For the actor…
Feel like you got nothing?
Start there. Be honest. Don’t deny it.
Bring that no-thing into the rehearsal room. Make it a part of your character.
If you can have the guts to do that rather than force what you think “it should be”, then before you know it, you’ll have something. Something surprising and magical and glorious and awesome.
P.S. – This advice applies to any art form. Writing, painting, making music, etc…Perhaps any pursuit, really.
Love life. The ups and the downs.
Love yourself and others. Flaws and all.
Love what you do. Independent of reward or external validation.
If you can love like this, then you are truly free.
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.” -Jeremy Bentham
“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” -Tony Robbins
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
“Someone once asked Somerset Maughham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
“Skinner’s Law is a core tool in your fight against someday. Someday I’ll write that book. Someday I’ll start that business. Someday I’ll find that partner. Someday I’ll take that leap of faith…Stop saying someday. Someday is the enemy…Make someday today. Do the thing.” -Sahil Bloom
Once you learn the Region Beta Paradox, you then understand why we all tend to procrastinate.
The antidote to procrastination?
Try utilizing Skinner’s Law.
Which (per Sahil Bloom’s excellent post) states that:
To get yourself to do something, you need to either:
I encourage you to read Sahil’s full post. He details several ways you can hack your motivation. The key is trying out different tactics until you find the one that works best for you and your personality.
Remember, the Resistance is real. And it’s a motherf-cker. You need all the help you can to fight it.
”Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” -Albert Einstein
Einstein wasn’t only talking about money when he (supposedly) said the above quote.
Everything compounds. Relationships, health, learning, etc…according to the amount (force) and consistency (time) of effort you give it.
It’s hardest at the beginning though. When it feels like you’re making no progress.
You are.
You just started with a smaller base.
Keep going.
Don’t quit.
Otherwise, you’ll regret it. Or like Einstein advises in the second part of the quote…
“He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.”
“You have to become undeniably good at something. Nobody ever takes my advice, because it’s not the answer they wanted to hear…but I always say, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’ If you are just always thinking, ‘How can I be really good?’—people will come to you.” -Steve Martin
Stop looking for shortcuts.
Figure out what you love to do.
Strive to be the very best you can at it.
It might seem like the long way.
But it’s the right way.
And ultimately the most fulfilling way.
The playwright, director and audience all have this in common…
They can’t wait to watch actors say those lines.
Likewise, actors…
The main reason to do the play is you can’t wait to say those lines.
It’s true you can’t entirely judge the book (or the movie or the album or the play) by the cover (or the poster).
But it’s a helluva clue.
About the creator’s taste and attention to detail for the art you’re about to experience.
“Even if you’re not self-employed, your boss is you. You manage your career, your day, your responses. You manage how you sell your services and your education and the way you talk to yourself. Odds are, you’re doing it poorly…There are few good books on being a good manager. Fewer still on managing yourself. It’s hard to think of a more essential thing to learn.” -Seth Godin
You may think a great reason to become an entrepreneur is that you will no longer have a boss. No one telling you what to do and when to do it by.
You’re wrong.
You still have two bosses:
-You.
-Your client/customer.
You must work hard for and treat both with enormous respect.
Otherwise, you’ll end up firing yourself.
P.S. – This phenomenal post from Seth.
“You know, no one’s really that great. You know who’s great? The people that just put a tremendous amount of hours into it. It’s a game of tonnage—how many hours are you going to work? Per week? Per month? Per year?…[If I could do it over] What I really should have done is I should have had a giant flag behind me, and when I pulled a string, it would roll down, and on the flag, it would just say two words: Just work.” -Jerry Seinfeld
“The secret of happiness is not to do what you like to do, but to learn to like what you have to do.” -King George V
“Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running . . . therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it, if you don’t want to do that, don’t, but make a habit of something else instead. The same principle is at work in our state of mind. When you get angry, you’ve not only experienced that evil, but you’ve also reinforced a bad habit, adding fuel to the fire…If you don’t wish to be a hot-head, don’t feed your habit. Try as a first step to remain calm and count the days you haven’t been angry. I used to be angry every day, now every other day, then every third or fourth . . . if you make it as far as 30 days, thank God! For habit is first weakened and then obliterated. When you can say ‘I didn’t lose my temper today, or the next day, or for three or four months, but kept my cool under provocation,’ you will know you are in better health.” -Epictetus, Discourses
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -Bruce Lee
You’ve probably heard some variation of the old adage that the majority of success in life comes from just showing up.
(I would also add knowing your definition of success. Figuring out exactly what you want and why you want it, but that’s a different blog post.)
So, just show up.
Sound too easy?
Okay, give it a try.
Just show up.
And then keep showing up.
Every.
Single.
Day.
Especially when you don’t feel like showing up.
One week.
One month.
One year.
No missed days. (If you miss, just don’t miss again.)
Challenge accepted?
I look forward to hearing back.
“Pressure is a privilege.” -Robert D’Avanzo
“If you’re not feeling those butterflies, you’re not taking a big enough risk.” -Ray Manzarek
You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom
Blown on the steel breeze
Come on, you target for faraway laughter
Come on, you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine -song “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd
Feeling nervous?
Good.
That means you care deeply about something.
It means you’re doing something you love.
It means you’re ALIVE.
What a gift.
Most people don’t get that gift.
But you do.
Don’t waste it.
Use the nerves as fuel. As energy.
Channel them.
Focus.
Go out there and shine on you crazy diamond.
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