Acting Business Boot Camp

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Workshop

Wendy Alnutt Class

Last week I talked about the potential writer's strike, and I also talked about control.

This is a business of practicing self-control.

But what I think is far healthier is really learning how to keep the focus on ourselves.

The Language of Letting Go

"Control. Many of us have been trying to keep the whole world in orbit with sheer and forceful application of mental energy. What happens if we let go? If we stop trying to keep the world orbiting and just let it whirl? It'll keep right on whirling. It'll keep right on whirling. It'll stay right on track with no help from us. And we'll be free and relaxed enough to enjoy our place in it."

"Control is an illusion. Especially the kind of control we've been trying to exert on our acting career."

Your exercise for this week is to list out what are the things that I am trying to control in my acting career that will happen whether I try to control them or not.

Writing things down. And seeing them with our own eyes. Teaches us more wisdom. To be smarter to access our higher knowledge.

How many times did I think, "Oh my God, am I going to get a callback for that?" How many times have I thought, "Oh my God, am I going to get that role?" How many times have I thought those kinds of things? Did it affect the outcome? Of course, it didn't. All it did was it drove me crazy at that moment when I could have been enjoying the day when I could have been present.

When I could have been listening to higher knowledge and maybe hearing about guidance for something else that was going to come through for me.

How much of my life do I miss? Because I'm trying to control the uncontrollable.

"Whatever we try to control does have control over us and our life. I have given this control to many things and people in my life. I have never gotten the results I wanted from controlling or trying to control other people. What I received from my efforts is an unmanageable life, and I will add an unmanageable mind, whether it's whether that unmanaged ability was inside of me or in external events. It just makes everyone crazy. I trade a life where I have tried to control to receive something better. And that thing that I receive by giving up control is a life that is manageable."

A manageable mind is something that needs to be earned. And the only person we can earn it from is ourselves.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Class

So people have been asking me about the writer's strike.

Keep the focus on yourself.

But what can you do? Use this opportunity to let go of drama.

There's a great Michael Jordan quote, "Why would I worry about a shot that I haven't even taken yet?"

Everybody is worried about something that hasn't even happened yet.

Now let's talk about how that affects us as a human being.

We're going to talk about that in a moment. But I just want to talk about this subject and my own experience with worrying about a bunch of stuff that I cannot even control. What it does is it uses up my energy.

When I am worried about something that is truly probably, if you think about it, none of my business.

If I am trying to get somebody to do something, I am out of myself and into control.

So when it comes to this "potential writer's strike," I again urge you to think about keeping the focus on myself, and taking care of myself pays enormous dividends.

Simple Exercise:

• I want you to make two columns.
• What can I control, and what can't I control.
• And the stuff that you can't control, I want you to just try and put it aside.
• I want you to look at the column where you can control
• Now in that column can be, and this is what I said I would address, preparing if there is a strike.

So what would you need to do if it's going to affect your income?

What would be the things that you could do to make sure that you are taking care of yourself financially?

Is there stuff you need to start thinking about cutting back?

Are there other jobs that are not in the industry that you could start to push a little bit or put a potential plan that, if you need to pull the trigger on it, you've got it?

Is this a time for you to start looking at your acting career as a whole and looking and seeing, are all of your material speaking that "Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors" that I've talked about so many times?

I want you to look at the things that you can control in your life.

Maybe it's you want to start looking at eating better. Maybe it's that you want to start looking at your movement as an actor or your voice work as an actor, or your training as an actor.

And if this happens, what can you do to prepare yourself financially?

See, that's all keeping the focus on yourself. That's all doing things that you can control.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Workshop

Ken's Theater Troupe

So we wanted to do something that challenged that, that could excite and inspire young audiences and people, people who didn't go to the theater.

There was such an amazing optimism, upbeat, warm energy. And we just got on and did it.

Is it possible to have that attitude again in the world as it is now?

I'm not looking to change the world anymore, but if I can help someone else change themselves, they will then be able to help change other people.

Our first duty is to ourselves.

What can I put back to the planet as a kind of legacy for being on this earth?

Actors have a very important job to do right now in that by telling stories that are powerful and that are going to uplift people and give people hope and inspiration that can hopefully make the world better and better.

How do you step up to that next level?

How do you inspire people to find the courage to get up to that next level?

So the first thing is to create an environment in which you can be playful in a generous way, generous, playful with each other, making sure your partner enjoys playing with you.

And that takes away some of the fear.

