It's so easy to get caught up with one’s goals and desires that one forgets to enjoy the actual process of achieving them. It's taken me a while to fully realize this but the journey really is as important as the destination. Sometimes the journey itself is the real reward, but we're so focused on finishing it and arriving at the end that we don't recognize it as such.

With future projects, I'll do my best to savor the process instead of impatiently yearning for the result. I'll try my best to enjoy doing, instead of having done.

My third feature-length script, the one I'm writing in my UCLA Master class, is taking shape the way my feature scripts usually do -- through alternating bouts of exhilaration and worry. This time, however, I have two extra challenges to deal with.

One challenge is a deadline. We each need to have a complete draft by June, which is when the class ends, and then we’re given all summer to do rewrites before the script is sent out to agents.

The other challenge is self-imposed: I can’t allow myself to be overly influenced by the feedback I receive from my instructor and classmates. That might sound dumb and arrogant, since the whole point of a writing workshop is to exchange feedback with others, but that’s not why I signed up for the class. I signed up to get access to agents.

I think receiving honest, constructive feedback from trusted peers is important, but I like to wait until a draft is complete before that happens. I don’t want to talk about or share my work before that. I have to maintain the integrity of the story I have in mind and can’t allow anyone to derail it, no matter how good their intentions.

The danger of workshopping a script (or short story or novel) is that you can kill a good idea with premature feedback, because many good ideas need time to grow and mature before they show their true value. You can cripple your creativity by listening to people who don’t share your vision and yet have their own opinions on how your story should develop. You might never go down a certain path that could potentially take your story to great heights, simply because the idea was killed before it even had a chance to breathe.

I myself don’t give many notes to others in class due to the reasons above. I’m pretty quiet most of the time, and that’s hard for me to do because I’m usually the class clown.

I've updated the list of principles that I believe are necessary for my success. I hang this list on the wall above my desk to keep myself on the right track.

1) Have short and long term goals clearly in mind and on paper.

2) Constantly learn.

3) Acquire the necessary tools.

4) Use the knowledge and tools to practice and gain experience.

5) There's no such thing as failure as long as you don't quit.

6) Be bold; have a lot of audacity.

7) Be adventurous and take smart risks; shun excessive safety and comfort.

8) Be persistent and consistent.

9) Be strong yet flexible, and therefore unbreakable.

10) Befriend supportive people; avoid destructive people.

11) Talk less, do more.

12) Focus; eliminate distractions.

13) Regularly sharpen the mind and body like you would a pencil that grows dull with use.

14) Don't live in fear.

15) Always challenge yourself.

16) Do it today, not tomorrow.

I quit my two production company internships -- the one on the Sony lot and the one in West Hollywood. After putting in three months of quality time and labor into both jobs without receiving any pay, it became apparent that the company owners weren’t going to reward me in any way.

When I asked Andy (in West Hollywood) to read one of my scripts, he said, “Sure, just email it to me.” I was surprised at his openness and sent him my script. Five weeks later he still hadn’t read it, and it became clear that he was never going to, despite my gentle reminders. I spent over 120 hours reading their scripts, writing in-depth coverage for them, and answering their phones. And yet he wasn’t willing to spend 90 minutes looking at my script. Maybe I was asking for too much.

When I asked Patrick (on the Sony lot) to finally take me on as a paid employee, being that he was clearly pleased with my performance, he said, “I can’t afford to pay you for a job that can be done in one hour.”

“If this job can be done in one hour, then why don’t I just come in for one hour?” I asked. “Why am I coming in eight hours a day, three days a week?” Of course, he didn’t have a response for that. I told him I had to leave and find a paying job and he had the nerve to ask me to stay a couple more weeks until he found somebody else! Of course, I refused. If he really wanted me for those two extra weeks he could have paid for it. Simple as that.

Once my modest requests for help or payment were denied, I had to leave. Staying any further would only decrease my value in their eyes. I would become their bitch. So I politely walked away from both jobs.

I was naive to think that people will help me if I help them first. I keep forgetting that human decency is not a universal trait. Although my three month investment at both companies didn’t lead to any lasting industry connections or a career boost, I gained experience and learned a precious lesson: There are people out there who will try to get as much as possible from you without giving anything in return. They’re called “parasites”.

Everything that’s of great value in life comes with great difficulty. Experiences, accomplishments, relationships, and possessions of true worth are a result of struggle, heartache, and bloodshed. If something comes with ease, it will leave with ease, and is therefore ultimately worthless, because one values only what one suffers for.

There’s a price for everything, including life itself. What is death but the final price we pay for the privilege of living?

