9 July, 2008 (00:38) | networking

Half of what I provide at this blog is my advice. The other half of what I provide is evidence – evidence of people successfully doing the same things I suggest that YOU do to move your career forward faster. My advice will give you direction; the evidence will give you inspiration. At least that’s the plan.

Last Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Magazine included a guest column by the longtime (6 decades) and well-respected Hollywood publicist, Warren Cowan. He gave his top two business rules: 1) return every call, and 2) always have a pen and paper handy. But here’s the part of his column that caught my attention:

“We signed a lot of business over the years because of my policy of returning calls. Two aspiring actors – 20 years apart in age and phone technology – called me and left messages explaining that I didn’t know them, but asking for industry advice. I called each of them back and answered some of their insightful questions about the business. One later became a successful director and hired my company because I’d taken his call decades earlier when he wasn’t famous. The other became a top stand-up comic who later got a TV series, and we did the PR for all the years it was on the air because, he said, I gave him a few minutes when no one else would.”

What those two actors were doing was requesting guidance from a mentor. Reaching out to people whom you admire and who are more experienced than you are is a strategic action that I highly recommend you incorporate into your networking activities. I offer this quote as proof that you WILL find people who will take the time to give you advice – as long as you conduct yourself in a professional, gracious, intelligent manor. (If you are uncertain about how to approach possible mentors, I offer detailed suggestions here.)

You can read Cowan’s full column here.

P.S. The other portion that struck me was the editor’s note:

“…Cowan passed away on May 14… When we asked him to write this column on May 13, we had no idea he had cancer. He accepted our assignment enthusiastically, immediately began dictating it to an assistant and, according to his assistant, finished it in about half an hour. It was his last day in the office…”

Reading that prompted me to reflect on how routinely I put stuff off because I make mental mountains out of molehills. (Case in point: starting this blog.) ‘Twas a good reminder that I need a little more carpe diem and a little less carping. Got it – thanks, Mr. Cowan.

8 July, 2008 (01:13) | about this blog, my story

Technically, this is the third time I have “started” this blog. A little part of me is rather embarrassed about this. But the other (wiser) part of me is learning, more and more, to trust that things in life usually happen in their own perfect time. (Despite our ideas of what we want and what we think will be best for us.)

When I first plunged into the blogosphere in January 2007, I was still in the thick of writing my book. My decision to start the blog then was based on the fact that the latest restructuring of my website was complete and, since there was a section for a blog, there should be a blog! But did I really feel like writing a blog? No. Work on my book and my monthly column was completely filling my plate and, honestly, the blog commitment felt like a heavy ball and chain. My decision to do it is a perfect example of me ignoring my own good advice and trying to stuff something into my life just because I thought I “should” be doing it – even though my gut was clearly telling me otherwise.

Would the blog feed my focus? Most definitely. Was there room for it in my flowerpot back then? No way.

There still wasn’t room for it six months later in June of 2007, when I decided to give it another go. This decision was even less sound – motivated entirely by the guilt and embarrassment I felt about “letting down” all of the well-wishers who greeted my posts in January. Here I was again, expending energy to paddle against the current of life instead of surrendering my will and going with the flow. Not suprisingly, the blog capsized again.

So I waited. (And I worried too, but at least I waited.) I waited until I got the message from my gut that the time to start was right. When July 2008 began, I could tell I was ready: Whenever I contemplated the blog, I felt completely different about it, mentally and physically. The excitement of “starting an adventure” replaced the dread of “adding another chore.”

My intent for what I want to share with you remains the same. I plan for this space to become a collection of examples, advice, and resources that will help you understand the pivotal roles focus, strategic planning, networking, organization, and marketing play in the building of successful careers. Learning how to use these tools will definitely help you get where you want to go.

24 January, 2007 (21:14) | career skills

Everything you’ll ever read on this blog is only one person’s opinion.

And, if you search long enough, you’ll always be able to find someone, somewhere whose opinion is the exact opposite of mine. And, in between the opinions of the two of us, lie a myriad of other opinions in every shade of grey.

So, whose advice do you follow? Whose opinion matters most? Whose smarts can you count on?

The answer is: your own.

Ultimately, you have to learn how to trust your own gut. Success definitely involves soliciting sage advice, gathering informed opinions and educating yourself, but it also involves filtering all of that information through your gut to determine what “feels right” to you.

Now, please do not confuse a gut feeling with emotional impulsiveness. A gut feeling (or inner voice) is a deeper, more centered, more assured knowing. An emotional impulse is a rather rash, whimsical, momentary reaction. Also, gut feelings are instinctual rather than intellectual… we describe these mysterious hunches, feelings, or directives as “visceral” because they seem to come from our vicera, or internal organs. They do not come from our brains!

But so what?