And how do I set that up? Often by saying to people, You don't have to do your best. You know, you don't be afraid of getting it wrong.

You don't have to impress me. You don't have to impress each other right here to explore, to find out things.

Your great strength as an American actor is your sense of naturalism.

Until you can remove the fear in the room, good work can't happen.

You have to love the audience. It's an act of love being on stage or on screen. You're giving something to the audience.

The Structure of the Workshop.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Masterclass

About Ken:

Professor Ken Rea is a theatre director, internationally acclaimed acting teacher, and author of the bestselling book, The Outstanding Actor, Seven Keys to Success

Starting out in New Zealand, he worked with the country's leading theatres and in television drama. In 1973 he formed the Living Theatre Troupe, one of New Zealand's most important experimental companies. He went on to study theatre in China, Japan, and India, then moved to Europe, where he studied with leading European teachers.

As Professor of Theatre at the renowned Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Ken has trained some of Britain's top actors and film stars, including EWAN MCGREGOR, LILY JAMES, JOSEPH FIENNES, DOMINIC WEST, JODIE WHITTAKER, DAMIAN LEWIS, HAYLEY ATWELL, RHYS IFANS, MICHELLE DOCKERY, FREDDIE FOX, SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, ORLANDO BLOOM, PAAPA ESSIEDU, and DANIEL CRAIG.

Ken is in regular demand internationally and has previously taught at the national drama academies of China, India, New Zealand, and Italy, and he has given courses in the UK, Canada, Indonesia, Germany, USA, and Singapore.

As a journalist, he has been a regular feature writer for The Times and was for 15 years a theatre critic for The Guardian.

As a public speaker, Ken has given many large-scale presentations in the worlds of business and the arts. He also trains top executives throughout Europe in presentation skills and personal impact. He is about to launch his major online course: Ken Rea Teaches Acting.

How do I get better work?

And it's a really interesting question so you don't feel stuck in your career.

Ask yourself what would that next level look like for you.

Let's think about the acting itself. What would that look like? And so that immediately gives you a target. I want to be like this. So you know where you're going.

So the next question to ask yourself is, where do you feel you are now? Which then shows you the gap between now where you are and there where you want to be.

Then the next question you could ask yourself is, what would you like to have more of in your work?

You know, for example, would you like to have more personality in your acting, more sense of danger in your acting, more gravitas, more presence, more charisma, more twinkle in the eye, more playfulness?

And that immediately is going to take you out of your comfort zone.

Progress happens not inside that comfort zone, but just outside it.

That's the life of an actor, to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

And that's your life as an actor, constantly taking risks, working outside that comfort zone.

How can you be out of your comfort zone and still enjoy that, you know, and love performing?

If you want to be more playful, more twinkle in the eye, more dangerous, what is stopping you from bringing that into the work that's stopping you from being out of your comfort zone?

And what can you do about that?

It takes a certain amount of comfortability in being yourself to know that you can go emotionally to a specific place and also know and play there, and it is out of your comfort zone and in a danger zone and in a scary zone, a risk zone, as you put it, but also always knowing that you have that anchor in yourself that you are able to handle it.

Am I going to be good enough? Will I be found out? And I think as you get older, you make it about them, not about you.

I find what works for me is, is to get the right mindset. It's about them, the energy going outward and forward with the focus on them, on what I can bring to them.

Prepare meticulously.

Outstanding Actor

So I think the preparation is important and the mindset.

You know, you can coach yourself a lot these days just by trying things out on your laptop, on your phone, recording, and playing it back.

Start to experiment with things.

Be very specific in your choices.

Using contrary action as an actor.

And it helps get that kind of volcano principle, you know, just the rumbling underneath the volcano before it erupts. Before it explodes, which creates, as you mentioned before, a sense of danger.

Danger, I tend to think of that as you set up a tension between yourself, the actor, and the audience, thinking, "Oh, wow, where's she going with this? What's going to happen next?"

Because audiences love to be thrilled and surprised, don't they?

We lose that sense of playfulness that is the source of our charm, our creativity, and our imagination in adult life. And so a lot of the journey of the actor is to go back the wheel turns full circle back to that, to find at the adult age.

I think that it's more fun to play the game if you know that you are capable and can handle whatever circumstance comes your way in life.

Knowing you are capable, I think, is such an important part of being a good actor because you need to feel safe.

So a good question to ask yourself then is okay, if there is fear, what is the source of the fear?

