The first time I had a job where I was a manager with a staff, my manager gave me a book as a guide; Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. This book is often given as a graduation present to high school or college students and it certainly is great for that. But it was given to me as a management book.
Being a manager is all about dealing with problems and one of the most important things you need to do is clear away problems so your staff can execute seamlessly. The big lesson my manager wanted me to take from the book was to never stop, to always keep moving. Don't get stuck no matter how hard it is. If you get stuck, you loose momentum and can fall victim to negative thinking. It can be easy to get stuck in the worst place of all, the Waiting Place.
Voiceover is a long and difficult journey with many places to get stuck. When I feel I am getting stuck, I try and think back to this book and it's lessons. Simple lessons but hard to do. How many of us get stuck in the Waiting Place? Waiting for someone to hear our demo and just call, Waiting to hit on one of those Pay to Play auditions. Waiting for an agent to respond. Waiting to direct market ourselves until we feel more confident. Waiting for something to happen, anything.
I think the Waiting Place is located somewhere in the Valley of Despair in Voiceover. This is the long valley you must travel while waiting for your first break. There are many places to get stuck here and of course the worst place is the Waiting Place as Seuss has warned us.
So I encourage you to get this book if you don't have it already and revisit it regularly as a reminder to never stop moving forward, no matter what happens and believe me things will happen.
コメント