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Kevin Smith’s Secrets To A Successful Life

211 points by moge 16y ago

hugh3 16y ago
This is nice, but I'm disinclined to take useful advice on how to live my life from people who are apparently less happy than I am.
- randallsquared 16y ago
  The server is down at the moment, so I'm not sure, but did he claim to be giving advice on how to live a happy life? The title of the link says "successful", which for many people is a very different goal.
- brown9-2 16y ago
  people who are apparently less happy than I am Just curious but where do you get the impression that he is anything but happy?
- generalk 16y ago
  I don't know how happy you are, but Kevin Smith seems pretty damn happy with his life.
  - levesque 16y ago
    Maybe he's one of those persons that, you know, are just happy to be happy. Their happiness might be thought of as the result of this pseudo code : happiness = abs(happiness) while (!implode) happiness = happiness * 1.1
- bjg 16y ago
  If you think kevin smith is unhappy, you obviously have never listened to any of this podcasts. http://smodcast.com/ http://smodcast.com/
- kristofferR 16y ago
  I hardly knew who Kevin Smith was before I read this post (and then googled him), but I also had the impression of him being depressed. I remember how he told an airline to fuck off because he was too fat to fit in his seat. His neutral face also looks kinda sad. And he's very fat. Both are strong signs of depression, but not proof in any way. He probably isn't very depressed at the moment (he claims weed got him off his depression), but I can see why people who don't know much about him thinks that way. Being very fat and not smiling are more than enough "proof" for most people to judge wether people are depressed or not.
llimllib 16y ago
cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fconnectedcomedy.com%2Fkevin-smiths-secrets-to-a-successful-life%2F&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&safe=...
e40 16y ago
It may not take talent (or an abundance of it), but it does take a certain type of intelligence. Kevin Smith clearly has that. I fear that many people (including the guy who started this with a tweet) probably will never get something like this moving in the right direction.
- cmos 16y ago
  What tragic thought! While his path may not be laced with such obvious success as Kevin Smith, the whole point of the tweet is that all it requires is passion and a willingness to follow it. Surely anyone is capable of that.
  - foljs 16y ago
    You'd be surprised.
  - levesque 16y ago
    Replace willingness by motivation and focus. Everybody is willing to do something, not everyone will find the willpower to do it.
    - nswanberg 16y ago
      If you want a book-length version of the same advice, read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, a curious depression-era classic: http://books.google.com/books?id=c86H36mgiM4C&lpg=PP1&ots=ZJTg8cIPjc&dq=think%20and%20grow%20rich&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=c86H36mgiM4C&lpg=PP1&#3...
- og1 16y ago
  Well, I think it depends on what you define as a success. To become celebrity filmmaker, probably so. But to "start over" and just find a better job like the guy in the tweet is asking should be reasonable to accomplish.
- coliveira 16y ago
  And how you (or anyone else) would know that you don't have the talent and/or intelligence? This sounds like a mute point until you try to make it happen.
cypherdog 16y ago
Keven Smith is a smart guy who can tell a great story. "An Evening with Kevin Smith [1 & 2]" are both great DVD's where he goes from college to college telling life stories and answering questions/ giving advice off-the-cuff, and yet, these stories are engaging and hilarious and well worth watching. The advice he gives in this article, in my opinion, is simple advice that I think guys here on HN have been reading for years, but it's no less true, whether you like Kevin Smith or not.
- TamDenholm 16y ago
  He also did "A threevening with Kevin Smith" incase people aren't aware. I'd say it's about time for another DVD.
mowmowmow 16y ago
How did I know his advice would be a variation of 'do what you love'? I've heard it so many times, but am I supposed to quit my job as a developer that supports my wife and two young kids, and do something that I'm really passionate about, like starting a rock band? That's really tough, my wife would probably leave me and we'd have to move out of our nice, safe neighborhood. Also - once you make your passion your ft job it then starts to get annoying. I remember when programming was my passion, and now it's just another job - who's to say the same thing wouldn't happen with filmmaking or music?
- moge 16y ago
  Having read the full article I noticed that this advise as given specifically in response to a tweet KS got from someone that 'had an opportunity to start over' in his life. also 'being a programmer' is not the same thing as 'being a programmer for something you really want to be apart of'. I was a 'filmmaker' for years and I was MISERABLE working at local industrial film houses then I got a job working on a TV show with a passionate crew and I literally sprang out of bed (at 4am) everyday completely stoked to be going to work. tl;dr context for what you are passionate about is important. A talent/skill/interest isn't a passion; how that talent/skill/interest is applied, is.
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  > That's really tough, my wife would probably leave me and we'd have to move out of our nice, safe neighborhood. Nobody said being excellent was easy. This also doesn't mean that your choice or his is better.
- Ixiaus 16y ago
  That's why you figure that shit out before you get the wife and the mortgage. But, either way, you can still do it you just have to do it slowly and in your free time. Making your passion your full time job does not make it annoying!!!! I LOVE WHAT I DO EVEN MORE NOW THAT I WORK FOR MY SELF! When I worked in a cubicle farm like you and cranked out commodity software, I fucking hated programming. Think of a fun idea, doesn't have to be academically innovative, just something useful to people and start cranking on it. I did that. I have a full time job from it now and holy shit do I love it. There are days I work 12 hours, but you know what? I feel awesome afterwards. After a 12 hour day in the office of company x I always needed a beer and bitched about shit for half a day. Sorry for all the french. I just can't stress these points enough - same points Smith is making, really. I don't even make "a lot" of money, just enough to be upper middle class. I love my work, my life feels fulfilling, and I have money to do what I want with it. If you don't have kids, I recommend waiting on that ride - it's tough enough that you have a wife. Hopefully she's a cool chick and will support/help you during transition and well into the wild journey of working for yourself. [EDIT] To clarify the final paragraph: I don't mean to rag on wives/girlfriends (I have a girlfriend), it's just that, if she isn't a cool person and you are emotionally dependent then you lose a certain amount of autonomy and freedom to move around and do things (like leave your job and move into a two bedroom apartment). My girl happily downsized from a house to a two bedroom apartment when we moved to San Diego. It took her a year, but she sold the majority of her junk and we are now much happier (TBH). We also don't share finances (I have a thing against that) so it helped her save some money for other things/experiences as well.
io 16y ago
step 0: be really talented
piney 16y ago
Like a lame pep-talk from your Wall-Mart manager after he fires you.
guynamedloren 16y ago
Looks like Kevin Smith compiles his tweet monologues on his own blog: http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=401 http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=401
afterburner 16y ago
Kevin Smith had an impressive drive, focus, and determination with respect to pursuing film-making. He wanted to get down to it; he went to the shortest, cheapest film program he could find, and dropped out half way with a partial refund because they were spending too much time on film theory and not enough on practical filming, and would rather spend the money on his first film. Sure, he's a slacker in many respects, and proudly so, but in this respect, he was focused as a laser. It helps...
Tycho 16y ago
I think it all just comes down to how much time you waste instead of doing something useful. Like I'm doing right now writing this comment and reading HN. Nobody ever seems to admit how much time they waste watching tv, web surfing, sleeping, gaming, drinking etc.
- mattdeboard 16y ago
  Agreed. I need to uninstall Steam.
mattdeboard 16y ago
I am honestly surprised by the number of people "meh"ing at this advice. It is surprising because this is a forum for hackers, smart people who look for ways to use a system's rules (or lack thereof) to do what they want or need to get done. And yet a significant number of commenters here are saying "Don't want to be what you want to be; be what you want to be" is bad advice. As a novice hacker, my role models are many of the same smart people who post here. It's a little disheartening to see such strident dismissal of some good god damn advice.

