3 Steps to Transform Your Acting Career with A Simple Mindset Tweak
Do you feel like you have the “acting career from hell”?
Where you feel like you’re doing so much, yet getting so little in return…
And all you want to do is ACT, but you can’t seem to make it happen.
And you just feel stuck and deflated…
The wind is definitely NOT beneath your wings right now.
Can you relate?
Probably.
The question is: are you ready to do something about it?
Because in order to transform from the red flames of your hellish acting career to the red carpet of your successful one, you have to be open to finding a solution, first.
And in just a sec, I’ll share three things you can do right now to help you make that key transformation…
But before we go there, let me give you an example of what this looks like…
I have a friend, she’s an actress, let’s call her “Laura”. Every time I see Laura and say “how are you?” she drones on and on about her acting career from hell.
She recites all the things that are wrong.
She laments all the ways it’s not moving forward….all the auditions and callbacks she’s not getting, all the agent meetings she can’t lock down, all the obstacles standing in her way.
It’s all she can talk about.
Know any actor like that?
Every time they see you, they put their “acting career from hell” out on the table in full display.
They complain about it A LOT.
Sometimes they even ask for help.
And here’s the kicker…
While great solutions are proposed, none of them are taken.
And of course, nothing changes.
That’s “Laura” too…
Here’s why nothing is changing for her…
She is laser-focused on the problem.
She’s constantly swirling around in the problem, reinforcing the problem, and confirming the problem.
She lives and breathes the problem…
She continuously repeats phrases like:
- “What’s wrong with my acting career?”
- “I’m stuck.”
- “Nothing is going my way.”
And the truth is, although she continues to ask for help, she’s not really interested in receiving it. When advice is offered, she deflects with excuses – reasons why it won’t work for her.
TRUTH: When you’re living, breathing and immersed in the problem, you cannot see the solution.
Even if someone hands it to you on a silver platter, you’re like: “Ugh! Silver platters – I hate those! They tarnish so easily and they’re so heavy!”
Crazy, right?
So now that we’ve outlined the problem, let’s get to a solution! Are you game?
3 Steps To Take Your Acting Career From Stuck to Successful
STEP 1: START FOCUSING ON THE SOLUTION
Sounds simple, right?
The truth is, this step really requires some effort.
Think about what the solution looks like to you.
Imagine:
- What does it feel like when you’re no longer stuck?
- What does a lush, heavenly acting career look like?
- What would you be doing on a daily basis?
- How would you walk, talk, or BE, if everything were going your way?
Get visceral here.
Visualize your dream acting career. What does it look like? Sound like? Feel like? #BeSpecificClick To Tweet
This is how you start to shift your focus to the solution.
Focusing on the solution brings more solutions.
(Whereas focusing on the problem brings more problems).
Speaking of problems…
STEP 2: WHEN YOU SLIP, MAKE A CONSCIOUS COURSE CORRECTION
Great. You’ve committed to start focusing on the solution. But if you’ve ever felt stuck in your acting career before, you know the problem continues to try to steal your attention and drag you back to that “hellish” place.
Be aware of this as it happens.
When you find yourself swirling around in a pool of negativity, stop & change your mindset. Click To Tweet
Make a course correction and choose a contrasting thought.
When you notice yourself focusing on the problem again, stop and choose the opposite.
In that moment, choose to change what you’re thinking about.
Because you can control what you think…
You’re not a victim of your thoughts. (It just feels that way sometimes).
So when you start thinking, “Oh, this sucks. I can’t get an agent. I am not getting auditions. Everything is so hard.”
Catch yourself, and shift out of problem mode and into solution mode.
Instead, ask yourself:
- “What would it feel like to know I had a great agent?”
- “What would my day be like if I woke up to my agent calling me with all these auditions?”
Think about it.
Visualize it.
Even if it’s only for 10 seconds.
Let yourself get a little lost in the moment.
The more you do it, the more natural being in solution-mode will feel for you.
