They say that every overnight success is 10 years in the making. Ten years of successes, failures, and that (sometimes) excruciating process of pounding the pavement can leave us wondering if we should keep pushing forward or hang up our metaphorical hats. In the last 10 years, I’ve stood at that crossroads multiple times, asking myself if I should quit or keep going.
The thing that has motivated me to forge ahead has been this one thought: I’m not a short-term actor, I’m a long-term creative. Defining myself as a long-term creative opened me up to infinite possibilities. When you can see yourself as a long-term creative, you’re able to transform your years of blood, sweat, and drama into the lifelong career it deserves to be. To make that transformation, you need strategies to get unblocked and self-actualize your career into existence.
1. Decide to be the author of your own story. Everything in this world is made up from the way we make theater to the way we make pasta. Someone came up with an idea and implemented it, so why can’t you do that with your career? Don’t allow yourself to give over the innate power you hold. Claim your story.
2. Learn how to face resistance. Resistance comes in many forms from mindlessly watching cat videos on YouTube to purposely overworking so you can avoid that audition. Overcome your resistance by looking it in the eye and pushing past your comfort zone. Get comfortable with discomfort and resistance will back down.
3. Figure out your day job. Find a way to make money while giving yourself the flexibility to make art. Easier said than done, but it happens when you’re clear with your goals. If you know your goals, it will become obvious how your day job fits into the master plan. The day job should be a bumper, giving you some money and stability, and then bumping you back to your creative work.
4. Become great at taking (or not taking) feedback. Learn who you trust to give you feedback and who is just spewing their opinion without the intention of helping. Don’t get hung up on the feedback that doesn’t help you improve. Focus your energy on the feedback that nudges you to evolve.
5. Show up with confident vulnerability. No one wants to hire a perfectionist because no one can relate to perfection. When you walk into an audition room being authentic instead of perfect, you’re already halfway there. Next, have confidence in your vulnerability. Believe that when you show up to be fully seen, you are enough.
6. Develop your intuition. Developing your intuition will guide you in and out of day jobs, it will help you choose the projects and agents and collaborations that make sense, and it will ultimately be your guide in the creative process. Make a habit of listening to your gut.
7. Follow your sadness. Don’t ignore your sadness, investigate it. If you’re sad to lose a job working on a new play, maybe you’re not upset at being rejected, rather you feel bummed because you want to develop new work. Let your sadness teach you more about yourself and what brings you joy.
8. Practice creating the right environment. Notice how your work suffers when the atmosphere doesn’t feel right. Create a space that emboldens your ability to rehearse, study, or play. Your environment will help you if you craft it.
9. Let yourself fail. Your failures are guideposts to doing better work. They will teach you if you let them. Don’t hide them, don’t disown them. Avoiding failure means you’ll always be scared of failing, but once you learn how to fail well, your fear loses its power.
10. Define success for yourself. It’s easy to fall trap to the “idea of success” and miss the real deal. Success isn’t the same across the board; it all comes down to you. Measure your success by how good you feel, how strongly you believe in your creative mission, and how often you get to work. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Inspired by this post? Check out our audition listings!
Courtney Romano is an NYC-based actor and writer. Pick up a copy of her book “The First Ten Years,” out this November!
The views expressed in this article are solely that of the individual(s) providing them,
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.