Max Joseph, a filmmaker celebrated for MTV’s Catfish and the documentary Bookstores, dives into the art of storytelling in a competitive landscape. He shares insights on the challenges of documentary filmmaking and how he’s redefining happiness through his latest project, HAPPINESS. The conversation touches on the joys and struggles of reading, including when to quit a book, and the significance of connecting with classic literature. Joseph also reflects on the creative process and the exhilarating journey of transforming personal stories into impactful narratives.
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Reading Habit
Max Joseph, inspired by Tim Urban's life expectancy chart, realized his limited reading time.
This prompted him to re-establish a reading habit, prioritizing 30 minutes each morning with fiction.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Morning Fiction, Evening Non-Fiction
Read fiction in the morning to ease into the day and avoid reactive emotions from news or emails.
Non-fiction is better suited for evenings when seeking solutions or self-improvement.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
The 100-Page Rule
Give every book 100 pages minus your age before deciding to quit.
This helps maximize reading time by abandoning uninteresting books early.
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In 'Mastery', Robert Greene argues that mastery is not an innate talent but a skill that can be developed through a rigorous process. The book outlines several key stages: finding your life's task, undergoing an ideal apprenticeship, finding the right mentor, acquiring social intelligence, and fusing intuitive with rational thinking. Greene draws on the lives of historical and contemporary masters such as Mozart, Einstein, and Temple Grandin to illustrate his points. He emphasizes the importance of deep practice, self-directed learning, and the ability to read and navigate social dynamics. The book challenges the conventional notion of genius as a genetic gift and offers practical steps for anyone to achieve mastery in their chosen field.
You may know Max Joseph from MTV’s show Catfish, which he co-hosted for 7 seasons, or from his movie We Are Your Friends which starred Zac Efron. Max’s latest project is a docuseries called HAPPINESS, in which Max is trying to crack the code on the philosophy, science, and secrets behind true happiness. In this Part 1 conversation, Ryan and Max talk about the challenges of documentary filmmaking, relearning to love reading, when to quit a book, how to make the most of literary classics and more.
The Daily Stoic 