Well, you will never achieve great success by relying solely on your brain. (And this is especially true for you really, really smart people!) Your brain is great at handling questions with more definite, yes-or-no/right-or-wrong answers like: “Do I need to print more business cards?” or “Should I get this shoe in size eight or eight-and-a-half?” or “What is pi to the power of four?” Your brain likes to crunch the numbers, analyze the facts and give you the security of absolutes.

However, when you are pursuing an artistic career or you are building your own business, most of the decisions you have to make are not the kind with right or wrong answers. (Oh, folks will tell you “you can’t do that” or “you have to do that” but, remember, those are just opinions. For every person who says “never call agents before 3 p.m.” you can find someone who says, “I always have luck calling agents between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.”) If you rely solely on your brain to decide issues such as “Should I leave New York City for a year and do regional theatre?” you’ll drive yourself nuts! Your brain will spin that decision around and around trying to find the (nonexistent) “right” answer. For a decision like “NYC vs. regional theatre” to be made, your brain must release its grasp and let your gut take over.

Ooooo, but when you have yet to develop a reliable gut instinct, this can be a scary move. When you are unsure of yourself, the natural urge is to use someone else’s gut or brain to make decisions for you. One of my favorite college theatre professors used to famously torment us all when we’d attempt that route.

Us: “Is it better to light this scene with two from overhead or one on each side?”

Him: “Yes.”

And then he’d walk away! Of course, what he was implying was “that both options could work so you have to consider the different factors and then make a choice that YOU think is best.” Incredibly frustrating, yet incredibly instructive. Our professor knew that “tuning into” or “getting in touch with” one’s gut (a.k.a. inner voice) is a skill that can be developed with patience and practice. (He was just forcing us to practice!)

But why bother?

I can offer several important reasons. First, far too often when a creative person like yourself offers an idea, dream or goal to the world asking “should I, dare I?” you are met with a chorus of discouragement: “That won’t work”, “Way too risky”, “Next”, etc. Yet there may very well be a little voice inside you whispering, “go for it!” Your ability to hear that inner voice and believe it, and strengthen it may be the difference between you accomplishing something or not.

Second, the more successful you become, the more pressure you have to make decisions with less time and less information than your brain would like. Therefore, the more facile you become at moving issues out of your brain and into your gut, the less chance decisions have of morphing into obstacles. The more skilled you become at tuning-into and interpreting your gut feelings, the faster you will progress towards your goals.

Third, as you become more and more successful, you will have a greater number of people on your team offering advice on what you should be doing and how you should be doing it. If you’ve chosen wisely, these folks will genuinely be trying to help you. However, being humans, they will also have their own agendas and reasons for pushing you toward one direction or another. Without the ability to filter all of that advice through your gut and to trust your own gut instincts, you will waste a lot of time and energy second-guessing your choices and decisions.

Finally, a fourth reason why it is important to develop the ability to hear what your gut is saying is because some of the most profound conversations you will ever have will be conversations you have with yourself. The more in-tune you get with your gut, the more often you can ask yourself a question… and actually receive an answer – from yourself. The answer you receive may, at the moment, sound bizarre or scary or challenging, but it will usually also feel “right.” What the Glinda the Good Witch said to Dorothy really is true: all the answers we ever seek are already within us. One of our missions in life, as adults, is to excavate those answers. (I think my life coach, Lauri Johnson, is brilliant, but Lauri will be the first to say that her skill is merely to change my perspectives so I can see stuff about myself that is already there and visible to her.)

Sooo, how do you tune-in your gut?

Turning up the volume up on your inner voice is achieved by increasing your self-awareness. Everyone charts their own path toward self-awareness, but the following three suggestions will help get you started:

1. STOP

Stop random polling. I know folks who, when they are wrestling with major (and even minor) life decisions, start asking every single friend and acquaintance for advice on the matter. My guess is that they want the external responses to pull them strongly in one direction or the other. Ironically, the more feedback they gather the more even the split becomes between the “yes, you should” and “no you shouldn’t” opinions. This result drives them to gather even more feedback and they remain in the relative comfort of decision-making limbo.

In fact, some folks make all their decisions by NOT making decisions. But don’t fool yourself – the act of “not making a choice” is a choice… and the results generated by that passivity are allll yours.

When you need to make a choice, select your sources of guidance wisely. Do some research, get some advice and then stop and decide.

2. THINK

When might you have heard your gut speak to you before? List some of the biggest accomplishments in your life and think about the series of choices that you made that led to those successes. You are looking for times when you relied on your gut instincts: Did you ever say “yes” to something without knowing how you were actually going to actually do it? What were the biggest risks you took and why did you take them? How did you make it through a tough time when you felt like you were “lost” or “in a fog”? Have there been times when you’ve surprised yourself by knowing exactly what to do in a situation (but not knowing how you knew)? Have there been times when you had a sudden impulse to do something, ignored/repressed that impulse, and later regretted doing so? Have you stood up for your opinion/idea/belief against a more educated/experienced authority because you just felt you were right – and you were proven correct?