And this is what you want, because if you’re stuck in thoughts about your acting career from hell (problem-mode), you can’t see anything but the problem.
The solution could be right in front of you, but you won’t see it, so it passes you by.
Your job is to recognize problem-mode when it comes up, and shift your thoughts to solution-mode.
Great! Then what?
STEP 3: BE OPEN TO RECEIVING HELP
There’s a difference between focusing on a solution and being open to receiving a solution.
Wanting help is not the same as being willing to accept help.
In order to transform your acting career from stuck to successful, you need to let go of the excuses and rationalizations that keep you from seeing solutions that could be right under your nose.
Just allow yourself to think: “What if I could be open to receiving? What would my life – and acting career – look like if I was the ultimate receiver?”
To transform your acting career, practice living in the solution instead of in the problem.Click To Tweet
When you’re focused on the problems of an acting career from hell, you cannot create a solution for it.
Creation doesn’t come from there.
Being a creative, an actor, an artist of any kind, you cannot create something heavenly from hell. It’s really hard. You'll just continue to create more of that hellish acting career you're trying to get away from.
REMEMBER: Don’t spend a lot of time trying to intellectualize this process.
It's not intellectual. If you could think your way into a fantastic acting career wouldn’t you have done it?
Focus on the solution.
Course correct when you slip into problem mode.
Be open to receiving.
That's how you transform an acting career from hell into an acting career on the red carpet.
Your turn! Were these mindset tweaks for your acting career helpful? What step resonated with you the most? Tell me about it in the comments below… :-)
You DESERVE the Red Carpet!
~Amy
P.S. Want some more powerful mindset tweaks to transform your acting career in a big way? Get priority notification for my next FREE Online Training Event “Creating Fame & Fortune: How To Eliminate Career-Crushing ‘Mind Trash’ Be More Confident. Own The Room. Book More Jobs. Registration Opens Soon!
Did this post on what to do when you feel stuck help you? If so, I would greatly appreciate if you commented below and shared on Facebook.
Amy Jo Berman's Tips On Acting & Auditioning Blog
Email: Asst@AmyJoBerman.com
“I show actors how to be better, book more jobs and live The Red Carpet life!”
“Being open to receiving” is the tip that resonated with me the most. This has been a struggle with me as an actor and as a human being. Sometimes I can do it and sometimes I can’t. I’ve noticed how happy and positive I feel when I am able to receive, and how good things tend to happen to me when I do it (e.g. booking a gig or overcoming a personal problem).Excellent reminder I intend to continue working on!!!!
Solid!
I like the idea of course correcting…cos its easy to slip back into problem mode…and just…make that adjustment…it really helps!
This is very good advice!
“Don’t spend a lot of time trying to intellectualize this process.”
I absolutely Love this! Thinking too much…thinking too little..or trying to over-rationalize make challenges the focal point. WE get in the way of your creative process, and forget why we chose this path in the first place. Great Read!
Thoughts really do become things. This blog especially. Getting stuck in problem mode is so easy to slip into. Thank you AJB for providing good transitions out if it, and into the solutions that feel good, work, and allow us as creatives to go further than we think we can. #perspective #mindopening #thankyou
As a man i.e. person thinketh….thanks for the reminder.
I loove your positivity, Jo! thanks for being there and a reinforcing reminder that the right attitude gets you somewhere! whenever I see your photo I think, wow, what a nice person. I’d like to meet her! so, just by what you are doing, it’s an inspiration! I have had a recall for a commercial, and just did my first two jobs, having had your course to remind me what I am about. that is invaluable. and YES, you can quote me on that! as long as you quote my name too, haha, especially when I get famous!
Amy, thank you so much for your work. All of us, actors, should read it over and over till it becomes our thoughts.
Greetings from Europe!
Amy Jo this blog post really inspired me as usual. I feel really fired up now ready to conquer the world. The acting/entertainment business/my own carreer world. Thank you!!