Lana Del Rey, one of the most talented artists of our time, has overcomes ups and downs, by taking time to work on herself, focus on the good, and take massive action. Lana appears October 10th at the Hollywood Bowl for a special performance of her new material.
One of the biggest reasons I have seen actors, models, bands or singers FAIL to succeed in Hollywood, is because they are flaky. Conversely, a KEY to success, is to DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE GOING TO DO, and DO IT QUICKLY.
We ignore, avoid, and put off things that we know we should do, largely because of one thing–fear. Fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of rejection, fear of not knowing, fear of competition, fear of getting our feelings hurt, fear of hurting in general, fear of being uncomfortable, fear of getting stressed, and countless other reasons that make us procrastinate.
All reasons for procrastination are based on laziness, apathy, or fear, and all such reasons; such EXCUSES, are self-sabotaging. When we put off what we know we should do, we trade long term happiness and success for the short term gratification of trying to feel comfortable.
Having seen over 10,000 aspiring actors, models, bands and singers in my offices over the years, I have learned that the majority of artists’ failures is due to this dreaded problem; procrastination, caused generally by FEAR.
There are two known cures to defeating fear;
1, Knowledge, and
2, Action.
The more you know about an area, the less fearful you will be in that area. A trained singer who can hit every note and has trained in front of crowds is not as afraid to perform as the person who has not trained vocally, and has not trained in front of an audience. The trained actor who has memorized their lines and preformed on stage will not be as nervous or fearful as the actor who has never had real training, and barely memorized their lines.
Training is competency, and competency beats fear which beats procrastination. The trained artist, knowledgeable in their craft, has no reason to be afraid, and therefore has no reason to put off doing what they know they should do to reach their next goal for their career.
The second way to defeat fear, is simply to take ACTION. Just do it anyway. There is a certain mountain I hike up at least once or twice a month, that is several thousand feet tall. At one point, when I first started hiking up it, there was a certain spot up around 500 feet that I found just terrifying, that I would panic and freeze when I got to, and would not go past. After working on some things with myself, I went back one day, and went right past that point, clear to the top. It was invigorating and thrilling. Since then, I hike it regularly, and at times jog down it. It still has my respect and takes caution, but now I have trust in myself, because I have done it over 100 times.
Break through your fear. Just take action. Don’t endanger your life, but face it–most of your fears are not over things that could kill you. An audition will not kill you. Calling an agent or manager ON TIME and FOLOWING UP with them FIRST will not kill you. Just DO IT.
Get out of your bubble and break out of your fear. I dare you to FIND ONE THING EVERY WEEK THAT YOU HAVE BEEN PUTTING OFF DOING, OR ARE AFRAID TO DO, AND DO IT ANWAY.
Let ACTION be your guide. Get a friend and make a game of it. The more fears you conquer, the more successful you will become. And the more trained and educated you are, the more fearless you will be.
Get trained, get educated, become an expert in your field, break through your fear, take action NOW, and become KNOWN as the person whose word is your bond. Be known as someone who–when you say it, people will KNOW that it will get done and happen, and that it will happen immediately.
Trust me, when you get THAT reputation in town, as a TRAINED talent who DOES what they say, then Hollywood WILL be calling YOU–first.
Textual content, (c) 2019, Bruce Edwin. Music and video (c)2019, Universal Music, Universal Music UK, Polydor, Lana Del Ray, all rights reserved, used with kind courtesy of Universal.
