Saturday, May 26, 2012

What's the secret?

I am often asked "what are some tricks", "what is the secret to getting noticed" - as if being in the business has some angle or magic formula that will allow you to get to the front of the line.

The secret is:  there isn't one.

How do you get into the room?  How are you noticed? How are you asked back?

The secret is:  you.

YOUR talent, YOUR ability, YOUR preparation, YOUR knowledge, YOUR ability to listen, YOUR ability to follow instructions, YOUR ability to take direction, YOU.

Is that simple?  yes, and no.

What I hear time and time again, is the inability or disregard for instructions.

How hard is it to follow instructions?  This speaks volumes about you and how you process basic information.  Over 50% of those trying to be in the business, simply do not follow instructions. 

Can you take direction?  Are you pliable?  If you actually get into the room and are given direction, can you take it and do something with it?  Defensiveness has no place in a direction-oriented space. 

Can you focus on YOUR process and quit side-eyeing "the competition"?  Can you quit comparing yourself to what you see and hear and wonder long enough to focus on what YOU have to do to be there?

These three simple questions can make the difference!  These three simple tasks - follow instruction, take direction, focus on YOUR process - will allow you the possibility to get into the room, to get to the front of the line, to be heard, seen and felt. 

As artists, all we want is to be heard, seen and felt.  We want our work to be relevant and acknowledged.  And, as an artist pursing the business of show, a job would be great!

So, take the secret of you,  do the work,  compare yourself only to your previous self/to your previous audition/to your previous discovery,  pay attention,  be as prepared as you can be and walk in to reveal what you DO.

There is nothing worse than getting an opportunity when you aren't prepared to take it.  Or worse, don't know you had it in the first place.

Which 50% are you in?  It's really a choice.  If you start with an excuse,  you aren't ready yet.  If you KNOW what to do, why aren't you doing it?

Move forward. 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

What is Potential?

Sunday musings...

The word "potential" has come up numerous times this week.  What does it mean for a developing artist? Is it a positive word?  Is it a bad word?

The definition of potential is to have or show the capacity to develop something in the future.

So, what are you doing about it?

Often,  singers create goals that are not immediate.  While a dream is great, it can create murky waters, frustration, disillusion and sometimes delusion in the now.

I believe we all have potential.  However, potential means nothing if you do not develop it.  What that potential can lead to, if developed, is the mystery.  It is also the possibility. 

If you believe you have potential,  if someone has told you that you have potential,  it can be wasted if not developed as thoroughly as it appears.  Potential is latent.  The power of it only exists if you choose to develop it.

Potential can be a dirty word if it doesn't realize itself.  It can only realize itself as craft, as realized artistry if YOU decide to develop it. 

Potential is one of the only things we have potentially that we can control.  You can decide to sit on it and never see where it goes - and that is no one's fault but yours; or you can decide to grab that potential and work to develop it and see what emerges.  Ultimately, it is your choice.

Developing your potential is not limited to your resources but it is DECIDED by your imagination and your ability to follow through.

It is YOUR decision to decide and follow through with study, development, a determination to realize and see yourself honestly,  to surround yourself with professionals who will guide you, and give you sound and honest advice and direction,  to see yourself in development and compare yourself only to your previous self,  to stay focused,  to not be blinded by quick fixes, tricks or other mind games,  and any other blind-siding issues.

Potential simply gives you the starting point.  Potential is not something to achieve, but rather a simple place of departure.  Whatever the potential we have been given, it is up to us to then develop it to whatever level it allows.  A potential artist can only become a realized artist with a clarity of purpose and development of skill and craft. 

Potential in motion allows for possibility.  Potential is stagnant and will wither and disappear if it is never allowed to breathe and grow.

So,  instead of saying "I have potential",  perhaps you begin with "How do I develop this potential TODAY?"  One step at a time, one breath at a time, and each step and each breath will develop the momentum to realization.

That choice is yours.  You claim it, or you lose it.  You are responsible - you and only you.

Wouldn't it be more rewarding to be told you are REALIZING your potential than simply having some?