Ken's New Exercise

Ken's Secret Weapon Exercise

And I think a lot is about paring away the clutter. I use that phrase a lot, you know, just to find a simplicity and an energy that comes from a calm center but is fully concentrated.

As the actor, you play with the other actor, but you're also playing with the audience and have to make sure they're enjoying being there.

Money Mastery for Actors

We have a problem because we are looking outside of ourselves to get validation.

The only validation that counts is getting validation from the hardest person on the planet to get it from, which is ourselves.

What do you need?

And it's the same for our self-tapes, and it's the same for auditions.

I also need to say, from a casting point of view, from a casting director's point of view, if I see somebody posting something and asking if it is good enough on social media, I am immediately not interested.

Because what that tells me as a casting director is you don't think it's good enough and that you need to go and get validation somewhere else.

As a casting director, I am only interested in auditioning and only interested in booking actors who know that their work is good and doesn't don't need to put it out on social media.

You are good enough.

I always say that I am good enough is the one affirmation you can't say enough.

Our self-esteem and our confidence as actors are imperative.

It is imperative because agents, managers, casting directors, producers, and directors can read your desperation.

And we're not interested in working with really desperate people.

I'm interested in working with and collaborating with actors who know they are good and know their stuff in their training, in their skill set, and in how they operate in the business.

The more you know yourself, the more you build your self-esteem, the more you work on yourself, and the more I (the casting director) want you.

The more attractive you are, the more magnetic you are. And isn't that frickin incredible?

"Trust can be one of the most confusing concepts in life. Who do we trust, and for what? And the answer is learning little bit by little bit to trust ourselves. A friend and I have been texting quite a bit, and he says, "Don't forget, anyone can eat an elephant one bite at a time."

So that's the first tool I want to teach you is in learning how to trust yourself, say just a little bit less, and listen a little bit more.

Also, when someone has a problem, not immediately going to solve it for them or try to be helpful, but just be a good friend and listen and say, "I hear you."

"The most important trust issue we face is learning to trust ourselves. The most detrimental thing that's happened to us is that we came to believe that we couldn't trust ourselves. Ask yourself, Where did I learn not to trust me?"

Keep the focus on yourself. And focus on trusting yourself instead of getting other people to trust you.

• Focus on your own opinion. Your own opinion of your self-tape.
• How do you feel you did?
• Be rigorously honest with yourself.
• Was that the best work you could do in that moment?
• Were you 100% committed?
• Was what was going on in the scene more important to you than what somebody else might think about it?

Well, if your answer is yes and you know you did your best, guess what? It's a great self-tape; you don't have to post it on social media.

Say it with me. I am good enough. I am good enough.

And if you are having trouble saying that, I encourage you to just do something very simple: written affirmation work, which is just take the phrase I am good enough. And write it out with pen and paper and say it as you write it ten times a day if you can do it ten times in the morning and ten times at night.

Start to change that thought pattern around being good enough because the Truth, the Universal Truth, is that you really are. Now. It's time to believe it.

Money Mastery for Actors

Ken Rea

Katie Flahive

Setting Boundaries

The Language of Letting Go

"Boundaries. Sometimes life and people. And the business seemed to push and push. But because we are used to so much pain, we may tell ourselves that it doesn't hurt. Because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating us, we may tell ourselves that there is something wrong with us. There is nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to actually get our attention. Sometimes the pain and the pushing are pointing toward a lesson. And the lesson may be that we've become too controlling, or maybe we're being pushed to own our own power and take care of ourselves. When this comes up, the issue is actually boundaries. If something or somebody is pushing you to your limits, that's exactly what's happening. You're being pushed to your limits. And a different way of thinking about it is we can actually be grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and help us to set boundaries."

The exercise for when somebody is pushing me And I can't take it anymore:

• Sit down with a blank piece of paper, or a notebook
• A pen and an extra pen just in case you run out of ink
• Take yourself to a coffee shop and sit down and bring only that
• I want you to write that person
  • Basically, what I call your fuck you letter.
  • You want to tell them everything about how you feel and what you needed in this situation.
  • And you can be as loud and angry.
  • And underline and exclamation points.
  • And use as vulgar language as you can come up with.
• And then what I want you to do is take a deep breath. And then I want you to read through it.
  • And I want you to write down.
  • Two things in one column, I want you to write down how you feel.
    • So emotions, adjectives.
  • And then, in the next column, I want you to write down what you needed.
    • From that person and possibly even, dare I say it, from yourself.
• And then, I want you to construct a different letter
  • And in that, I want you to say how you felt.
  • And that you needed.
  • But leave the word "you" out.

