HW Day 1 · AI For R*tards

Deron Howington

Feb 24 • ✍️ Homework

HW Day 1

HW Day 1 — Struggles & Wins (get real)

5 Struggles

Mental Health: I’m quite autistic, and many times feel like I force conversations because I’m aware of how to pretend to be sociable. I avoid interaction with people, and feel dumb when even addressing people on camera.
Money: I’m not money motivated at all, which sucks for obvious reasons. I tend to give up opportunities to be more profitable, if I don’t NEED the money. This keeps me in limbo between being financially free, and struggling.
One is Never Enough: I’m not good at moderation, and am no stranger alcoholism and drug use. That combined with free time has always been a recipe for disaster for me, so I’ve learned to stay busy to avoid relapse episodes. It’s come close to killing me a couple of times now.
Burnout: It’s had for me to put things down when I pick them up. It almost always leads to burnout. I have a high aptitude for most things I put my mind too, but that also means I expect more of myself than I reasonably should. It’s hard for me to say, “that’s good enough” and move on to the next thing that needs my attention.
Passing Judgement: I tend to judge people when I think they aren’t living up to their potential, when I have no idea what they have to deal with in their personal life. Can cause undo friction in personal relationship, or prevent a productive relationship from forming at all.

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5 Contrasting Wins:

Mental Health: My brain is wired so that when I have an interest in something, I don’t stop until I have an above conversational level of understanding. This is what drove me to be, in my short life, a journeyman electrician, a systems engineer with several industry certifications, and now a fitness photographer doing standout work.
Money: Not focusing on the money aspect so much helps me to embrace other opportunities such as education and outreach. Doing things you don’t necessarily get paid for, but help promote you as a byproduct.
Money: I’ve found passions that exclude habits like drugs and alcohol, to help fill that void and keep me happy. Bodybuilding was a big one, but business ownership is another one. Its impossible to keep a business afloat, especially early on, if you aren’t careful. Plus I LOVE what I do, and do want to risk giving it up just for a weekend of indulging.
Burnout: When I choose to “burnout” on specific things that I not only enjoy, but help me earn a living, it doesn’t feel like burnout. Yea I have rough weeks where it seems like maybe I’m only doing the sucky part of the job, but it never lasts long. The work I have ahead is something I look forward to. So the result of burnout now takes the form now “I’m not doing anything today, I’m just going to play video games for 12 hours straight or binge watch some stupid show that seemed interesting”
Judgement: I struggle to think of a friend that I have who isn’t doing something with their life. All of my friends are essential high performance individuals, or on their way to becoming one because that’s what they want to do. So its rare that I have a question, or need advice, that I can’t go to a friend with.

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Circled Contrasting Win (to use this week): Mental Health

Hook Activity: Write 3 Curiosity Loop Hooks:

Copy to Chat GPT: Write me 10 curiosity loop hooks, make 5 of them personal, make all of them contrast the audience's baseline belief with this new reality using this story: INSERT YOUR CONTRASTING WIN HERE

DO NOT COPY AND PASTE HOOKS FROM CHAT GPT THESE HOOKS MUST HAVE YOUR VOICE. IF THEY DON’T, YOUR AUDIENCE CAN TELL

If you think dope photos come from better cameras or more expensive gear, that aint it.

Your photos look just like everyone else’s, and it’s not your physique that’s the problem

Stop trying to be so balanced and well rounded, my entire life changed when I stopped doing that.

Day 1

Then explain in at least 3 lines of text your visual concept for this reel and the emotion you want to evoke.

(Hook)If you think dope photos come from better cameras or more expensive gear, that ain’t it.

(Visuals)

All of my expensive gear laid out for the viewer to see

Cut to me adjusting camera settings, looking into camera and saying “That’s aint it”

(Voiceover)

You’re focusing on all the wrong things, and I’ll tell you why. I get to shoot fitness at a level most people couldn’t dream of reaching. And none of that came from spending more money.

(Visuals)

Clips of me at desk/editing/lighting setups

Clips of shooting an athlete (high level) with interaction

(Voiceover)

Truth is, I have a superpower that a lot of you probably do too. I can’t stand stopping at “Good Enough”. For the same reason your family says you don’t need to go to the gym anymore, I can’t stop learning about my own craft.

(Visuals)

Adjusting Poses very specifically

Athlete making small changes that look noticeably better.

(Voiceover)

So no, it’s not the gear. It’s my obsession with making you look incredible.

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