The Actor's Success: Free Stuff

Love the Business, Not Just the Art

The Actor's Success
the online eZine for Actors
who want thriving careers
from Robin Jones

Volume II, issue 5
May 2005

My dad turns 84 this year. He practices his flute 3-4 hours
a day, and says he's making great progress all the time.
This is a guy who has been playing for well over 60 years
and sees himself getting much better. We all should be so
lucky.

Lately he's been asking himself why he spends so much time
and energy on his craft. Although he performs now and
again, it's not as though he's about to launch a career as a
concert flautist. He could if he wanted, it would just be a
shorter career than most. So what keeps him devoted to
playing all those hours?

Years ago my dad told me a story about a french horn player
who was ranked in the top five in the world. He could have
played with any orchestra he wanted and was the model for
almost every other french horn player. One day he woke up
and realized he was never going to be considered the best in
the world. He put his horn away away and never played
again.

This story makes me both sad and inspired. Sad in that this
guy was so focused on beating out everyone else and being
the best (whatever that means), that he gave up the simple
love of doing his work for the sake of the work. It's the
philosophy that "Winning isn't everything, it's the only
thing."

And it inspires me to love whatever I'm doing in the moment
that I'm doing it.

I aspire to become the best life coach for actors in the
world. When actors ask who to turn to when they want
thriving careers and happy balanced lives, I want to be the
first name that comes to mind. That's one of the things
that looks like success for me, and I have no doubt I'll get
there.

But just as important as that goal is to able, once I've
achieved it, to be able to look back and know that I had a
blast along the way.

I recently had a client compare her journey of a successful
acting career to climbing a mountain. She can see the
summit and she's doggedly pursuing it, but she's been
forgetting to stop along the way and enjoy the view.

In her excellent book, How to Sell Yourself as an Actor,
K Callan says, "The reality is that every actor spends more
time unemployed than employed and that his real job is
looking for work. Stardom is, after all, only unemployment
at a higher rate of pay."

It seems like a harsh reality, but it doesn't have to be.
The trick is to learn to love the process of getting acting
work as much as having acting work. Enjoy climbing the
mountain as much as you enjoy reaching the peak.

Think of it like rehearsing a play: I'll bet your best
experiences are when the rehearsal process was as much fun
as finally getting to perform. Creating your character,
rehearsing with responsive, committed actors and a visionary
director that challenges you to be your best, creating an
environment of fun, passion, and integrity--aren't these
some of the ingredients that go into the process of building
to a great performance?

So how do you learn to love the process of getting work?

First, get clear about why you chose (or are choosing) to be
an actor in the first place. What do you love most about
it? Is it the joy of performing? Is it the dream of
stardom? Is it being at a cocktail party and saying, "I'm
an actor," when they ask you the smallest small-talk
question of all? Is it the quality of people you get to
work with? Is it the creative process? Is it stretching
yourself by becoming someone else for a little while? The
more honest you can be about this--without judging yourself
for it--the easier you'll make things on yourself.

Second, decide how you measure your success. Be able to say
"I know I will have arrived when..." Just as with good
acting, be truthful and specific about this.

Third, compare where you are now with your measure of
success. Stop for a moment on your mountain and take a look
at the view. Are you enjoying what you're doing? Are you
making progress? How much and how fast? Are you constantly
frustrated, anxiety-ridden, stressed? Does it seem as if it
will always be a struggle? Most importantly, are you happy?

Fourth, look inside yourself and ask, "what do I need to
change in order to love the journey?" Take your time with
this one--chew on it over a few days, even weeks maybe your
lifetime. It might be changing your circumstances, such as
where you live, how you make money between acting jobs, and
so on. It might be changing something within yourself, like
the way you view your journey (refer to my article, Copping
an Attitude for Success).

The bottom line is, you're living right here in this moment.
Your happiness isn't something to reserve for when you make
it in the business. Might as well enjoy it as it happens,
whether you're just beginning, or turning 84 this year.

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