Example: Because if I say to you, you're always late. "I'm really pissed. You're always late." Well, what I'm immediately doing is putting you in the defensive position, and that's not going to help anybody.

Instead, try: "I feel frustrated when I am kept waiting and waiting, and I need for our coffee dates to start on time."

So that's how you set a boundary.

And I encourage you to rewind this a bit and listen to it again so you really, really understand it.

"Sometimes life and people seem to push and push."

And that's where we get burnt out. That's where we get cranky. That's where we get into hungry, angry, lonely, and tired.

"But because we are used to so much pain, we may tell ourselves it doesn't hurt because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating us. We may tell ourselves there is something wrong with us."

And that's the problem: we continue to accept unacceptable behavior, but that doesn't make it right.

It's time for us to start treating people how we want to be treated.

When we head into that, telling ourselves that there is something wrong with us. That's Shame.

That's shame because we feel that there is something defective with us, which there absolutely is not.

"There is nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to get our attention. Sometimes the pain and pushing we are pointing toward is a lesson."

You might have to set a boundary with yourself.

We can be grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and to help us learn how to set boundaries.

Chiropractor for the Mind

Money Mastery for Actors

The longevity of the work.

You helped me to see how strong I could be and how secure and how confident, and how you have to teach people how to treat you.

And from that advice, I have continued to use it when negotiating clients and contracts and, you know, dating, you can't assume people are going to treat you right, and you have to stand up for yourself and ask for what you deserve.

You just gave me the right tools for me to realize that it was all in my control. I didn't have to be a victim of other people's bad actions or negativity holding me back.

You stand in your own way.

Let's say when you came to coaching, you were operating at 30%. Of where you were at, of where of what your potential was—30%. I helped you to see—the other 70%.

And on the good days, it's 100%. And on the bad days, it's 80 or 90%. But it's a heck of a lot more than the 30% that was being operated with.

Life and work are hard enough. Why aren't we using our full potential? And I think we're not using our full potential because we're only aware of the 30%. We don't even realize there's a whole other 70% there.

I was afraid of change. I didn't want to not be the victim anymore. It was easier being a victim and complaining than it was to actually. Deal with the issues and learn how to do things to make it better.

I realized that something needed to change. I wasn't sure what it was, but I needed help. And because I was desperate.

"When you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you'll change."

Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at really do change.

I am no longer miserable in my own head. My head is a happy neighborhood.

We would rather stay in the misery because that's familiar than take the risk on the incredible.

Your life is like a thermometer, and you've got a certain temperature that you're comfortable being at. But if you get too cold or hot, your body wants to return to its comfort zone.

For me, that was the most challenging part about change was that I knew that I was getting out of my comfort level.

The coaching:

We had a global pandemic. It was not your fault.

"It gets better; it gets worse; it gets different; it gets real."

So what is the number one word that comes up for me when I think of Karen is capable.

You had the foresight that the ability to do enormous things. You lost your business. You dealt with that. You saw your income go from mid-six figures to zero. You had a condo that you could sell.

Your mom is getting older. So that's an opportunity. Also, you landed a full-time job in a company. You did that.

Take a moment and acknowledge you weren't a victim. You handled this situation. And not only that, when the shit hit the fan, you picked up the tools.

You picked up the core work tools, and you applied them.

So incredible because when the shit hits the fan, our number one thing is to go to all the negative stuff.

You are probably the most capable person you know.

Can you reframe what your life is actually like?

It gave me gratitude for what I did have—and reframing where I am now. I'm getting time with my mom. There's a good chance I wouldn't get this time with her if the pandemic didn't happen.

But I think the hardest part still is how quickly you can go back to that little girl.

And I immediately went right back to that little girl with big brown hair and, you know, the dress with the sneakers on because I felt so alone.

I felt like it was my fault. I've learned that it isn't and wasn't.

Use the tools to get me in the right direction quicker.

Truth with a capital T: Yes, you could have made things easier for yourself with a bigger nest egg. But you also can make things easier with your thoughts.

I love the Louise Hay phrase. "Stop torturing yourself."

It's about creating a happy place in your brain. Sometimes my brain isn't 100% happy, but I'd say, 80% of the time, it's pretty damn happy.

Exercise: find a picture of yourself. As that little girl when you started to feel the fear. And keep it with you always and refer to it always because that's who you're taking care of.

