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A few years back, writer/director Sam Lavin came to me because she had never felt more scattered. Amidst unemployment and managing the pandemic she said to me: “I’m typically a very ambitious person, but I’m finding it hard to stay on projects and get things done. I’m not motivated because I don’t know what I should be doing.”

As an award-winning DGA director, assistant director, and writer who has worked on film and television projects including Lucifer, The Mayor, and Criminal Minds, she came to me as a 2nd AD with hopes of transitioning to the directing chair. Like many hit with a generous dose of perspective when the pandemic hit, Sam realized she was stuck and didn’t want to be a 2nd AD anymore...but she had no idea what to do next - and that lack of certainty left her paralyzed. She was dreaming of making her next major career transition into becoming both a 1st AD on major tv shows as well as a writer & director (and she knew she was ready!), but she had no clear path or next steps to make her vision become her reality. This led to wasted days of scattered attention and feeling “busy” but not “productive.”

After joining the Optimizer coaching & mentorship program, Sam was able to design a plan that led her to firmly landing in the 1st AD position on a major streaming show for Apple, and she’s now poised to finally become a director. In today’s conversation we talk about the practical steps she took to work through the mental barriers that were stopping her from being productive and moving her career forwards, how she has become a focus machine getting more done in a few months than she had accomplished in years, and most importantly how you can apply the same principles to build momentum in your own career and life.

No matter the career transition you are hoping to make next, even if the rungs of the ladder you want to climb might be different than others, the path is almost universally the same for all of us. You first need clarity about your next steps so you don’t inadvertently waste years of effort climbing the wrong ladder. Then you need to develop and hone the skills necessary to do the job you want next. And thirdly you need to build the right network of people so you can leverage those skills and convince them you can do the job, even if you might not have the experience yet. Simple...but far from easy. Learn how Sam did it and how you can do it too.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

• What brought Sam to the Optimizer community and her career leading up to now.
• Sam's daily routine before she became a student in the Focus Yourself program.
• How we helped settle Sam's scattered mind and anxiety about where her career was headed.
• The obstacles Sam encountered when trying to find focus and clarity in her life.
• The mindset change that helped Sam make the transition from 2nd AD to 1st AD.
• How the Focus Gym helped her finish her pilot that she hadn't been able to complete before.
• The piece of feedback she received that changed her mindset about becoming a director.
• How the cancellation of