211 points by moge 16y ago

hugh3 16y ago

This is nice, but I'm disinclined to take useful advice on how to live my life from people who are apparently less happy than I am.

randallsquared 16y ago
The server is down at the moment, so I'm not sure, but did he claim to be giving advice on how to live a happy life? The title of the link says "successful", which for many people is a very different goal.
brown9-2 16y ago
people who are apparently less happy than I am Just curious but where do you get the impression that he is anything but happy?
generalk 16y ago
I don't know how happy you are, but Kevin Smith seems pretty damn happy with his life.
- levesque 16y ago
  Maybe he's one of those persons that, you know, are just happy to be happy. Their happiness might be thought of as the result of this pseudo code : happiness = abs(happiness) while (!implode) happiness = happiness * 1.1
bjg 16y ago
If you think kevin smith is unhappy, you obviously have never listened to any of this podcasts. http://smodcast.com/ http://smodcast.com/
kristofferR 16y ago
I hardly knew who Kevin Smith was before I read this post (and then googled him), but I also had the impression of him being depressed. I remember how he told an airline to fuck off because he was too fat to fit in his seat. His neutral face also looks kinda sad. And he's very fat. Both are strong signs of depression, but not proof in any way. He probably isn't very depressed at the moment (he claims weed got him off his depression), but I can see why people who don't know much about him thinks that way. Being very fat and not smiling are more than enough "proof" for most people to judge wether people are depressed or not.

llimllib 16y ago

cached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fconnectedcomedy.com%2Fkevin-smiths-secrets-to-a-successful-life%2F&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&safe=...

e40 16y ago

It may not take talent (or an abundance of it), but it does take a certain type of intelligence. Kevin Smith clearly has that. I fear that many people (including the guy who started this with a tweet) probably will never get something like this moving in the right direction.

cmos 16y ago
What tragic thought! While his path may not be laced with such obvious success as Kevin Smith, the whole point of the tweet is that all it requires is passion and a willingness to follow it. Surely anyone is capable of that.
- foljs 16y ago
  You'd be surprised.
- levesque 16y ago
  Replace willingness by motivation and focus. Everybody is willing to do something, not everyone will find the willpower to do it.
  - nswanberg 16y ago
    If you want a book-length version of the same advice, read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, a curious depression-era classic: http://books.google.com/books?id=c86H36mgiM4C&lpg=PP1&ots=ZJTg8cIPjc&dq=think%20and%20grow%20rich&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=c86H36mgiM4C&lpg=PP1&#3...
og1 16y ago
Well, I think it depends on what you define as a success. To become celebrity filmmaker, probably so. But to "start over" and just find a better job like the guy in the tweet is asking should be reasonable to accomplish.
coliveira 16y ago
And how you (or anyone else) would know that you don't have the talent and/or intelligence? This sounds like a mute point until you try to make it happen.

cypherdog 16y ago

Keven Smith is a smart guy who can tell a great story. "An Evening with Kevin Smith [1 & 2]" are both great DVD's where he goes from college to college telling life stories and answering questions/ giving advice off-the-cuff, and yet, these stories are engaging and hilarious and well worth watching. The advice he gives in this article, in my opinion, is simple advice that I think guys here on HN have been reading for years, but it's no less true, whether you like Kevin Smith or not.