Go back to that exercise, and I want you to tell her that even though, yes, you lost your footing. You still always had her back through this whole thing that has happened for you. You still had her back.

There is a lot to be grateful for.

The opportunity to deal with it, to show myself that, yet again, I am capable.

Exercise: Please look at everything that you have shared with us today. And I want you to find the evidence that shows you that you are capable.

I want you to use your life to show that you are capable.

Why don't you think of it differently? Because thoughts are just thoughts, and they can be changed.

I am fucking capable.

The work is about realizing your full potential in all areas of your life.

Love the skin you're in.

Money Mastery for Actors

Guide to Booking Commercial Voiceover

Ken Rea Class

Katie Flahive Classes

Introduction to Commercial Voiceovers

Advanced Commercial Workshop

What to do when they "pass."

Leslie Jones/ Chris Rock Story:

• "You're not ready."
• Basically what she said is, what the fuck does that mean?
• But, she kept following him. She kept, you know, making sure he saw her work, and then one day he basically got her an audition for SNL.

And sometimes a pass means just that by that one person.

That you're not ready. And sometimes it means, "Hey, I can't do anything for you. I would like to, but I can't do anything for you."

I cannot tell you how many times I have said to an actor, "I don't have anything for you right now." And I can tell that Actor believes I am lying, but I genuinely don't have anything for them at that moment.

The Language of Letting Go.

And I'm going to talk about the emotion of sadness.

"Ultimately to grieve our losses means to surrender to our feelings."

I think it takes a brave person to feel their feelings.

And it takes a lot to do that. And I can fight it. I can say, No, I don't. But the best thing I can do is just feel them, process them.

"But we can learn from our grief. So many of us have lost so much, have said so many goodbyes. Have been through so many changes. We may want to hold back to the tides of change, not because the change is in good, but because we've had so much change and so much loss."

Because that is something when we change, we have to let go of something to make.

There is a part of me inside emotionally in my solar plexus that feels exhausted, exhausted by change, exhausted by new.

"Sometimes when we are in the midst of pain and grief, we become short sighted. Like members of a tribe described in the movie Out of Africa. "If you put them in prison," one character said, "they die." "Why?" Asked another character. "Because they can't grasp the idea that they'll be let out one day. They think it's permanent, so they die." Many of us have had so much grief to get through, sometimes we begin to believe grief or pain is a permanent condition."

The pain will stop. This, too, shall pass.

Because once felt and released, our feelings will bring us to a better place from where we started.

Even when an agent, or manager, or a casting director, or a project passes on us.

Feeling our feelings, instead of denying or minimizing them, is how we heal from our past and move forward into a better future.

Feeling our feelings is how we let go.

Feeling our feelings is learning about how we feel so that we can be the vessel for characters to feel them as well.

How can we play abject sadness if we have not allowed ourselves to feel abject sadness?

Feeling our feelings, as artists is good, is educational, makes us better.

Now, mind you, I'm saying feel them, not wallow in them. Feel them. Process them.

When I'm going through a hard time, I say, "help me to feel these feelings as much as I need to in order to process them."

"It may hurt for a moment, but peace and acceptance are on the other side. And here's the best part: so is a new beginning."

So let's feel those feelings and go out there and create our best.

Today I'm going to talk about resisting negativity.

I want to talk about preserving in you a spark. No matter how many times you get beaten down. That is never extinguished.

The Language of Letting Go

"Some people are carriers of negativity. They are storehouses of pent-up anger and volatile emotions. Some remain trapped in the victim role and act in ways that further their victimization. And others are still caught in the cycle of addictive or compulsive behavior. Negative energy can have a powerful pull on us, especially if we are struggling to maintain positive energy and balance."

HALT: stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired.

And when it becomes more difficult for me to resist negativity, is when I'm hungry and when I'm tired.

If I let my blood sugar get too low or I get too tired, resisting negativity from other people around me becomes more challenging.

But negative energy is a powerful pull on us when we are struggling to maintain positive energy and balance. It's so incredibly challenging because it's truly like being at a fork in the road and choosing, "No, I'm going to find a way to be positive or I'm going to give in to the negativity."

And sometimes it may seem that others who exude negative energy would like to pull us into the darkness with them.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase misery loves company, but we do not have to go.

We can choose to stay positive. We can choose to go. With good, orderly direction. Instead of going with the negativity, we can choose to find a way to stay positive.

"Without judgment, we can decide it's okay to walk away. It's okay to protect ourselves."

