Today, I want to share three principles from improv theater that you can apply directly in real life to get things moving again when you feel stuck and at the very least to help you have a bit more fun while you're figuring things out. Hey, it's Luca and welcome to the Luca Savati podcast. I'm especially excited about today's conversation because acting has always been my passion. I discovered it at a very young age and from the very beginning it was a way for me to express ideas to go on these cool adventures and to create fun stories. I remember back in the days with my sister we would invent these cool stories together and turn them into plays and then perform them for our parents. And I'm talking fullon performances. My parents would be sitting there for an entire evening watching us play everything out. And looking back, I kind of appreciate them even more because they could have easily watched a good TV show instead. I also remember being at school and as soon as there was creative time I would be off drawing, building stuff, but most of the time I'd be grabbing a bunch of kids for my class and we would disappear into a story. I mean, we would be in outer space on the ocean living in these fantasy worlds where everything was possible. And most of those stories didn't even make sense. I mean, like at all. And that's exactly the point. We weren't thinking. We weren't planning. We were just in it. And without really trying, we created these amazing stories that took us from one magical place to another. I knew I wanted to take acting more seriously. So later in life, I joined classes and that included improv and of course I was like, "Yeah, sure. I got this covered. I mean, I've been doing this all my life." And so I was confident, but the moment I got on stage, I felt something was different. I wasn't free anymore. I was self-aware. I was aware that this was an improv class, so no script. I went on stage thinking that I had to perform. I had to be funny. I had to make people laugh. And so I felt a pressure building. And I felt I had to make this work or I was failing. And every one of those thoughts got me even more stuck, more blocked. And honestly, it sucked because I love acting and now I felt like I was performing and failing. And so, looking back, these classes were teaching me something important. I had to let go of the beliefs that I was bringing onto the stage. And so I learned the improv principles that didn't just change how I showed up on stage, but also changed how I show up in life, especially in those moments where things feel kind of stuck. So from all the improv principles, I chose these three specifically because they will not just help you move forward. they will also add a bit more fun to life. So the first principle is not about being clever. It's not about being right or being perfect. At its core, it's about accepting what's already there and then adding something small on top of that. We're talking about the yes and principle. And this one is often misunderstood. People think it means being positive or agreeing with everything, but that's not what this is. Yes, simply means accepting what's there by being present and not by what you wish was there or what should have happened or what was supposed to be, just what's actually happening right now. That's the yes part. The second part of the yes and principle is where ownership comes in. It's where you add something from yourself. Your next move. Every time we say but we stop the conversation even before it starts. And on stage that looks really obvious. The energy drops. The scene starts to drag. actors start struggling because it's very hard to build on a butt. And that's no different in life. A butt gets us to overthink, to wait. It gets us stuck in our head. We might make beautiful plans, but what's a good plan if we don't put it to action? Now, this is important. Saying yes does not mean that you suddenly have to say yes to everything or that you have to lose your boundaries. At some point I thought that I would have a year of yes and I have to admit it was fun for a while especially in the beginning I got out of my comfort zone and it also started to drain me. My agenda was filling up. I was rushing from one thing to the next. And I have to admit, I didn't finish that year. It was just too much. And I realized it's not about saying yes more often. It's about being more intentional about which yeses actually matter. Now, I know I tend to default to yes, but more often than I'd like to admit, so I'm still working on this. If someone comes up with an idea, my default reaction would be something like, "Yes, but I I already have a busy weekend or yes, but I also wanted to do this or that." And I know I'm not doing this on purpose. It's just that I noticed it's become my default response. And in this case, it makes sense because I'm trying to protect my time, which is good, but it also limits my experiences. So, I try to catch myself and reframe the butt, which protects me from discomfort into a yes, which invites more options. Now, I'm curious, what's your default response? And what would happen if you would try this principle in your life? All right, the next principle is usually phrased as make your partner look good. And I know this can sound a bit confusing, especially if you're thinking, wait, what? I am the one being stuck