TamDenholm 16y ago
He also did "A threevening with Kevin Smith" incase people aren't aware. I'd say it's about time for another DVD.

mowmowmow 16y ago

How did I know his advice would be a variation of 'do what you love'? I've heard it so many times, but am I supposed to quit my job as a developer that supports my wife and two young kids, and do something that I'm really passionate about, like starting a rock band? That's really tough, my wife would probably leave me and we'd have to move out of our nice, safe neighborhood. Also - once you make your passion your ft job it then starts to get annoying. I remember when programming was my passion, and now it's just another job - who's to say the same thing wouldn't happen with filmmaking or music?

moge 16y ago
Having read the full article I noticed that this advise as given specifically in response to a tweet KS got from someone that 'had an opportunity to start over' in his life. also 'being a programmer' is not the same thing as 'being a programmer for something you really want to be apart of'. I was a 'filmmaker' for years and I was MISERABLE working at local industrial film houses then I got a job working on a TV show with a passionate crew and I literally sprang out of bed (at 4am) everyday completely stoked to be going to work. tl;dr context for what you are passionate about is important. A talent/skill/interest isn't a passion; how that talent/skill/interest is applied, is.
steveklabnik 16y ago
> That's really tough, my wife would probably leave me and we'd have to move out of our nice, safe neighborhood. Nobody said being excellent was easy. This also doesn't mean that your choice or his is better.
Ixiaus 16y ago
That's why you figure that shit out before you get the wife and the mortgage. But, either way, you can still do it you just have to do it slowly and in your free time. Making your passion your full time job does not make it annoying!!!! I LOVE WHAT I DO EVEN MORE NOW THAT I WORK FOR MY SELF! When I worked in a cubicle farm like you and cranked out commodity software, I fucking hated programming. Think of a fun idea, doesn't have to be academically innovative, just something useful to people and start cranking on it. I did that. I have a full time job from it now and holy shit do I love it. There are days I work 12 hours, but you know what? I feel awesome afterwards. After a 12 hour day in the office of company x I always needed a beer and bitched about shit for half a day. Sorry for all the french. I just can't stress these points enough - same points Smith is making, really. I don't even make "a lot" of money, just enough to be upper middle class. I love my work, my life feels fulfilling, and I have money to do what I want with it. If you don't have kids, I recommend waiting on that ride - it's tough enough that you have a wife. Hopefully she's a cool chick and will support/help you during transition and well into the wild journey of working for yourself. [EDIT] To clarify the final paragraph: I don't mean to rag on wives/girlfriends (I have a girlfriend), it's just that, if she isn't a cool person and you are emotionally dependent then you lose a certain amount of autonomy and freedom to move around and do things (like leave your job and move into a two bedroom apartment). My girl happily downsized from a house to a two bedroom apartment when we moved to San Diego. It took her a year, but she sold the majority of her junk and we are now much happier (TBH). We also don't share finances (I have a thing against that) so it helped her save some money for other things/experiences as well.

io 16y ago

step 0: be really talented

piney 16y ago

Like a lame pep-talk from your Wall-Mart manager after he fires you.

guynamedloren 16y ago

Looks like Kevin Smith compiles his tweet monologues on his own blog: http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=401 http://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=401

afterburner 16y ago

Kevin Smith had an impressive drive, focus, and determination with respect to pursuing film-making. He wanted to get down to it; he went to the shortest, cheapest film program he could find, and dropped out half way with a partial refund because they were spending too much time on film theory and not enough on practical filming, and would rather spend the money on his first film. Sure, he's a slacker in many respects, and proudly so, but in this respect, he was focused as a laser. It helps...

Tycho 16y ago

I think it all just comes down to how much time you waste instead of doing something useful. Like I'm doing right now writing this comment and reading HN. Nobody ever seems to admit how much time they waste watching tv, web surfing, sleeping, gaming, drinking etc.

mattdeboard 16y ago
Agreed. I need to uninstall Steam.

mattdeboard 16y ago

I am honestly surprised by the number of people "meh"ing at this advice. It is surprising because this is a forum for hackers, smart people who look for ways to use a system's rules (or lack thereof) to do what they want or need to get done. And yet a significant number of commenters here are saying "Don't want to be what you want to be; be what you want to be" is bad advice. As a novice hacker, my role models are many of the same smart people who post here. It's a little disheartening to see such strident dismissal of some good god damn advice.