Quick Cut: S2E171 Matthew McConaughey: Greenlights
It's a Good Life
Brian Buffini
4.4 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2024
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Listen to the full episode here.
“Somewhere down the line in life, in the rearview mirror, all yellows and reds I believe do eventually turn green - or at least reveal a greenlight asset in our life.” – Matthew McConaughey
Often, the setbacks that stop us or slow us down in life actually help us to ultimately succeed. In this episode, Brian interviews actor Matthew McConaughey about his memoir, “Greenlights.” Matthew explains how, through all of the successes, failures, joys and sorrows he has experienced, he has found happiness and meaning in his life. He also describes how, by learning to effectively deal with life’s challenges, you can always keep moving forward and enjoy a state of success he calls “catching greenlights.”
YOU WILL LEARN:
- How “The Greatest Salesman in the World” powerfully impacted him.
- How his father’s death refocused his priorities.
- Why he “unbranded” himself to move away from rom-coms to more dramatic roles.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
“Greenlights,” by Matthew McConaughey
“The Greatest Salesman in the World,” by Og Mandino
“Emerson's Essays,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Self-Reliance,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Raising Arizona,” movie
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:
“When faced with the inevitable, get relative.” – Matthew McConaughey
“Be less impressed with things; be more involved.” – Matthew McConaughey
“We all know that, to succeed, we need to do good, hard work. But is it the right kind of hard work?” – Matthew McConaughey
“When you go and you endure something and you're kind of taking a penance, with each day you kind of build a little bit more honor and strength.” – Matthew McConaughey
“I've never had any trouble turning the page in the book of my life.” – Coach Darrell Royal
“We are the author of our own book.” – Matthew McConaughey
“The way to find the greenlights is by persistence, or pivot or … sometimes knowing when to wave the white flag.” – Matthew McConaughey
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to It's a Good Life with Brian Baffini, founder of America's largest business coaching company. |
| 0:10.0 | Here's a short classic cut from one of our all-time favorite episodes. |
| 0:15.0 | Top of the morning to you. |
| 0:18.0 | Very special guest today. |
| 0:20.0 | Oscar winning actor. |
| 0:21.0 | He's a storyteller, committed husband, of faith mr m m m m mccanihy he's |
| 0:25.8 | written this incredibly popular book called green lights this was a kick in the pants |
| 0:30.7 | and we're delighted to have him on the show today mattie welcome to the show thanks for taking some time the You know I want to dive right in tell the folks what a green light is. |
| 0:43.6 | I mean literally on the highway it's a great it's a light that says go on proceed it affirms our way. |
| 0:49.0 | We love green lights because they do all those things and they do not slow us down or get in our way. |
| 0:54.0 | Now the things that do slow us down and get in our way are the yellow and red lights in life. |
| 0:58.0 | They may be an intervention, a time of introspection, a pause we have to take, a tragedy, a crisis, a hardship, even a death. |
| 1:05.5 | We don't ever want the red and yellow lights, but I've found that I believe we all find out that |
| 1:10.4 | we needed them for some reason, or at least they had a green light lesson within their |
| 1:16.4 | red and yellow hue. |
| 1:18.8 | Somewhere down the line in life in the rearview mirror all yellows and reds believe, do eventually turn green or at least reveal a green light asset in our life. |
| 1:26.5 | Now we can engineer green lights by responsibilities we take today to create more freedom for our future. |
| 1:32.0 | All the way down to the simplest things like |
| 1:33.9 | put your coffee in your coffee filter the night before so when you get up in the |
| 1:36.8 | morning and your groggy all you got to do is push the damn button. |
| 1:39.3 | That's a green light that's being cool and kind to your future self. |
| 1:42.4 | Sometimes green lights fall in our lap good fortune. That's being cool and kind to your future self. |
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