McConaughey illustrated this principle with a story from his first film, Dazed and Confused. Rewatching it years later, he noticed two scenes where his character Wooderson shouldn't have appeared — including one where Wooderson exits screen left, then comes back to check if anyone wanted to join him. 'When Wooderson leaves, Wooderson's gone,' McConaughey explained. 'He doesn't stutter step, flinch, rewind, ask twice.' But as a young actor getting $325 a day, he'd wanted more screen time and said yes to everything. The lesson: knowing where you shouldn't be is the first step to knowing where you should. By eliminating the people, places, and habits that don't serve you, what's truly important naturally rises to the surface.