By constantly crediting your surprise successes to “luck”, you dismiss (and thus minimize) the power of your gut instinct. A beginning step towards building trust in your gut is to acknowledge those times when it has helped you out.

3. LISTEN

Often your gut will speak to you in whispers. To hear those whispers, you have to be able to calm and quiet any intellectual or emotional turmoil – at least for a few moments. If your brain is in a frenzy, or you are cut off from your emotions, you will not be able to ask yourself how you feel about an issue and then hear your answer.

Requesting and interpreting feedback from your gut may be very new territory for you. You may have to expand your comfort zone a bit to get in touch with yourself this way. Some people get very anxious when they allow themselves to be “alone with their thoughts.” If that’s true for you, a therapist might be able to help you examine why. If you are very kinesthetically-oriented or hyperactive, yoga or some other calming physical practice might be a useful tool to help you focus on your inner voice. Meditation practice might also help you learn how to recognize your inner voice. If you still feel you are having problems hearing your gut, you might consider working with a life coach or other insightful guide. And, even if you are able to hear what your gut is saying, you may still need support in actually acting upon its advice.

It is human nature to fear being wrong, looking stupid or making a mistake. Yet waiting to make a move until you are 100% sure that you are 100% right means you will spend too much of your life standing still. If you want to achieve your goals, you must develop confidence in your self (your gut) so you can make choices and move ahead despite doubts, uncertainties and fears. (As the good book says, you must learn how to Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.)

I’m not suggesting that your gut will never mislead you. Trusting your gut is always going to be a leap of faith – faith in yourself. Faith that, should your choice yield undesirable results, you’ll be able to pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and make a course correction. Faith that, if you just concentrate on shoveling the dirt, one day you will look up and realize you have succeeded in moving a mountain.

10 January, 2007 (01:40) | about this blog, my story

I am creating this blog with a very specific purpose in mind: to help you get to the point in your life where you are able to fully support yourself financially through work that YOU are passionate about.

If you are like the majority of folks pursuing an artistic career, you probably have a “support job” to make ends meet. You act plus you wait tables. You’re in a band plus you telemarket. You write plus you substitute teach. At best, you have a part-time job th’s flexible and only partially annoying. At worst, you have an 8-hour brain-numbing, energy-draining weight around your creative soul.

As someone who used to act plus make copies, I know the frustration of having to squeeze your creative expression into the nooks and crannies of your weekly schedule and, on occasion, having to shove it to the side of your life altogether. I also know that this kind of daily grind, if it continues for too many years, can utterly deplete your creative spirit. And once your joy and passion start to fade, burnout (and its nasty cousin, bitterness) can invade. Haven’t we all met one of those “I have been in this rat race TOO long to get out now – the world owes me one and it better pay up soon – now, where the Hell is the craft service table” artists? (Yeah… not pretty on any level.)

If you honestly and whole-heartedly want to get out of – or avoid ever getting into – the slog of dead-end employment and build a successful artistic career, then you must do at least one of two things:

1) you must develop a support source of income that you like and that offers opportunities for financial and personal growth

AND/OR

2) you must start pursuing the goals you have set for yourself as an artist in an intelligent, strategic, efficient manner that produces increasingly successful results.

How to accomplish those two things is exactly what I will be writing about here.

But why a blog now?

Well, in 2005, during the creation of the earlier version of this website, one half of my design team – the brilliant Rahul Gupta, urged me to start a blog. I instantly recoiled and told him never to mention it again! He nudged, I whined. But I could not conceive of spending time writing short, pithy posts about how fun it is to listen to my cat snore. (Even though it really is fun to hear to him snore.) Back then I obviously had a very narrow point of view of what a blog was or could be.

Gradually, what did start to sound appealing was having a forum for topics not covered in my other written materials (my column, my newsletter or my book). A place where I could share my advice on the most common issues that my career strategy clients have struggled with – and do so in a medium that allowed me to address readers in a more personal and spontaneous way.

I love business and marketing and organization and I am excited about distilling and translating my knowledge in ways that cater to creative folks, like yourself. I want the info you find here to be easily digestible so that after spending time at this blog, you leave with practical information you can immediately apply to make your career move forward faster. My own background is in acting, but I have many clients in other performing and visual arts fields so, no matter what your creative outlet, I hope you will always find guidance here that can be applied to your particular circumstances.

Lastly, I see this blog as a venue through which I can give back to the community that I came from. Without the decision to pursue acting, I would not be where I am today. And today, I am fortunate enough to wake up every morning able to make my living doing things that I love to do. I hope the same will soon be true for you as well.