Six Oscars
The year that The Hurt Locker won six Oscars, I remember hearing that the main producer had mortgaged his house to help fund the film. First I thought, “Wow what a risk!” To risk losing your house if the film was not successful seemed shocking. Then I thought, “Wow, what belief.” You have to truly believe in something to take that risk, to gamble, on it. I wondered if my self-belief was that strong. Would I gamble my house, my home, on my career’s success? Would you?
I then thought about Stallone, refusing to sell his script even though he badly needed the money. So badly he had to sell his dog (which he bought back later btw! – no animals were harmed in the writing of this blog). Again, what a risk, what belief.
Conviction generates confidence and results
It certainly seems that when people have such a strong sense of conviction, their actions follow and these generate powerful results. That level of belief is attractive. When someone believes in themselves like that, it’s easier to belief in them. Which is crucial if I am the producer with my house mortgaged on the film you’re auditioning for.
So, how can we get such strong belief? And, how can we maintain it despite the industry ups and downs, the quiet time and perceived ‘rejections’? It all starts within.
Not on your own team
Within us we have two minds. One, which believes in our talent, hard work and perseverance. This mind believes we are worth it, has faith our time will come and is prepared to take risks, to gamble on our success – like Stallone did. The other mind doubts it all. It is playing safe. It is unsure we are good enough or worthy enough or that the climate (or industry) is secure enough.
This conflict alone will slow you down, perhaps even stop you. But worse, we are often unaware the second mind even exists. It is unconscious after all. It acts invisibly and we rarely realise we have sabotaged our success or that we are in our own way, and there in lies the danger.
Blaming is a distraction
If you are human, this second mind exists. Believe me. And if you’re still not sure check your results. Are you where you want to be? You can blame your agent, the market, your brand and other things outside of your control, but this just makes you a victim of circumstance PLUS it stops you from looking at the problem right under (or behind?) your nose.
Our brain is the most powerful bio-computer in the known universe. It is crucial that we get it on our side, in its entirety, if we want to be successful. Otherwise we walk around with inner voices and critics that psych us out of every opportunity like some pre-fight boxer does his opponent. There are enough challenges that are out of our control as actors, so let’s take back control over the area where we have full dominion, ourselves. You don’t need to gamble your home, luckily, but you do need to believe in yourself, so that others believe in you too.
To find out how you can Conquer the Enemy Within, come to my talk at the Actors Expo, this Saturday 9th February.