and it's not about the other person. It's about me. Well, that's exactly the point. This principle isn't really about someone else. It's about where your attention goes, about what or who you're pulling into the spotlight. In improv, when you're focused on making yourself look good, you're not being very present. You're monitoring yourself. You're planning ahead, thinking about the next line, next joke, the move, and then the scene starts to feel heavy, fake, and forced because you stepped out of participation and into performance. You're kind of making it about you. And for me, when I felt stuck or unsure, it was because I was busy watching myself being stuck, giving it a name, giving it a label. And the more I put that spotlight on me and my stuckness, the harder it got. It could also look like me comparing myself to other people where they were in their life and then judging myself for being where I was instead of just being kind to myself and seeing that where I was was actually a new starting point. This kind of self-focus is exhausting. So instead, this improv principle invites us to look outward. So when improv says make your partner look good, what it can mean in real life is actually stop making this about you. Not by disappearing or pleasing others or by giving up your boundaries, but by shifting from what should I do to what does this moment need from me? That question keeps ownership with you. It requires presence and ownership at the same time. Stuckness isn't always about not having options or not knowing what your next move is. It's about being trapped in self-focus. And the moment you move your attention outward, you move the spotlight somewhere else, you start noticing things that you weren't seeing before. So this third principle almost sounds too simple and at the same time it can be the biggest challenge in the context of life. So here it is. There are no mistakes only opportunities. And I know this can sound a bit naive or cliche because of course there are mistakes. Mistakes exist. You know you can say the wrong thing. You can make a choice that didn't work. But in improv, the moment you start labeling things as mistakes, the scene will freeze and maybe even collapse. So instead, improv works with this idea. Whatever just happened is now part of the scene. This goes from I messed up to okay, this is what's here now. What can I do with it? That's opportunity. And maybe you've heard about the idea of a fixed and a growth mindset. And if not, don't worry. Basically, a fixed mindset is when we believe that what happened says something final about us, about who we are, about our abilities, about whether we're good enough. When we're in a fixed mindset, failures are seen as proof that we're not capable. A growth mindset will look at the same situation with different questions like what can I learn from this? What are the opportunities? And this connects directly to the improv principle because the moment you see something as a mistake, we slip into a fixed mindset. And then our brain of course will try to find proof for whatever we believe. So if we believe that we failed, we'll start finding evidence to support that belief. And even though I believe I have a growth mindset most of the time, I sometimes catch myself slipping into a fixed mindset when I'm tired or in the middle of the night. You know those moments when you wake up during the night and suddenly a thought pops up? Thoughts about things that didn't go very well. Moments that you wish you handled differently. Replaying conversations, rehearsing what you should have said instead or how you wanted things to go. And that loop just keeps going. And before you know it, it's morning and nothing changed. nothing solved. All the solutions you came up with don't matter anyway because the moment is in the past. And so you didn't change anything. The only thing that changed is your mood because now you're tired. And not only didn't you not change anything, you now don't have the energy to deal with whatever the next day is going to bring. That's the fixed mindset at work. The improv principle doesn't mean pretending nothing went wrong. It means working with what is and taking it from there. Once you stop seeing things as mistakes, you can actually zoom out and you know look for what they offer. All these three principles are really pointing to the same thing. They're not about performing better. They're not about getting it right. They're not about fixing yourself. They're about staying in relationship with the moment that you're in. Yes. And asks you to stop arguing with reality and take ownership of what's actually there. Make your partner look good will shift your attention away from yourself and back into presence by asking, "What does this moment need from me?" And no mistakes, only opportunities will keep you moving even when you don't have it all figured out. Together, they can help you find your next move. And that next move doesn't have to be big, bold, or brave. It just has to be real. That's true on stage, and it's true in life. That's it. That's what I wanted to share with you today. I'd love to hear what principle you are going to try first. And if this episode made you think of someone you care about, share it with them and tell them you care about them. I'm Luca and I'm looking forward to seeing you in our next conversation.