As artists we often have self-doubt, however these 4 powerful tips for performers can help us stay grounded and overcome our fears when those feelings of insecurity start to creep in. The fear of failure “I’m scared of failing.” This is one of the most common fears I hear from clients. When I get to […]
So often, all of us are guilty of forgetting that there is no time limit for success. One of the biggest mistakes we make when working towards a big goal is that we attach our success to a specific timeline. We work diligently for x amount of years, months, weeks, and suddenly we get to […]
As a Virgo, I crave structure – I love creating to-do lists, action steps, routines and habits. It helps me to feel safe and is great for keeping track of where I am in relation to where I want to be. But sometimes, my endless to-do lists leave me feeling drained and overwhelmed, and I […]
I was at a book exchange party at a friend’s place recently and into my hands was placed the book Outliers, The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Numerous plane flights later (my uninterrupted reading times) I read and learned about the 10,000 hours rule.
While there are hundreds of artists we know who are working hard and finding a tremendous amount of success for themselves, we tend to find real inspiration from those who win the lottery and stumble into dream careers. I’ve always reprimanded my own Alma mater because they’ll push Mary Louise Parker right to the front as an example of a “successful alum” but what they don’t realize is that they’re promoting the same BS we were taught when we were there that somehow we’ll get this fantastic training and end up with a wildly successful, sustainable career.
suc·cess – səkˈses; the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Similar: favorable outcome, successfulness, favorable result, successful outcome, positive result, victory, triumph Opposite: failure, the attainment of popularity or profit.a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity
If. You. Want. Your. Career. To. Progress. You. Must. Rely. On. The. People. You. Know. Was that clear enough?
One evening, I was talking to a good friend about work and our successes. I’ve had some important accomplishments recently, and I was telling her how I felt undeserving of the recognition.
I was flailing in a rehearsal studio in Boston. This was the choreography. But I wasn’t flailing correctly. I had just joined the national tour of Wicked – a true childhood dream! And per usual, my first week of rehearsal was spent terrified they had chosen the wrong person and I’d never get it right. It’s my extremely healthy process when joining shows.
The day I got called about making my Broadway debut with The Book of Mormon was one day after I was rejected by three non-equity touring productions I had really wanted. Almost four years later, looking back, I learned more from those rejections than I ever did from that debut.
There are so many talented artists out there and yet we are all feeling, at one time or another, that the same faces and names are showing up in Playbills and credits.
Fame is a side effect. It should not be the aim, the goal, or worst, the purpose. We must keep both eyes on the path, but we are taught to keep both eyes on the prize. Keeping our eyes on the prize takes double the energy. It also saps that energy for what is important − The primary cause, not the secondary effect.
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