Meet Mauricio Botero Ruiz

We recently connected with Mauricio Botero Ruiz and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mauricio , appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?

This is a question that has been very difficult to answer in recent years because it is something that I always chased but I felt eluded me for a very long time. The short answer would be being aware that self-discipline is, at least for me, the opposite of motivation. Understanding that self-discipline is built through a strong mindset and consistent small habits was something that took me around 5 years to learn through educating myself on the topic through books, videos, and trial and error.

It started when I was studying for a Master’s Degree in Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I was very excited to be there learning art and animation from my instructors, but I had a problem: I didn’t have any discipline or consistency in my work. At the time I didn’t give it too much thought and I assumed it was because I needed to be inspired to work (aka motivated), but later I realized it was because I didn’t have a clear headspace. I was delivering my assignments, but I was never satisfied with my performance, even when I was having a passing grade. Then I started to wonder if my mental health had something to do with my weak performance, something that before I thought were unrelated.

I started to pay closer attention to my mental health, and I started to read what some people call “motivational books”. I learned about the meaning of motivation and self-discipline, and I started to watch daily inspirational videos to have a head start on my days. However, while I was reading more and more books, I realized that my performance was connected with my mental well-being, and that it will suffer as long as I don’t have clarity in my head. So, I started a journey of self-reflection that took around 5 years (and is still going). While educating myself on mental health and how to get a clear headspace, being self-disciplined seemed to be easier throughout time. I developed a system first in my last year at SCAD, and later in my first job at The Third Floor.

During my time working on multiple projects at The Third Floor such as Loki (Season 1) and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, I evolved this system to accommodate a production environment, which allowed me to grow as an artist and keep improving my self-discipline. This is a system that later I turned into a syllabus course that I teach sometimes as a mentor in the WIA Circles Mentorship. The basic idea is that to build self-discipline, first it is important to build small habits that are easy to follow to create consistency and momentum. After getting this momentum, it is all about keeping this momentum while staying out of your comfort zone by challenging yourself and avoiding distractions at all costs. One of my favorite quotes is by the tennis instructor Timothy Galloway in his book “The Inner Game of Tennis”, which says: “Performance is equal to potential minus interference”. If the distraction wins, the performance will suffer. So naturally by slowly reducing the distractions such as entertainment on the Internet, video games, and movies, my performance was greatly increased. Also, tennis being a second passion for me I could deeply relate to this quote.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

At this stage of my career, I’m investing time in honing my craft while the visual effects industry starts to pick up momentum again. It’s very important for me to keep learning and improving my art through books, watching instructional videos, and practicing my animation skills by doing animations. I follow a flexible but effective schedule that allows me to spend time working on my mental health, my physical health, and my professional growth as an artist. The current project I’m working on is to level up my animation demo reel to reflect my current skill.

After being hired in 2020, I spent most of my time trying to break into the visual effects industry while growing as a previs artist. I learned a lot about cinematography and previs animation, however I didn’t have enough time to spend on my character performance skills so currently I’m spending a good amount of time learning about acting and creating personal animation to show the new skills I’m learning.

For me it is very important to be consistent throughout my days and keep myself focused on the task at hand. To be able to do it, I follow a schedule that I created with the intention to increase my concentration level to avoid distractions, which are much easier to fall into when I don’t have a fixed work schedule by an employer. Reading has also become a key component of my daily routine, and it has helped me to keep my momentum regardless of my feelings.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that has been the most impactful in my journey has been:

1) Reading
2) Patience
3) Resilience

I believe reading has impacted me the most throughout my journey because it allows me to get inside the head of the people who came before me and are willing to share their knowledge. It allows me to have a different perspective on some of the topics that I didn’t have the chance to learn while growing up, or I’m not satisfied with the mindset that is fixed in my brain. It allows me to grow and keep an open mind, which in the long term helps my creativity and my critical thinking.

Additionally, patience has been (and still is) very important to me because every time that I try to rush something to happen, simply it doesn’t happen in a way that benefits me, and it just keeps me worried if I lack patience. it keeps my mental health on check and is a reminder that everything good happens in due time. However, it’s different to have patience and to be waiting. Patience includes taking small daily action, to be waiting is giving up to our negative emotions and hope for a miracle to happen. Another of my favorite quotes is by James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”, which is: “Guilt lives in the past, worry in the future, and peace in the present” (shared on his weekly newsletter). Living in the present is hard, but when I root in my patience muscles, I’m able to let go both the past and the future for a moment and find peace, which allows me to concentrate more easily in the task at hand.

Lastly, patience can’t be possible without resilience because being resilient means to not giving up regardless the circumstances. It has been very hard at times to be resilient but is a very important quality to have today if I want to keep moving forward and see all my dreams come true one day.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When I feel overwhelmed, I usually take a walk, do a workout, or read. It helps me to refocus and feel a degree of achievement on my days. Also, whenever I can I try to attend social events or go to a coffee shop. These activities relax me because when I’m around people I can feel there is life around me, and that can fill my energy. I don’t need to interact with the people who are around me (but I’m always happy to), but just to feel that there is life around me. People who are most likely going through similar problems and come to these events or to drink a coffee to feel connected with other people while fighting the overwhelming emotions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mauthorn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maurobotero92/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maubotero/