What is your definition of success? Our alum, Jason Hall, recently spoke with our students and made the point that after his screenplay for “American Sniper” was nominated for an Academy Award, he felt exactly the same as he did before the nomination. When he was asked how he felt, he thought he had a responsibility to act enthusiastic with his response. Then a woman told him that after seeing his film, her husband opened up to her for the first time about his traumatic experiences in the Vietnam War. This expression of gratitude provided him with the unmistakable feeling of success.
Another screenwriter, Randall Wallace, said the year “Bravehart” was nominated for an Academy Award was the worst year of his life, and that it was in doing charitable work with Habitat for Humanity that he felt he discovered a renewed sense of purpose. In his words, “I got my hands dirty and my heart clean.” And when Dustin Hoffman spoke at an event of ours, he said he was probably as happy as any time in his career when first starting out and working as a stage manager in South Dakota.
You already know about the limitations of conventional success. It’s been noted by everyone from Aristotle and
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