, being the magical sprite that I know I'm supposed to be, it is so crucial that I keep up these tasks.
Speaker: Even when I'm not seeing the instantaneous rewards.
Speaker: Still got to do it.
Speaker: Still got to do it.
Speaker: So if there's something in your life that you are putting off to the side for whatever reason, maybe you're scared,
Speaker: Maybe you're sick.
Speaker: Maybe you feel a little broken.
Speaker: Maybe you're just not that enthusiastic about it moving forward.
Speaker: But sometimes to get yourself to that next level, you have to go through other levels.
Speaker: I hated the underwater levels of video games.
Speaker: But you know what?
Speaker: To get back above ground, I had to complete the underwater level too.
Speaker: And that's the only way to move forward, sink or swim.
Speaker: You better learn how to swim.
Speaker: This is a sign, everyone.
Speaker: If there is something that you've been putting off, maybe it's work.
Speaker: Maybe it's a project.
Speaker: Maybe it's joining a pickup dodgeball league for adults.
Speaker: Maybe it's as simple as calling your sister, who you haven't spoken to in months.
Speaker: The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be.
Speaker: So get yourself in a mood, whatever you got to do, to be enthusiastic about what you're doing.
Speaker: Do it.
Speaker: Do it.
Speaker: Give yourself the grace because the feeling of satisfaction that you will have when it's all over, chef's fucking kiss.
Speaker: Even if only one person listens.
Speaker: Fuck that.
Speaker: If nobody ever listens to this, at least I did it.
Speaker: I put in the work.
Speaker: I showed up today.
Speaker: I opened my computer.
Speaker: I wrote down some notes.
Speaker: And then I did this thing.
Speaker: Recording this podcast.
Speaker: This dirty brief.
Speaker: Will this inspire anyone?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Because it inspired me to do more episodes of Dirty Briefs and to be more consistent and to not miss episodes simply because I'm not in the mood or I don't think people are listening.
Speaker: Things are going well right now.
Speaker: Really well.
Speaker: And to keep that going, I need to keep myself going.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: There won't be another break for a long time.
Speaker: Sorry, everybody.
Speaker: But I'm back on my bullshit.
Speaker: And that means I'm going to keep briefing you every single week.
Speaker: And they're going to get weird.
Speaker: They're going to be silly.
Speaker: They're going to be emotional.
Speaker: They're going to be fun.
Speaker: We don't know what they're going to be.
Speaker: But if you like the sound of my voice, especially for 15 minutes or less, well, Dirty Briefs is for you.
Speaker: So please, share this episode.
Speaker: Especially if it inspired you in any way.
Speaker: HooperComedy.com has all of my upcoming tour dates.
Speaker: HooperHairPuff on social media.
Speaker: If you want to follow me on there.
Speaker: If you can stomach it.
Speaker: I personally hate social media more and more every single day.
Speaker: But I still go on there.
Speaker: Because I really understand.
Speaker: It's an important part of my career.
Speaker: You don't have to love what you're doing.
Speaker: But you have to find ways to love doing it.
Speaker: That's for sure.
Speaker: And I can always have fun when I'm releasing a daily lollipop, putting a little clip up, or just being silly, or making someone's day by responding to their message.
Speaker: You can do that too.
Speaker: So whatever you're putting off, this is your sign.
Speaker: Go dudes.
Speaker: Because I love you.
Speaker: And lots of other people do too.
Speaker: And we all want to see you become the ultimate version of yourself.
Speaker: Whatever that means to you.
Speaker: I'll see you next week.
Speaker: Boop boop.
