Ethan Hawke’s Productivity Lesson: Set Simple Goals

As an actor, director, screenwriter, and novelist, Ethan Hawke knows how to get things done. The secret to his success is taking small, progressive steps to a larger goal. It's just that simple. Hawke's latest book is "Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars" ().
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Transcript - I have thrived on one simple idea which his placing achievable goals in front of you. I never would give myself a goal like writing a novel. I find goals like that really intimidating. I do well by saying I’m going to try and write every day for ten days. I remember when I was first starting to teach myself to write. I would say I’m going to go away for ten days. I’ll go on a ten day retreat and I’ll write every day for ten days with the goal of one short story. Let’s see if we can just – I’m going to come back with one short story I can hand to my friends. And usually those simple actions give you confidence. I did that. I wrote a short story and I gave it to my friends and they really liked it. I mean they’re my friends, right. And they were encouraging. I knew that there were a couple of paragraphs that were really good. You know when you start accessing that part of yourself and you give yourself achievable goals – I remember I didn’t decide that I wanted to direct films. I told myself that I was going to direct a short film and I was going to make it super manageable, something that I could afford to produce. I didn’t need to ask anybody. I took the money I made from Dead Poet’s Society and I made a short film.
You know, I’ve got a graphic novel coming out. That’s kind of weird, you know, for an actor to do. I made a documentary last year. I wrote a children’s book last year. I’ve acted in plays. To a lot of people that strikes them as weird. Or they can accuse me of being a dilettante or something like that, right. But I believe in cultivating the attitude of a student at all times and putting yourself out of your comfort zone. You know if all I did was act since I was 13 I could do that but it doesn’t help me become a better actor. Writing helps me become a better actor. Directing, you know, I’m trying to direct a movie right now. I’m trying to talk other actors into being in the movie and they say no all the time the bastards. And but it helps me understand wow, that’s how she works. I would have never thought that about the script. You know what? She’s right. It is strange. Why does that do that? Now when I’m meeting a director who is trying to talk me into doing a movie I know how sensitive they’re feeling, you know, and I know how to talk to them in a way that’s not going to be hurtful or disrespectful. Read Full Transcript Here: .