Let's reframe this idea. And stop Waiting to feel how we want to feel.

We spend too much time thinking, when This happens, I'll feel great. Not always the case. And that's a lot of pressure to put on the This.  If we Care, right now, for the things, people, results we want in our lives... we can create the opportunity to feel that way now. To feel Great now.  To feel validated now.  To feel abundant now.

Our lives as actors, as humans, are not something to be Fixed. They are to be lived, fully and constantly evolving. We can Care for What We Wish For.  And then live into that.  Not wait for that.

If you are a creative who finds your thoughts spinning, your great ideas whirling in your head, and never getting loved. Not getting done. This episode is for you.

One beautiful thing about being creative is... all the Ideas. But with all those ideas, comes a finite amount of resources, money, time, energy, to get them done. Or even started. And then, in the middle of one idea, you get five more. And on and on.

There is an effective system to get out of this torrent of ideas, out of the overwhelm it can cause, and give your mind a break. Just like a physical workout when we focus on All The Body Parts at one time.. and wonder why we can't walk the next day, our Minds need the same focus. They work best for us, our beautiful creative minds, with some love.

We call this planning. You can do it. Even while creative.

Many of us actors are perceived to be Extroverts, simply because we perform in a public setting. This is far from true. There are thousands of introverted actors working in all media.

This podcast is for you if you feel compelled at times to present yourself in a way that is not true.

This podcast is for you if you want your work to speak for itself.

And this podcast is for you if you find yourself retreating from the social pressures of work and feel misunderstood because of it.

You are divine. We cannot change what the world feels about us introverts. But we can change how we feel... about how they feel. The continuum of personality is broad and beautiful. We do not need to live in someone else's definition of us.  So let's find some new thoughts, ones that serve us.

Equal Air Time is a tool for quickly working through a situation that is vexing you. Knowing this simple process is a great way to move on from thoughts that you keep circling toward, wasting your valuable time and energy...

Don't ignore your feelings.  Don't shut them out.  But don't spin in them either. We work in an industry with a lot of fragile egos, a lot of power trips, a lot of 'artistic temperament'.  That doesn't mean we are victim to these behaviors.  It helps to have a technique to move on when you want to do so. 

People say stuff. Things happen. It's what we make that mean that disrupts our day and brings us down. Try Equal Air Time the next time this happens to you. It may just help.

Emotional adulthood for actors is the single best gift you can give yourself. We put ourselves in 'harm's way' All The Time. We are vulnerable when we audition, when we perform, when we allow others again and again to see us as we are forming a character from the ground up, or mining a scene to find the emotional truth, or striving to give a director, a casting director, a producer, an audience 'What They Want'.

This podcast is about letting go of the tension we have when we hold other people's thoughts above our own. You know yourself. We are wrong about other humans every day. They get to be wrong about us.

If you have things... anything you want to get done, but haven't... this is a clear system for Getting It Done. There is no magic here, but a straightforward way for you to stop coming up with excuses and start getting the results in your life you want.

This works for the Big stuff and all the Little stuff that can weigh us down, especially if we get hung up in  judging ourselves.. because we Didn't Get It Done.

This is the Year. You can do this.

Actors: Let's stop waiting for someone to give us permission to achieve what we want. Let's Grant Permission to ourselves to GO. This magnificent new year is a great opportunity to turn your dreams into your thoughts. Your thoughts into your actions. And your actions into creating the possible from the impossible. Don't wait until you 'know how' to do it. Start. Permission Granted.

Let go of the idea of Resolutions for the New Year. Unless they are working for you.

Celebrate the New Year by inviting your mind to get excited about what's ahead. Because if you're not excited about your life, who is?

We are so fortunate to do what we do for work. Every show, every episode is a new opportunity - let's not diminish the New Show, the New Cast, the New Script, and, of course, the New Year. If you want something that's better than a resolution, pick a word. Make it meaningful to you. And live into it.

Happy New Year to all the Amazing Actors, and all the work ahead for us all. To do, to see, to write, to be.

Let's Go.

We are taught that the Grand Gesture, the Big Moments are the galvanizing acts of our lives. But there is compelling evidence that the Compound Effect is much more life changing.

Like a ship that navigates the ocean, our lives can appear vast, with an infinite horizon. There is poetry in this thought.

But if we pursue all the directions at once, we can travel very little, and evolve even less. The Compound Effect for us as Actors is the knowledge that small consistent steps get us farther.

So. What do you want as an actor? Where do you want to work, and what kind of work do you want to do when you get there? If you're there now, what are you doing to evolve even further? Here's the great news. You can start right now, for 10 minutes a day.

And the ocean gets crossed so much sooner. And there's also poetry in that.

We have Faux relationships at work, when we are married in a show, or have physical intimacy in a show, and that can create some issues at home that not every profession creates. And we can be in Relationships with humans who have no connection to the Acting industry other than their love for us. If you have any frustrations with your romantic relationship, there are 4 places to start looking for the solution.