You need to believe in what you do.
Because if not you, then who? I mean that! The world is callous – it’s moving forward with or without your enthusiasm. Yes, many of us are blessed to have loving family and friends who support us through thick and thin and believe in us. That’s HUGE. But at the end of the day, it’s on you to do what’s needed to ensure your success.
Some people live their lives with a chip on their shoulder thinking they’re owed something. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong. More importantly though, if you spend your time and energy being unhappy about how things are “supposed” to be, are you even putting any effort or attention into noticing whatever opportunities you may be missing right in front of you?
An open mind and an open heart foster optimism, and I believe optimism is key to recognizing opportunity.
Believing in yourself is what keeps you diligent and working through slow times. It keeps you persistent and dedicated. It’s being able to grasp at the idea of how it all may fit into your bigger picture.
A slice in time – a moment, it can look like anything. It can look great, it can look terrible. If you looked at little slices of my life this past week, you’d see all kinds of extremes. It was a crazy week. Peeking in on my life at any given moment this last week, you could have been led to believe that:
I live a wildly successful life as a nurse and voice over talent
I am not a very successful nurse or voiceover artist
I was possibly trapped in someone else’s fever dream
Hospitals make me paranoid
I have the greatest job in the world
I have the worst job in the world
At any given moment, what I was living and experiencing could have been completely contradictory to what I had been living and experiencing not long before (or after) that. One moment in my daily life can be “WOW! THIS IS GREAT!”. And just as easily, the next can be “WOW! THIS IS TERRIBLE!” Whew! What a rollercoaster.
Which brings me back to emphasize why it’s important to believe in what you do in the bigger picture. Because if not, that whirlwind we call life could leave you feeling like you're being sent an awful lot of mixed messages! It could very well make you outright question entirely just what on God's green earth you think you are even doing in the first place, bucko.
Yeah, I know, I said "bucko".
Whatever afflictions or conditions you may think I suffer from: I can assure you, it’s probably only mild.
Much isn’t guaranteed in life. This I know.
You can do everything right and still wake up in the ICU one day. It’s just how it is.
But that is exactly why it’s on you to believe in what you do.
It is entirely possible to pursue your passion, do everything right, and not find the success you had hoped for. Is that outcome likely? I sure hope not. But it IS within the realm of possible. Do any of these names ring a bell?
These people are widely accepted as extremely gifted and talented within their respective fields. But they all became well known only after their deaths. (losing sound effect here)
I can’t speak to if they were doing what they loved because they wanted worldwide fame, recognition, or success. I can only hope that they were good at what they did because they enjoyed doing in and found fulfillment in it. I wonder what they’d think, if they could learn just how much their work would be loved only after they were gone?
Me personally, if I died only to subsequently become famous and well-known...I suppose I'd be somewhere between amused and annoyed. What about you?
There’s no guarantee that we’ll hit it big in our lifetime. But you can get good at what you do. And you can love what you do.
Fulfillment is going to bed happy with the work you have done, regardless of the scale of its outcome.
But!
There are also some ways to shift the odds in your favor as a voice over artist. Some of the folks who have found success in the industry offer information and courses to help you get organized and better navigate what can otherwise seem like a tremendously overwhelming industry in voice work.
Joshua Alexander has created online courses, business software and templates, and books about voiceover.
Paul Schmidt has an informative VO YouTube channel and offers a voiceover business strategy course called the VO Freedom Master Plan
Crispin Freeman hosts the Voice Acting Mastery Podcast and also offers classes for people who are more interested in character work and voice acting.
Marc Scott is the creator of the VOpreneur podcast and offers various business courses for voice talent
Paul Strikwerda authored the book How to Make Money in your PJs: Freelancing for Voice-Overs and Other Solopreneurs
There’s a saying – there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Which carries water. But on the flip side of that coin, there are also a lot of wrong ways to do things. I can tell you a lot about that.
It’s up to you to figure out how your personal style and unique brand fit into it all. There’s a way. The fun and the challenge are in figuring out how.
Hey - and try to be alive for when things take off for you!
#Informative #Resources #Success #Voiceover #VoiceActing #Diligence #Optimism #Talent #Inspiration #Passion #Death #Famous
If you enjoy reading my blogs, I bet you'd like some of the other voice over blogs that I really love! Take a minute and check out these truly wonderful voiceover blogs. Reading these is always a big highlight in my busy life!
Sometimes, it's tough to maintain a positive attitude, but it is SO important in this business, especially in down cycles...which of course happen to everyone! So, not just in VO, but in LIFE IN GENERAL...believe in yourself! Love it, thanks Michael!
Full of good stuff this week Michael! Believing in oneself doesn't come naturally to many people. If it is necessary to weather the slow times and rough patches, would you say that people considering voice-over should either find another path if they don't have it, or find a way to get it? "An open mind and an open heart foster optimism, and I believe optimism is key to recognizing opportunity." Well said. It is now on one of my stack of inspirational cue cards. I also wrote down "There's no guarantee that we'll hit it big in our lifetime. But you can get good at what you do, and you can love what you do." One other thing from yo…
“Believing in yourself is what keeps you diligent and working through slow times.”. So true! And that ending GIF just slew - er, ahem, *terminated* me…haha’. Nicely done. I believe in myself, and that IS what carries me through the slow times. I keep going even in a slump - which is coicincidentally what my latest blog is about, and I’d therefore like to ask you to step out of my closet and turn off all your cameras and monitoring gear; I know you’re in there and have been spying on me! - because I utterly believe I have something utterly valuable to offer. “Stay down in the dirt? Why, no! No I canNOT do that; I’m too valuable!” …