Whenever I write something like this, my objective is to teach in love and intuitively channel wisdom and guidance that everyone can benefit from. The longer I’ve been an actor, the more I realize that it becomes less and less about headshots, submissions and workshops and more about self-love, growth, love of the craft, love of fellow actors and passion.
Within these five elements contain every bit of success and fulfillment you could ever desire.
Great thing is, it rarely happens outside of you. These shifts take place within. And within these five shifts, I’ve discovered eight life/career transforming truths that can open up so much more for you as a performer.
- SUPPLEMENT YOUR ACTING WITH SOMETHING ELSE YOU LOVE JUST AS MUCH.
We all have had the habit of taking all of our energy and loading it onto our careers without taking anything else into account. Although this may work well for a bit, eventually it burns you out and impedes your progress.
Take some time to do some deep introspective work and ask yourself, “Other than acting, what else do I really enjoy doing?” For me it was fitness and life mastery coaching. Here comes the greatest benefit of having another passion supplement your acting: You don’t become attached to outcomes and you don’t get desperate.
I can remember starting out and really really wanting to book some important auditions. When I didn’t book them, my life would fall apart for a short time. Too much of my happiness was invested in booking the gig. Since booking was the source of my happiness, you can imagine what non-booking did to me, my confidence and well being.
Looking back on it now, the best approach was to get excited, do my best and accept whatever outcome that happened as the perfect outcome for all involved.
- DEVELOP A POWERFUL MANTRA FOR YOUR CAREER.
I wrote an article here, on the Power of The Spoken Word for Actors and it really hit home for me, that whatever I speak or write down in my life always manages to manifest. It’s quite magical how it works.
The key is to find or develop a mantra that resonates with your inner being so deep that it gives you goosebumps.
Be aware of the subtle changes that unfold, like new thoughts, creativity or inspired action. Trust me, when you find a mantra that really hits home, it will work wonders for you! Here’s an example of one:
I am a vibrational match for all acting roles that are perfect for me. I give thanks that these roles always manifest under grace in the most perfect way possible.
And so it is!
- MAKE FRIENDS IN THE INDUSTRY, NOT JUST COLLEAGUES.
You may know this truth already, but if you don’t, now is the time. Making friends is the most important thing you will ever do for your acting career. People (i.e. producers, directors always hire the people they know and like over anyone else.) But here’s the catch, make friends because you enjoy who people are, not because you want them to help you.
This becomes the biggest deterrent for most actors because they make friends and subconsciously send vibes that say, “I need to be your friend so I can get something from you.” It will never work my friends. Here’s my recommendation: Be nice to everyone, laugh and have a great time, meet new people, engage in other things besides acting and be completely genuine and sincere.
What I’ve found to be so amazing is that if you implement these steps with no strings attached, you usually wind up getting ahead in the industry anyway.
- DON’T BE AFRAID TO THROW OUT THE RULE BOOK.
Always remember that there is more than one way to succeed as an actor. It’s just the way it is, and not everyone is going to have the same journey. I remember the story of Kyle Cease explaining how he booked the role of the hit movie, Ten Things I Hate About You. It’s an absolutely remarkable story.
Kyle basically had no acting experience, no headshot, no real background in the industry other than stand up comedy. All of his acting friends kept telling him, “You need this…You gotta have that!…Oh dude, you’re going nowhere if you don’t have this…” He didn’t listen to it one bit.
He followed his instincts and trusted where he was being led, and one step after the other, not only did he book the role, they wrote more dialogue in for him which brought his time on set from two weeks to six weeks. And how did all of this happen?
Easy, he wasn’t afraid to throw out the rule book. Keep in mind, what’s for you is for you, even when it looks like a hot mess to everyone else. You will get the roles especially designed for you, even when you don’t knock it out of the park. Just trust the process and never be afraid to go unconventional.
- DEVELOP YOUR INTUITION. ACTING IS JUST AS MUCH SPIRITUAL AS IT IS PROFESSIONAL.
Your intuition has the potential to be your greatest ally if you’re willing to use it. You have to be able to navigate the steps that are optimally productive for you and there is no way to do that if you don’t have the insight.
