Written by Anthony Meindl
A Leopard Can’t Change His Spots, But You Can.
How?
Commitment.
You don’t get what you wish for in life. You get what you believe. And sometimes, our beliefs need a little bit of encouragement. For example, you believe you can do something (write a play, audition for a show, ask someone out on a date) but you also have doubts. You fast-forward to the end results and start worrying. Or you focus on what someone else will say or how they might react. Or you come up with excuses why it won’t work.
But when we finally commit, we discover that those projected fears rarely occur. The miraculous act of commitment ushers in the discovery of things that weren’t available to us had we not committed.
Commitment to something is both causal – you cause something to happen that ordinarily wouldn’t; and it also creates the end result or the effect. You end up experiencing the effects of stepping into something and making a commitment.  So you’re both the cause and the effect.
But it’s up to you. To experience the things you want in life requires you to step into the unknown. If you’re sitting on your couch all day long, lighting up the bong or playing Wii or reading other peoples’ Facebook walls you’re not really committing.
We don’t know what commitment looks like so that’s why we’re often hesitant to step into the unknown that commitment requires. But the leap I’m asking you to take isn’t unconquerable. It’s not crossing the Grand Canyon. But you’ll never know how unless you attempt to experience something that’s foreign to you.
Start small. Turn off the TV. Ask someone out on a date. Start writing.
Work on acting material that’s challenging. Get your reel together. Tell someone what scares you. Do something you’ve always wanted to do. Take the trip you’ve been postponing. End a relationship that’s causing you pain.
Call an agent. Go to the gym. Ask for help. Demand respect. Express your needs. Meditate. Let go of control. Laugh more. Give up the drama.
Small acts (like these) lead to big victories.
“Make voyages! Attempt them! There’s nothing else.” — Tennessee Williams
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Anthony Meindl is an award-winning writer, producer, director and actor whose first feature screenplay, THE WONDER GIRLS, was the Grand Prize Winning Feature Screenplay in the Slamdance Film Festival Screenplay Competition in 2007. Prior to this accomplishment, Meindl was responsible for the production of an array of award-winning projects. His background in acting, training, and performance has afforded him the opportunity to create what has become a thriving artist community in Los Angeles.
