In my early days in the film industry, I was told something by my late mentor, Joseph Tan, that has stuck with me for all my working life since.

I was always too ready to give up, find excuses or blame when faced with difficult situations … and the film industry did throw up a lot of those difficult situations. I thought some of the things we had to do were ridiculous and needless. There were easier and simpler ways we could have done it. I was a frustrated and angry young man.

Then Joe showed me the way. He simply advised me to get on with it because life was going to throw more complicated and definitely more “impossible” issues at me … issues I would not be able to walk away from, find excuses or blame.

How I handled those difficult situations in the film industry reflected on how I was going to handle my problems with life as I grew. Joe simply advised me to take these difficult situations and see them as challenges – challenges that forced me to think creatively, think out of the box, work smarter, persevere, tolerate, endure and even macguiver my way to a solution.

I never always succeeded in those situations but I did make progress. Most times, I delivered something alternative and even better than what was expected.

Years on, while running my own productions as a producer, a young man reminded me of my former self. He thought what we were doing was ridiculous. He said there was an easier way to get it done. In hindsight, he was right. However, that easier way would have compromised the quality of the scene. It would have made the shot look cheap with no style, it would have cost a lot of money to fix in post-production – something the client would surely not approve. It would have damaged my reputation as a producer.

This young man was not a problem on my set – he was a challenge.

These days, I get asked a lot about how I got this fighting spirit, this never-say-die attitude. With everything I’ve been through, the answer is simple;

Nothing is impossible given the right attitude and the right motivation.

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I hope you all have a challenging weekend ahead and face those challenges head-on. Never sweep them under the rug. No procrastinating. No complaining. No blaming. No excuses.

Get it done!

Happy Hunting!