FILMMAKING
The Power Lives Within You: What That Means on a Tuesday
What does it mean that the power lives within you? Four small moves for an ordinary Tuesday, plus the Inch Rule from my worst year.
By Alex Ferrari
THE SHORT ANSWER
It means the answers and strength you are looking for are already in you, and every teacher, book and course is a guide that helps you remember it.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The power within you does not usually show up as a roar. It shows up as the next small thing you actually do.
- Move one inch, focus on the work in front of you, and ask for what you need, then act.
- Stop handing your power to a hero. It is in your hands.
It is Tuesday. Nobody is going to hand you a mountaintop. You have a stack of email, a kid who needs a ride, and a creative project you keep avoiding. I say it all the time: the power lives within you. But what does that mean on a Tuesday, when the dishes are in the sink and the dream feels far away?
Let me give you what it has meant for me, with receipts.
The Inch Rule
A few months after I left the Jimmy project, I wrote in a journal that I needed to try every day to move forward, even if it was just an inch a day. I put that line in my book. I call it the Inch Rule. It is the most practical form of “the power lives within you” I know.
Here is why. The power within you does not usually show up as a roar. It shows up as the next small thing you actually do.
“The power within you does not usually show up as a roar. It shows up as the next small thing you actually do.”
Four Tuesday moves
- 1. Move one inch. Pick the smallest step toward the thing you keep avoiding and do only that. Send the one email. Write the one page.
- 2. Focus on the work in front of you. In my worst weeks with Jimmy, Boris and I built a shot list. It kept my mind off the chaos and put it back on the work. For me it was like meditation.
- 3. Ask for what you need, then act. I asked the universe for help in my living room, and then took the job when it came. Both halves count.
- 4. Stop handing your power to a hero. I end Rise of the Filmtrepreneur by reminding filmmakers that the power to change your life is in your hands, not in some God from Mount Hollywood.
A word on meditation
I am a longtime practitioner of meditation, and I have written that it helps the creative process. I will not promise you what it will do for you, because I cannot know that. I can say it is a free, quiet way to remember that you are the one doing the living.
What Panache Desai said
On the Next Level Soul podcast, Panache Desai told me that false power depends on impermanent things we accumulate outside ourselves, and the real power is the infinite power within. I like that because it is practical. If your power sits in a title, a deal or a bank balance, the next bad quarter takes it away. If it sits within you, nobody can send you a bill for it.
Where I get it wrong
I was raised in an environment that always allowed me to quit. When things got uncomfortable, my first instinct was to leave. That is a long way from a calm, powerful person on a mountaintop. The Inch Rule is how I stay in the room.
Lesson and next step
Do one inch today. Then do another tomorrow. For more, read what making films taught me about trusting the universe, why failure is the teacher and what I tell every dream warrior. The journal entry I mentioned is in Shooting for the Mob.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
Quick answers, no fluff.
What does the power lives within you mean?
It means the answers and strength you are looking for are already in you, and every teacher, book and course is a guide that helps you remember it.
How do I use my inner power in daily life?
Take the smallest next step, focus on the work in front of you, ask for what you need and then act, and stop waiting for someone else to rescue the project.
Is this the same as positive thinking?
No. Nothing here asks you to pretend things are fine. It asks you to move, even a single inch.
What is the Inch Rule?
A few months after I left the Jimmy project, I wrote in a journal that I needed to try every day to move forward, even if it was just an inch a day. I put that line in my book and call it the Inch Rule. The power within you does not usually show up as a roar. It shows up as the next small thing you actually do.
What are the four Tuesday moves?
Move one inch. Focus on the work in front of you. Ask for what you need, then act. Stop handing your power to a hero.
What did Panache Desai say about real power?
On the Next Level Soul podcast, Panache Desai told me that false power depends on impermanent things we accumulate outside ourselves, and the real power is the infinite power within. If your power sits in a title, a deal or a bank balance, the next bad quarter takes it away. If it sits within you, nobody can send you a bill for it.
Does meditation help?
I am a longtime practitioner of meditation, and I have written that it helps the creative process. I will not promise you what it will do for you, because I cannot know that. I can say it is a free, quiet way to remember that you are the one doing the living.
Where do you get it wrong?
I was raised in an environment that always allowed me to quit. When things got uncomfortable, my first instinct was to leave. That is a long way from a calm, powerful person on a mountaintop. The Inch Rule is how I stay in the room. See what I tell every dream warrior who wants to quit.
