Category Archives: quotes

Regaining Passion in Your Life

                                                

 

                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its getting hot. And not that ‘Dry heat’ that my parents always talk about in Arizona.

I’m talking heavy air hot. Cut it with a knife hot. And its just the beginning of June.

When it gets hot like this, I notice my grass beginning to turn yellow. It just dries up. To me, thats not so bad a deal because I dislike mowing.

But what happens when you dry out in your work?

If you feel dried up and yellow like my grass, here are some thoughts to add some water and nutrients to what you do:

1 – Do something Different – You can’t always change the place you work, but you can approach your work diferently. Choose to enjoy it. Choose to enjoy people. Solve a problem for someone. Be a servant. Its not all about you.

2 – Make Stronger Choices - Make a decision. Don’t let life happen to you. Happen to Life.

3 – Spend time discovering and rediscovering what you like and don’t like. Explore your house, neighborhood, town, city, state, country…Go back to what you loved as a child and rediscover a piece that you lost when you grew up.

4 – Take Action. So what. Just Do it.“The Art will teach you how” -anon . (see numbers 6 and 7)

5 – Don’t make excuses. (See number 4)

6 – Quite worrying about great results. The results will take care of themselves if you make every day your masterpiece and work your hardest to perform at your best in all situations. How are you performing today? Stop looking at the scoreboard. Show up and produce something.

7 – Be content to make crap first. “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly first” – Roy H. Williams. Take the time to get good. Perhaps you fail thousands of times before you make a lightbulb (Edison), perhaps you lose many races before you become president (Lincoln).

8 – Take Action. So what. Just do it. Action cures Fear.

9 – Consciously fill your well. What fills you up? Solitutde? Movies? Books? Time with Friends? (go back to number 1 from above – take in a new restaurant, new magazine, new place to hang out.)

10 – Work on You. Increase your value to the marketplace. Learn something about your craft, your vocation. Become the best you you can be.

11 – Write it down. Thoughts, Dreams, Goals…”if I put it on the page, it’s only a matter of time before I put it into practice” – Julia Cameron

12 – Take Action. Procrastination is just fear. Kill fear by acting.

How do you get past your dry spells?
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Other Posts you might enjoy:

How to Get to Wow!
Who is Stu Gray?
33 Things, 33 Years
Learning Customer Service from a Fast Food Visit

Voice Over Success RoundUp

I was origianlly going to write a “big post” summing up my thoughts on the input that fellow Voice Over actors Joe Szymanski, Bob Souer, Kara Edwards, Bobbin Beam and Peter O’Connell gave about Voice Over Success…

 

But, I changed my mind.

 

I did want to thank Joe, Bob, Kara, Bobbin And Peter for their time and thoughts. I really enjoyed reading the thoughtful comments and insight from VOs who are “in the trenches”.

 

If you would like to read the posts in the “series” – if you will – they are all listed here:

 

Post One – The Initial Questions to Fellow VO actors about “Success in VO”

Post Two - Joe Szymanski responds

Post Three – Bob Souer respoinds

Post Four – Kara Edwards responds

Post Five – Bobbin Beam responds

Post Six – Peter O’Connell responds

Post Seven – Peter O’Connell responds again

Post Eight – Peter O’Connell yet again!
Post Nine - Peter O’Connell wraps it up

From Peter’s Future VO Book, That You Shouldn’t Read! (According to Peter!)

Today Peter comes out a shootin’ on Question number four from a post a while back about Voice Over Success.

A couple of straight from the hip quotes:

 

…to be successful in voiceover, you have to be able to perform and performance comes from doing not reading a book (unless it is out loud)…

 

…If going to VO class feels like a chore, stop! Get off the voice over horse. You’re done…

 

…You have to want it, this voice over dream. Thousands share that great passion every day. The art of performance has to be so deep within you that you dream about doing the work, not making piles of money or dating Scarlett Johansson…

 

A HUGE Thanks to Peter for taking 4 days and 4 posts to answer these questions!

 I’ll wrap up and summarize in my next post!

Advice to a Young Grasshopper

Peter O’Connell continues answering questions on Voice Over Success with this post… to a younger, more innocent version of himself!

