💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton

Writer/Director/Silly Guy Formerly: Co-Founder FilmJoy | Cyanide & Happiness | Gearbox | Motus Digital | Triton Films | YT ►

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

I was once held at gun point in Costa Rica by a mixed task force - military, their FBI, and local LEOs - and the next morning Shannon Elizabeth and (the late) Willie Garson gave me an apple & some water for my hangover.

[Eric Bailey @EricVBailey]

tell me a true, one-sentence story from your life that absolutely opens more questions than it answers and demands further context

i'll start -- i once saw a kid have a (small) chunk of his leg torn off by a piece of playground equipment

[Luke Barnett @LukeBarnett]

Ok. $12. Three coffees. We shot a movie in 16 days. We’re really proud of how it turned out. We hope to make more original movies. If you can spare it, consider pre-ordering Your Lucky Day on Apple. This shows the distributor there’s an audience. If you can’t, consider a share?

[🎙Tech Breakfast Podcast🎙 @Tech4Breakfast]

293 is LIVE! Click the link to listen.

- Steve Jobs
- AI and Spatial Computing
- Project Sunroof

https://t.co/doGEnpHh2i

@TSGates_ @RCantw3ll @aaronbuley @TheJinXR

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@TSGates_

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@LukeBarnett

[Nat Eliason @nateliason]

Prove you can do hard things

When a teenager asks why they need to learn calculus, what should you say?

You know they will never use it in adulthood, outside of certain career choices.

You could say, “It’ll help you get into college,” but then they’re left wondering why college cares if you know calculus.

And once they’re in college, maybe you could say, “To get a good job,” but why would a potential hirer care how you did in multivariate calculus if your job doesn’t require any knowledge of calculus?

But I recently realized there is a very good reason to take Calculus. It’s to prove you can do hard things.

The ability to do hard things is perhaps the most useful ability you can foster in yourself or your children. And proof that you are someone who can do them is one of the most useful assets you can have on your life resume.

Our self-image is composed of historical evidence of our abilities. The more hard things you push yourself to do, the more competent you will see yourself to be.

If you can run marathons or throw double your body weight over your head, the sleep deprivation from a newborn is only a mild irritant.

If you can excel at organic chemistry or econometrics, onboarding for a new finance job will be a breeze.

But if we avoid hard things, anything mildly challenging will seem insurmountable.

We’ll cry into TikTok over an errant period at the end of a text message. We’ll see ourselves as incapable of learning new skills, taking on new careers, and escaping bad situations.

The proof you can do hard things is one of the most powerful gifts you can give yourself.

My goal with our kids is to avoid lying to them as much as possible.

I won’t tell them that calculus is super important or even that grades are super important. The truth is, they aren’t, so long as you have other plans.

Calculus is a great way to prove you can do hard things if you have no other proof to show.

But if you’re learning programming and building apps in your free time, or winning soccer championships, or writing a novel, then you are doing hard things. Probably harder than Calculus.

This is also why there’s so much survivorship bias and bad advice in the “C students hire A students” trope. Most C students are not doing other hard things instead of school. They’re just goofing off, so they end up working for the A student.

But some C students are getting C’s because they’re obsessed with other projects. Hard projects. And that obsession with doing hard things lets them blow past their Excellent Sheep peers over time.

So if you have a C student who’s obsessed with something hard, you probably don’t have to worry. If they’re getting high and watching TikTok, well…

I don’t particularly care what grades my kids get once they start school. But I do care that they consistently prove to themselves they can do hard things. If Calculus is how they want to do it, fine, but there are many, many more options.

And if you’re not someone who knows they can do hard things, find a way to prove it to yourself.

Build a habit, learn a skill, create something, whatever it is that turns your default stance on challenges from “that seems hard” to “I can figure it out.”

Create proof you can do hard things.

[Mike Salcedo @MikeSalcedo_]

F PLUSHIE IS OUT!!! #alphabetlore #alphabetfriends #makeship

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

Need a great read? Get some fun!
👇📚💛

[Boo! Hayes @DrewHayesNovels]

Villains' Vignettes: Volume I is available today!

Find out what super villains do over the holidays, visit a town where anyone can have powers, and see what happens when a summoning reels in a deadlier champion than expected.

https://t.co/laggLWucKT

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@todddammitkerns Oh, hells yeah! 🤩🤩💛

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

😂🤣💀

[Richard Parry @_RichardParry_]

As a self-education project during lockdown I wanted to see if I could mimic a brand’s advertising style

Anyway, I made this, happy birthday Grimace or whatever

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@Massawyrm

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@aaronbuley @TSGates_

[Jason Blum @jason_blum]

October 27, 2023 @blumhouse #FNAF

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@AcquiredFM Coincidentally, just started the (first) Nintendo episode last night.

So far, I concur…

@gilbert does a spectacular Mario impression. 😂

Thanks for all the fascinating content and growing community!

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@noamkroll The same general framework applies to the worlds of Commercials and music videos.

Ads: $$$$$ - politics, and endless approvals (for many, many good reasons).

Music videos: $ - exponential creative freedom.

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@noamkroll + Star Wars + Ghostbusters… I was 3 🤷🏻‍♂️

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@RWWFilm Loving it! Feels like Chuck Jones is somewhere smiling about this. 💛🎥

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@scrnwriterchic I hope he had a great experience! 💛🎥

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@thetzechun Hi! 👋 (Hope it’s spectacular day 🎂🎉)

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@TamelaDAmico In reality, I believe there’s evidence suggesting music can help naturally raise/lower heart rates, and on average modes of major keys arc people toward more pleasant moods.

But in my head, I assume everyone there is waiting to fight John Wick.
😂💛🎥

[💛🎥 Thaddeus Grant Fenton @_Thaddeus]

@brentwgraham 👍👍