Today in the office at Sony my boss and I had a meeting with a director. A guy fresh out of college. Once the director arrived, my boss sent me to get food for everyone. The director requested turkey on wheat, lettuce and swiss cheese, no mayo or mustard. No problem.

I came back with the food. Mr. Director leafs through his sandwich and puts it down. Uh-oh, did the cafeteria guy fuck up? My boss asks Mr. Director if anything is wrong. There is. There's mustard in his sandwich. My boss gives me a look.

"I specifically told the guy to make a dry sandwich," I tell him.

Mr. Director takes a few bites and leaves the rest on the table. He talks about a couple of projects and the meeting concludes.

I'm thinking to myself, if this guy can't handle a little bit of mustard on his sandwich, how is he going to handle the hardships of directing a feature film?

If we all had to go back into the wild and fend for ourselves, or if there were ever a shortage of food, fussy eaters would die first, because it seems they’d rather go hungry than eat what's at hand.

I've made a list of principles that I believe are necessary for my success. I'll put it on my wall to keep myself on the right track.

1) Have short and long term goals clearly in mind and on paper.

2) Constantly learn.

3) Acquire the necessary tools.

4) Use the knowledge and tools to practice and gain experience.

5) There's no such thing as failure as long as you don't quit.

6) Be bold; have a lot of audacity.

7) Be adventurous and take smart risks; shun excessive safety and comfort.

8) Be persistent and consistent.

9) Befriend supportive people; avoid destructive people.

10) Be respectful and diplomatic.

11) Talk less, do more.

12) Focus; eliminate distractions.

13) Regularly sharpen the mind and body like you would a pencil that grows dull with use.

14) Don't live in fear.

15) Stand up for yourself; never let others dominate you.

16) Always challenge yourself.

17) Do it today, not tomorrow.

That's more or less how many days of conscious life you have on this planet as a fully capable adult.

If that number doesn't sound right to you, let's do the math together. First, we'll assume you'll live to be 80 years old. Second, we'll subtract 18 years of youth away from 80, because as a kid, you have little control over your own destiny. You can't really design the life that you want; not only are you legally a minor, but you lack experience, knowledge, and earning power. Third, we'll subtract the last 10 years from 80, because most people slow down considerably in that period -- the majority are even retired.

So we're left with 52 years of adult life. That's 18,980 days. Now, let's assume you sleep about eight hours a day, so you're out of commission 33% of the time. That leaves us with 12,526 days. In order to make this number easy to remember, we'll round it down to 12,500.

12,500 days, and every day, one less. That's all the time you have to do something meaningful or meaningless with your life -- to experience happiness and misery, love and hate, adventure and boredom.

It's not much time, is it?

Modern society is slowly castrating the men of the world. Media, school systems, the workplace, and goods manufacturers all socially condition men to restrain their manhood.

Men are conditioned not to be assertive when it comes to meeting and mating with women. Remember, women are proper and don't like sex. You don’t want to run the risk of sexually harassing them, because that’s illegal!

Men are conditioned not to stand up for themselves and defend their territory from other men. You don’t want to get arrested and thrown in jail, do you? If another man physically threatens you, turn your back on him and walk away, even if this makes you more vulnerable to getting your ass kicked or killed.

Men are conditioned to take shit from women even when the shit is uncalled for. Women are goddesses and therefore perfect. You must bow down to them, bend over backwards, and sometimes bend over forwards, because they have a pair of balls now and they're going to use it.

Men are conditioned to be in touch with their feminine side. Being rugged and tough is primitive and unsophisticated. You're supposed to have baby-smooth skin, be hairless, and smell like flowers. Don’t forget to wear pink.

Men are conditioned to be physically inactive. Exercise is a waste of time, because obesity is caused by genes, silly. Besides, when you're a couch potato you can watch more football and UFC on television. Now that's a manly activity!

Men are conditioned to feel guilty about their manhood and to apologize for any "inappropriate" behavior that results from it. You must ignore the way you were genetically designed and somehow fit in this modern world that is slowly making you obsolete.

How ironic. If men of previous generations had not committed the above manly “offenses”, most of us wouldn't be alive right now. The assertiveness and toughness of men, their relentless pursuit to copulate with women, and to willingly engage in physically strenuous and dangerous activities such as killing man and beast for survival, have all helped the human race endure for millennia. The very same men and women who passed the modern sexual harassment laws may not have been alive today had their male ancestors not "sexually harassed" their female ancestors.

There was a time when men had to be men. And there was a time when women liked them that way. Actually, they still do, even if some of them have forgotten it.