There’s a ton of research around how setting habits can help us conserve energy because it reduces the number of decisions we have to make in a day. However, not all habits are created equal and so we’ve asked our community to tell us about the habits they have been most effective for them.

Edmund Velasco | American Federation of Musicians Local 7 President (Orange County, Long Beach)

One of the most important aspects of my job is listening. When you are trying to find out what issues people have with their work, you have to hear what they say, not just agree or disagree. When you let people talk, they will tell you what motivates them to do what they do. They will also tell you what obstacles they face and how it makes it hard for them to do their jobs. Although I was a musicians with a full-time job at a theme park for almost three decades, I was also doing freelance work on the side. You have to in order to make ends meet in LA. This constant struggle to make a living as a musician has been made worse by laws that have targeted musicians directly. When other musicians find out that their struggles are not unique and that if we stand together, we can work in concert to improve our situation. Read more>>

Raymond Tavares | Actor

I think the habit of always making people laugh helped me in general not even success. I’ve always wanted to make the world laugh but the constant habit of even in dark times making someone smile just help me to keep going and push through my own darkness. Through that I have met some wonderful people and taken chances making others laugh that did help my career in acting. I received my first principal role in “Detroit” jus sticking to that habit of making everyone on set have a good time and laugh, blessed me to get that. Read more>>

Brian Ruberry | Screenwriter, Dad, Husband

Perseverance. It took me 40 years to sell a script. Basically, 40 years of rejection. But every rejection was motivation to prove them wrong. The majority of writers face years of rejection. The ones who succeed are not necessarily the most talented, but the ones who keep going in the face of diversity. Read more>>