Looking back on it now, I can’t figure out how the hell I ever lived without a strong intuition. But, by developing yours it has the potential to keep you away from making costly mistakes, associating yourself with the wrong productions or anything else.
It’s easy and simple to invoke right away. Sit or lie down comfortably, close your eyes and focus on the mantra of:
“Thank you for perfect Divine Guidance in every area of my acting career.”
What tends to happen is an overflow of creative ideas and intuitive nudges begins to come through as thoughts and feelings. All are meant to keep you progressing forward in the most fulfilling way possible.
- SEE YOURSELF AS AN ENTREPRENEUR, NOT AS AN EMPLOYEE. This truth has the potential to create a dynamic shift when you change your perspective. I’m going to give you two different sides to this coin that shows you what could be missing from your thought process as an actor.
ACTOR AS AN EMPLOYEE
- You give your power away to all the people you “think” hold the key to your success
- You spend time waiting for things to happen. Your career is in the hands of others.
- You are extremely competitive and are fearful that someone might succeed faster than you can.
- You get upset when someone you know gets “promoted” or books a huge role.
- You always follow the rules even when it doesn’t feel right to you.
- You wait to be told what to do, before you take any action.
Now, before I go any further, this is not to tear anyone down, but rather an opportunity to be a starting point as to where we all can be better. Trust me, I wouldn’t be writing it unless I lived it.
ACTOR AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
- You see your creative talent as a valuable asset.
- You understand that the people in power need you just as much as you need them.
- You work with people instead of for them.
- You are always envisioning the next step.
- You create your own stuff to a high or low degree
- You meet and befriend as many people as you can because you’re aware that I only win if others are winning also.
- You approach other actors with a team mindset.
- No to a role, just means not right now but soon.
- You have a strong intuition and you act as it leads and guides you to.
- You trust what you feel as opposed to what’s happening in front of your face.
- One way or another, you will always come out victorious.
Hopefully what this explanation does is show you how important it is for you to be an entrepreneur as an actor.
- JOURNAL EVERY MORNING TO RELEASE ALL OF THE EMOTIONS THAT DO NOT SERVE YOU.
I began doing this a while back and it’s amazing what comes out of your consciousness when you start free writing. As actors, we are often swimming in emotions, which can often times come back to bite us in the ass if we aren’t releasing them in a healthy way.
By letting go of that (emotionally) what you no longer need, you open up for more of what you do need to come through. It’s a simple yet super effective method that also brings immense clarity to your career.
Every Morning for thirty minutes, pull out a notebook and pen, take a deep breath and just start writing what you feel. This is purely abstract, so you have the creative license to write anything or about anyone you choose. Let it all out and discover the inner peace as well as insight that. awaits you.
- BUILD FIREPROOF CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF AS AN ACTOR. Being a great actor has nothing to do with the roles you book but has everything to do with the confidence you have in yourself. Although this may seem crazy to you now, it’s of the utmost importance for us as actors to build an unlimited amount of self confidence. Reason being is that when people see that you are confident, it will resonate to them in a way that urges them to want to hire you, but more importantly respect you.
This is especially important with actresses. One of the things that the #METOO movement brought to light was the evidence of how powerful confident women can be. It was admirable to see that in such career threatening situations, these were women that weren’t going to take shit from anyone.
That’s the attitude you have to have. You don’t go looking to start anything, but you have a healthy self confidence permeated so deep within your consciousness that people can just feel it. This is so important because this ultimately becomes a huge factor in determining what you get not only out of your career, but out of life also.
There you have it my friends! Eight unconventional yet, career transforming ways to set you on the path to not only success, but what truly matters to the soul of the artist, fulfillment.
Shaun Grant is a conscious performer who uses personal development and self awareness in his acting approach. He is also the creator of Becoming A Powerhouse in Auditioning and hosts his own podcast called The Actor’s Area. Shaun has been acting, writing, and teaching for the past ten years. It is his prime objective to share the concept of vibrational acting and vibrational consciousness to performers around the world.
