Rating: 5/10
Matthew McConaugheyâs Greenlights is a rare Hollywood memoir, filled with deeply personal and intriguing stories that offer a genuine glimpse into who he really is.
Unfortunately, however, McConaughey comes across as self-centred, with an inflated sense of self-worth. His (frankly, major) character flaws and unresolved traumas are evident, yet he interprets them as âGreenlights,â Southern charm, and âoutlawâ behaviour.
Despite that, the audiobook remains very engaging, thanks to McConaugheyâs unwaveringly expressive narration. There are also some insightful quotes throughout, particularly on his unique brand of stoicism and performance culture:
- The question we need to ask ourselves is: what is success to us? More money? That’s fine. A healthy family? A happy marriage? Helping others? To be famous? Spiritually sound? To express ourselves? To create art? To leave the world a better place than we found it?
What is success to me? Continue to ask yourself that question. How are you prosperous? What is your relevance?
Your answer may change over time and that’s fine but do yourself this favor â whatever your answer is, don’t choose anything that would jeopardize your soul. Prioritize who you are, who you want to be, and don’t spend time with anything that antagonizes your character. Don’t depend on drinking the Kool-Aid â it’s popular, tastes sweet today, but it will give you cavities tomorrow.
Life is not a popularity contest. Be brave, take the hill. But first answer the question. - We all have scars, we gonna have more. Rather than struggle against time and waste it, letâs dance with time and redeem it. Cause we donât live longer when we try not to die. We live longer when we are too busy living.
- When we mentally give a person, place, or point in time more credit than ourselves, we create a fictitious ceiling. A restriction over the expectations that we have over our own performance in that moment. We get tense. We focus on the outcome instead of the activity and we miss the doing of the deed. We either think the world depends on the result or it’s too good to be true. But it doesn’t and it isn’t. And it’s not our right to believe it does or is.
Don’t create imaginary constraints. [âŚ]
If we stay and process within ourselves, in the joy of the doing, we will never choke at the finish line. Why? Because we’re not thinking of the finish line. We’re not looking at the clock. Weâre not watching ourselves on the Jumbotron performing. We are performing in real time where the approach is the destination. - I never wrote things down to remember; I always wrote things down so I could forget.
- Persist, pivot, or concede. Itâs up to us, our choice every time.
- Sometimes which choice you make is not as important as making a choice and commiting to it.
- It is not about win or lose, it is about do you accept the challenge
- Sometimes we donât need advice. Sometimes we just need to hear weâre not the only one.