Stepping into an imaginary bag that no one else can see. And I think of it as being a protective layer just outside my skin. And I step into it and I bring it up past my ankles, my knees, my hips, my waist and my breasts and my shoulders and all the way up above my head. And then I seal it, I seal it, and I just tell myself, this is my protection.

Here things stay positive, even though I may be in negative circumstances, and especially if I know that some things are unavoidable. You know, it's going to be contentious, but it doesn't mean you have to go there as well.

Drop the rope, and find ways to be kind.

I think what's really important to remember is that we cannot change other people.

It does not help others for us to get off balance. In fact, maybe we can make a little bit of a positive difference by being kind to them and maybe just listen.

"We do not lead others into the light by stepping into the darkness with them."

That's what I mean by dropping the rope. If you think of a tug of war and that negative person is on one end and you're on the other. It's okay to drop the rope and let them carry it.

"Today helped me to know that I don't have to allow myself to be pulled into negativity even around those who I love. Help me to set boundaries if necessary. Help me to know that it's okay to take care of myself and to glow."

Money Mastery for Actors

Ken Rea

On Camera with Katie Flahive

Business of Voiceover

The Language of Letting Go.

"I sat in the car looking at a sign on the door of the food shelf office. Closed until Friday. It was Wednesday. I had two hungry children and myself. I had no money. I laid my head on the steering wheel. I couldn't take it anymore. I had been so strong, so brave, so trusting for so long. I was a single parent with two children, recently divorced. I had worked so courageously at being grateful for what I had while setting financial goals and working at believing I deserved the best. I had put up with so much poverty, so much deprivation. Daily, I worked the 11 step. I worked so hard at praying for the knowledge of the universe's will for me and the power to carry me through. I believed I was doing what I needed to do in my life. I wasn't lollygagging. I was doing my best, working my hardest. And there just wasn't enough money. Life had been a struggle in many ways, but the financial struggle seemed endless. Money isn't everything, but it takes money to solve certain problems. I was sick of letting go and letting go and letting go. I was sick of acting as if I had enough money. I was tired of having to work so hard daily and letting go of the pain and fear about not having enough. I was tired of working so hard at being happy without having enough. Actually, most of the time, I was happy I had found my soul in poverty. But now that I had my soul and myself. I wanted some money too. While I sat in the car trying to compose myself, I heard the universe speak to me in that silent, still voice that whispers gently to our souls. You don't ever have to worry about money again, child. Not unless you want to. I told you that I would take care of you. And I will. "Great." I thought, "Thanks a lot." I believe you. I trust you. But look around. I have no money. I have no food. And the food shelf is closed. You've let me down. Again. I heard the voice in my soul. You don't have to worry about money again. You don't have to be afraid. I promised to meet all of your needs. I went home, called a friend, and asked to borrow some money. I hated borrowing, but I had no choice. My breakdown in the car was a release. But it didn't solve a thing that day. There was no check in the mailbox. But you know what? I got food for the day. And the next day. And the next. Within six months, my income doubled. Within nine months, it tripled. Since that day, yes, I have had hard times. But I have never had to go without. Not for more than a moment in time. Now I have enough. Sometimes I still worry about money because that seems to be habitual. But now I know I don't have to, and I know I never did."

The number of years I truly suffered. But my suffering was self-inflicted.

And then I remember saying to myself, "Well. You've got two choices here. You can continue to live the way you've lived with money. Or, you can try this."

Even though I knew that didn't work for me. It was comfortable.

You have a goal, so let's say the goal is to be financially free. In order for that goal to happen, your thoughts must align with the goal, and your actions must align with the goal.

And that is difficult. Why do I say it's difficult?

Well, one, the action is difficult because you need to do contrary behavior. You need to get out of your comfort zone and do different things.

But it's also about your belief system. And what you believe about money, and not only what you believe about money but what you believe money says about you.

And that's why it's so damn difficult to change your behavior and to change your thoughts because. That is the combination of the two of them. Gives you a really good indication of what you believe about yourself.

And that's fucking hard to face. It certainly was for me. Because it was really when I started looking at my money, did I start to unearth, did I start to excavate the real problem.

Around my relationship with myself, which is I didn't love myself. And that was reflected in my self-worth.

If I can get out of that stinking thinking around money, if someone who is partially dyslexic around money can learn this budget system and thrive so that they have a whole entire year of expenses in the bank as a cushion. So can you.

Imagine this being the first day of the rest of your life regarding your finances.