AVA DuVERNAY ON REDEFINING SUCCESS

Feeling Rebloggy
AVA SPEAKS
ON LIFE LESSONS LEARNED OVER 

THE COURSE OF HER SUCCESSES

During the creation of her first film was "I Will Follow" 

...On the opening day of "I Will Follow"...then the film went on and it did well and it built autonomy and independence and community and it set up AFFRM (black distribution collective) in way that I intended....And it was all about distributing films in  that moment for me, and proviing our model, and our worth as black film makers, and proving myself

And I gave my intention every ounce of my attention...and it was a beautiful day

I felt like I achieved my intention

But later I saw my error

During the creation of her second film was "Middle Of Nowhere"

All I was thinking about was Sundance...We won an award...The film was launched into the world...

I felt like I achieved my intention

But later I saw my error...

Her worth was outside of herself.  She never felt better than when she was celebrating her successes, when she crossed her self defined finish lines, but that high feeling didn't last. She realized that her intention was misplaced.

SELMA

So she went into Selma with a totally different mindset


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[There are four] things that are putting Ms. DuVernay on the path to long-term impact, and how they might apply to your personal and corporate brands:

1.  It can’t just be about you. The people and brands that resonate are focused on adding value to others. Goals that focus only on personal or corporate success are small. Ask yourself, how can we use our success to improve things for everyone? Answer that question, and it will be easier to recruit others to your mission. For personal brands, Porras, Emery and Thompson’s Success Built To Last: Creating A Life That Matters is a great starting point. On a corporate level, look at Havas Media’s Meaningful Brands Index for the companies that are adding value to the world. The key, I think, to DuVernay’s peace of mind is that she’s motivated by a desire to both create excellent films and create real diversity in the marketplace. She’s doing both.

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/robfields/2015/02/02/four-brand-building-lessons-from-ava-duvernay-2/2/#7cc0c4c2e4f5