Matt Damon's 5-Word Mantra Is All You Need To Feel Inspired And Motivated

I am so pumped for "Jason Bourne" you guys, and so is Matt Damon of course. He recently did an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit where he talked all things tacos, hot dogs, "The Martian" and, most importantly, career advice.

Look, it's rare to get authentic advice straight from a star like Damon. During his AMA, a user asked: "What is the best advice you've been given?"

His awesome (and pretty lengthy) response reveals his awesome mantra that has kept him going in his career no matter what was going down.

He says,

My high school acting teacher Gerry Speca had a huge influence on me and Ben and Casey. Five words he said 'Just do your work, kid' and he repeated that so many times to me. 'Just do your work, kid.' And that is kind of what I can always retreat to. That's my touchstone if, when in doubt, just focus on my work. If everything on the movie is going wrong, alright, I'll make sure that my work is tight and go from there. And that's a great place to base from, and that's a good foundation.

No matter what, hard work will pay off in one way or another. I mean, it did for Damon. Obviously, it's easier said than done. Damon is someone who has been working at this career since high school. That's a long time. It's not like he woke up at 25 and decided to have a career in acting.

But that' wasn't his only piece of advice. Damon also talks about advice he was given when starting out and why he gives the same advice to people who ask him:

When I was younger, everybody told me not to be an actor, and to this day I say that to people who come up to me and say 'I'm thinking of going into acting, what do you think?' I say 'Absolutely not, it's a terrible idea, don't do it' ... I think that if you're gonna make it in this business that is so full of rejection and hardship, you need to believe in yourself despite what everybody you love and trust tells you. And it's a very personal journey, so that was very helpful. I think, you know, the advice to stay away from this career was really helpful in my own understanding that it was that important that I pursue it.

I guess that's great advice when it comes to not taking other people's advice. Damon is right, you have to believe in yourself and really trust your gut. There's so much power in being persistent.

So now when you go watch "Jason Bourne" this weekend, you'll probably be thinking a little bit about how Damon even got to star in incredible franchises like that.