Matthew McConaughey: I think everyone has an innate quest to be a little better, be a little more true to themselves. And I think, you know, we have to disseminate what kind of green lights we’re looking for. So where it’s either been divinely written and where we’re responsible, where our hands are on the wheel, but God’s laying out the highway or, you know, when that pavement is put. It’s also a guide to catching more greenlights - and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green, too. ©2020 Matthew McConaughey (P)2020 Random House Audio.

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No one knows Matthew McConaughey like Matthew McConaughey. But now, the world has the chance to know him as he knows himself, thanks to 'Greenlights,' the actor's love letter to life that hit shelves Tuesday.

The Oscar winner didn't aim to write a memoir, he tells USA TODAY, though the book has many of the same elements and is told chronologically, with a narrative backstory following the 50 years of his life so far.

Like its author, the book has come a long way — and hasn't, at the same time. McConaughey planned to use a ghost writer, a journalist who he had worked with in the past, but the arrangement fell through.

'When he got off the project, I was like, 'Oh, I've got to do this,' McConaughey tells USA TODAY, noting that he had to let go of any preconceived notions of what the book would be as he went through his journals, starting the project in the cabin he was conceived in. He originally thought the project would be a back-pocket book that could be pulled out for 'wisdom bombs,' but it morphed into much more.

McConaughey's own story is arguably more interesting than any character's he has embodied on the silver screen over the decades. And he didn't write it because he is a celebrity, he explains.

'I remember writing this down: 'The words on this page need to be worthy of being signed by anonymous but also be words that only I could have written,' he says. 'And that was sort of my North Star of what I wanted it to be.'

McConaughey has released a book that looks back to look forward, highlighting the philosophy of 'Greenlights,' which say to us 'go — advance, carry on, continue,' similar to a green light at an intersection. Likewise, yellow means pause and red means stop. McConaughey delves into how he has identified these signals in his life and how he uses them to move forward — the green lights, along with red and yellow, which might indicate a lesson or a time to change or grow.

'I had been threatening, daring myself to go open my treasure chest of diaries for the past 15 years but never had the courage to do it,' he says. The milestone of hitting 50 was good encouragement.

It was time, he decided, to reflect on lessons learned, relearned and revisited.

In digging into his past, he learned something about himself: While he has evolved, he remains interested in the same things he was interested in at age 14. 'I was always intrigued by being the head investigator and head interrogator on who I am and what is life about? And what am I doing in it? And then that led to what are we doing in it? What is it all about? Where do we put value? What matters to us and when?”

He's found some answers over the years and his questions have developed, but the subject matter — his interest in the riddle of life — hasn't changed. He's found that 'life is a verb' and there is no real arrival. That realization helps him enjoy life even more.

While McConaughey learned about his own essence in the writing process, readers will learn even more about the actor himself. His audience is taken down memory lane in every direction, getting an intimate look at his upbringing, education — in school and outside of it — and life as an actor, among other things.

Sharing that kind of intimate detail was something McConaughey was ready to do, he says.

'It's quite freeing,' he says, noting he's laid it all out. 'I haven't made straight As in life the whole way through, and I'm glad. I've made some Cs — I've probably learned the most when I made the Cs.'

The most important thing, he says, is to continue on the 'chase' of life — and that 'isn't always pretty.'

'I tried to give context to everything [in the book] and be very self-effacing about when I was on it, when I was off it, when I thought I had it, when I dropped it. But I stayed in it, [kept] recalibrating,' he says, pointing out how important it is to continuously check in with ourselves.

And a 50-year look-back is a big check in.

'I did a huge amount of laughing with myself when writing, I did a huge amount of crying — most of my tears came from being able to go back and feel the love that my family had that my mom and dad had for each other, that they had for us.'

He shares striking moments between his parents throughout the book: The twice-divorced, thrice-married couple had a fight that turned bloody but ended with them making love; his mom went on extended vacations that turned out to be divorce; his father later died while having sex with his mother.

McConaughey then shares how his father's death in his early 20s, a 'red light' event, impacted him. It turns out that the red light, which can make you stop and reassess, had green-light elements: His father's passing forced him to grow up, as the father who seemed above the law was no longer there to look out for him.

He shares intimate details of his relationship with his mother and with his brothers — coming-of-age stories and fights they had with their father (which included wrestling).

And he also shares details about his relationship with his wife, Camila Alves, with whom he shares three children, one of whom prompted him to marry Alves by asking a series of intensely honest questions children are so known for. It started with one question from his son, Levi: 'Why isn't Momma a McConaughey?' McConaughey quotes his son asking in the book. His answers were met with follow-up questions about why they didn't marry, and finally one that made McConaughey think: 'Are you afraid to?'

'I think the reason [I shared those] is that those stories of discipline or consequence were so human and they were moments when the love was most tested,' he says.

Love was always going to win.

'Our family was never going to be punctuated,' McConaughey says.

McConaughey's voice, familiar to many from flicks like 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days,' 'Dallas Buyers Club' and 'The Lincoln Lawyer,' among others, is almost audible as one reads the text. But if a reader wants to take it one step further, McConaughey created an accompanying audiobook, which, in my own reading experience, works well in tandem with the book to offer a fuller experience, a deeper look at McConaughey in his own voice.

At its core, 'Greenlights' serves as a resume on his way to his eulogy. 'What story do we each want to introduce us after we're gone?' he asks. 'Well, let's work towards that story that we want, knowing that the headline is going to change.'

But if he were to have a eulogy written about him now, it would go something like this:

'He was at home in the world. Loved being a father — had the most reverence for fatherhood — incredible reverence for fatherhood — believes that that's the greatest job for a man in the world,' he says. '[And] if God loves a trier, then he loves you McConaughey, because you sure tried.'

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'It's quite freeing': Matthew McConaughey lays soul bare in unconventional 'Greenlights'

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'There are three things that I need each day. One, I need something to look up to, another to look forward to, and another is someone to chase.' - Oscar acceptance speech by Matthew McConaughey.

This amazing actor published his memoir / biography last year - 'Greenlights'. 'Coz he's turned 50 and wants to share his poems, aphorisms or ‘bumper stickers’ on living life. He compiled his journals (started at the age of 14) and wrote the entire book in 52 days.

McConaughey starts the book by diving deep into the title of his book and explains the metaphor of greenlights means.

He believes that “a greenlight is being kind to our future self. It’s things in our life that affirm our way, they say ‘go, proceed, more, please carry on.’

While yellow and red lights make us slow down in life — they can be crisis, hardship, intervention, interruption.”

He explains further “The verb of the greenlight metaphor is really in the yellow light, meaning you have the choice to slow down and stop and let it become a red light, which sometimes we need to do in life when we need to have some introspection.'

Finally, he says, “I found all the red and yellow lights in life revealed themselves to have at least a greenlight asset in the future. They have a lesson in them that we were supposed to learn.

Any hardship, any pause we took, any intervention, interruption… they have greenlight assets that will be revealed to us later.”

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McConaughey adds, “Red and yellow lights eventually turn green in the rearview mirror.”

McConaughey gives many life lessons in this book. These are 8 life lessons I picked up.

1. Push yourself to take calculated risks:

McConaughey starred in a series of romantic comedies in the 1990s and this became his brand and made him rich. However, he realized he is not getting personal growth and wanted to change professions to become a teacher, a musician or a football coach. He called his financial manager, made calculations and then called his agent and told him he would not be doing any more romantic comedies, knowing the risk of never getting calls from any Hollywood producer ever. He unbranded himself.

20 months later, he finally started to receive offers for serious, author-backed roles that set him on the path to his Oscar. He had gambled and successfully pivoted his brand to a serious actor - which would never have been happened without the complete break.

He says, “I went through an unbranding phase to then rebrand. Again, process of elimination. I wasn't able to do or become what I wanted to become, but I did choose to say, ‘Well, I'm going to stop doing what I've been doing.’”

Think- are you happy with where you are and what you are doing? Can you take a calculated risk and rebrand yourself/ take a pivot? Are you moving forwards and learning something new or just happy with the comfort you have today?

2. Live A Big Life ( Not Necessarily With Big Stuff )

At the height of his superstardom and Hollywood money, Matthew McConaughey enjoyed living in an airstream caravan and travelled across the US with his dog. Whenever the fame and money clouded his judgement, he travelled with minimal possessions to far flung places. Like the best poets, he chose experiences and adventures over an extended period of luxury.

He takes self imposed sabbaticals to write and he puts his family and his spirituality first before material possession. It's inspiring to see someone with so much material wealth still lead a simple yet big life, one tied to values.

The next time you feel you need to buy a car or that new gadget, try and think back to your last purchase and your last holiday/break/adventure. Which made you happier and clear headed?

3. ‘Don’t half-ass it’

When Matthew McConaughey called his father from law school and said he wanted to be an actor instead, his father gave his blessing and said, ‘Don’t half-ass it’. This answer shocked the actor but he followed this maxim thereafter. He went all-in. The book covers several real-life interview tips and tricks as Matthew worked smart and hard to make his own path in the acting world. He went all-in.

This applied even to his lifestyle; music; foundation work; travel; choosing a life partner and bringing up his family.

He shows us how to go all -in on something - no point doing half the work or giving up early. If you fail, it shouldn't be because you failed to try.

4. Create your own greenlights.

A big point in this book is : Sometimes you have to take charge and guide your own way.

As McConaughey says, “I created a lot of the greenlights by taking responsibility today, which created freedom for me tomorrow.

I made decisions today, and sometimes even sacrifices, that teed me up for more pleasure or more of what I wanted tomorrow.”

However, he acknowledges in a Stoic way that sometimes things just go your way - you have to accept it and do one of three things - 1. Accept and give up ; 2. Accept but find a way to pivot and do it ; 3. Learn something from it and make it into a new opportunity.

5. Find your frequency.

This one is easily my favourite. No matter what, staying true to yourself and who you are. We often find ourselves lost and directionless/ easily overwhelmed in life, just like the actor himself was. He broke out of those ruts by choosing travel, solitude, writing and introspection. He tried to understand time and again 'who he was' at that point in his life and what felt true to him.

I'll share a direct quote from 'Greenlights' that explains it.

McConaughey believes that “we all have the feeling when we’re on frequency when our relationships are going well — with our career, our selves, our God. We’re in the flow, we’re not going too fast, we’re in the flow of traffic, in our lane in our zone. What we give out to the world is what is returned to us. But that doesn't last forever and we get in a rut, and we’re off frequency.”

One way to get back in line, he says, is not to “put the pressure on what you want, just get rid of the stuff that we know isn't feeding our true selves by process of elimination — those people, places, things, habits that give us a proverbial hangover the next day.”

He goes on to say that defining who you’re not is key to finding out who you are.

He says, “If you get rid of enough things that don't feed you, aren’t giving you residuals, or teeing up green lights in your future, by sheer mathematics, you'll have more options in front of you that do feed your true self and will feed the greenlights in your future.”

The lesson here for all of us is to focus on who and what we want to become and remove everything that isn’t adding to it, even if the road to it may seem uncertain for now.

6. Turn “can’t” into “can.”

Matthew understand the sheer magic of the life we are given and the story of our life that only we can write - he asks us all to stop limiting ourself before trying for something not done before. If you need help to do it, ask for help. If you need a mentor, find one. If you need to be resourceful and learn more about it or hustle to win, then do it. Commit to your decisions and find a way to work it out.

McConaughey says, “Growing up, can’t was considered a bad word. You got in trouble for using it.” He says, “The lesson being: You may be having trouble, but don't say you can't. If you’re unable to do it yourself, you can seek help from someone else to give you the solution, so that doesn’t mean you couldn’t.”

Think back to your unfulfilled goals - how can you say 'I can...' and work them out?

7. ‘What does my future self think about the decision I'm making now?’

As the book states, it is good to be prepared and ready, even if we don't get what we want right away. Delay immediate gratification to build a better future and catch more greenlights.

McConaughey says, “Preparation does tee us up for delayed gratification, so we avoid that Sunday night stress about what we have to do on Monday morning. It's about having a long view. In all of our decisions as adults, we’re so into immediate gratification. Let’s think about ROI, what’s the decision right now? Sometimes it might be to sacrifice now so I can get more of what I want tomorrow.”

He goes on to say, “If you can project into your future, tomorrow, next week,10 years from now, before you make these decisions, have a little chat with yourself and ask, ‘What does my future self think about the decision I'm making now?’

Our future is a compounding asset. The decisions we're making are part of that compound. As we’re writing the story and making the investments, understand that every decision will have a consequence.”

Your future success is a series of habits you inculcate today - what are you building? It's often as simple as saying no to going out/ watching another TV series to write an article of 1000+ words ( like I did with this one.....)

Matthew Mcconaughey Greenlights Book

8. Do you want that extra zero? Define what success means to you.

What is the larger point of our life? What does success and legacy mean to you? How many more zeroes do you need in your bank account /paycheck to say it's enough. When do you choose to work in a way that builds others around you too?

“The question we need to ask ourselves is: what is success to us? More money? That's fine. A healthy family? A happy marriage? Helping others? To be famous? Spiritually sound? To express ourselves? To create art? To leave the world a better place than we found it?'

What is success to me? Continue to ask yourself that question. How are you prosperous? What is your relevance?

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Your answer may change over time and that's fine but do yourself this favor – whatever your answer is, don't choose anything that would jeopardize your soul.

Prioritize who you are, who you want to be, and don't spend time with anything that antagonizes your character. Don't depend on drinking the Kool-Aid – it's popular, tastes sweet today, but it will give you cavities tomorrow.

Life is not a popularity contest. Be brave, take the hill. But first answer the question.”

I loved reading 'The Greenlights' and it has got me to revise a lot of what I thought 2021 would be about. Here's hoping you can pick up this roller coaster of a book too.

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Hey this is Annesha! Ninja at reading difficult stuff and writing it in an easy way. Also make videos occasionally as AskAnnie.

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