Here are a couple quotes:

 …Humor is good, obnoxious is bad. Learn the difference quickly…

 

 …build on that talent by learning from everyone in your industry, even the idiots (if they go left, you go right…don’t do what they do)…

 

Flexibility and patience will be in great demand throughout your life and it will test you mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally…

Read the whole post here!


Other Posts you might enjoy:

33 Things, 33 Years
Regaining Passion in Your Life
Learning Customer Service from a Fast Food Visit
Who is Stu Gray?

Woulda Coulda Shouldas

Peter O’Connell is back again with another post from the four questions that I threw out a couple weeks ago about Voice Over Success.

Here are a couple thoughts from his answer to the 2nd Question…

 

…Learning from history but not dwelling on it was one of the first thoughts that came to mind with this question. The wouldas, shouldas and couldas of this business can haunt you…

 

…learn from the mistakes but also learn to let go of the mistake. If your business is in a lull, don’t think about the wouldas, shouldas and couldas but rather the “ares” and “ams”…

More on “Ares and “Ams” and managing the business here.

Passion, Talent and Marketing

I love reading Peter O’Connell’s Blog

Sometimes he just lays it out there, and that is very refreshing!

He, too, like some other VO folks, has come along to answer some questions I threw out a while ago about Voice Over Success, from a book I was reading by Scott Ginsberg.

Here are some of Peter’s thoughts on Question #1. (he is going to break them up into 4 different posts – a True Blogger – and another thing to learn :) !

 

…When I get to visit with other voice talents and talk about the business I find pure enjoyment. I’m lousy at articulating it (I’m a VO, I need a script!) but I know it when I experience it…maybe you do too…

 

…Talent isn’t a habit but the best habits cannot replace talent…

 

…Basically, if you’re a voice talent, use your voice whether someone is paying you or not. Practice…

 

…If you had to focus on just one aspect of sales and marketing to make your VO business thrive, it is this: learn the internet…

Peter – Thanks for the posts, I’m looking forward to reading!

The Long Journey on the Plan Wagon

The feedback continues from a post I wrote some time back on Voice Over Success.

I tagged some fellow VO bloggers like Joe Szymanski, Bob Souer, and Kara Edwards.

Bobbin Beam was kind enough to chime in too!

Here are some of Bobbins thoughts:

Success is relative and subjective.  It is a journey that will likely not happen overnight…

Persevere, focus, keep your eye on your goals, take action…

Great words to live by. You can check out her blog on the topic here.

Thanks Bobbin!

Consistency, A Thick Skin and Continuous Learning

A few weeks back, I wrote a blog about Voice Over Success. I asked several questions that had been in a book I was reading by Scott Ginsberg.

Joe Szymanski posted his thoughts

So did Bob Souer.

Today, Kara Edwards chimes in!

Here are a couple thoughts from Kara:

…It also pays to be friendly and flexible. Working as a freelance actor/voice actor means I don’t have to adhere to staunch corporate rules. I can work with my client to meet their expectations. I have found no better marketing tool than simple word of mouth, therefore I give each project 100%…

 

There is no room for self doubt in this business. I’ve been blessed with a thick skin from years in radio, and I work to keep my confidence levels high…

 

…as a freelance non-union actor, it is up to me to put money back for my retirement. I have to keep my earnings and expenses organized, pay taxes, etc. The more business knowledge one possesses (branding, marketing, networking, book keeping, etc), the better the chances of overall success…

Thanks Kara!

You can read Her ‘full on’ answers here!

I’ve said it before, I love learning from people!

33 Things, 33 Years

 On Sunday April 6 2008, I celebrate my 33 birthday.

I made a list of the first 33 things that came to my mind dealing with things that I have been learning, some quotes that I like, and just random thoughts. One for every year of my life so far.

(I’ll also try to credit the people who said it or brought it to my attention first)

 

1. Never Lie. Never Cheat. Never Steal. Don’t Whine. Don’t Complain. Don’t make excuses. – John Wooden 

2. The Journey is the Destination – Dan Eldon

3. We are blessed to be a blessing.

4. He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Rom. 8:28

5. If you have something negative to say, do it face to face. If you have something positive to say, write it down. (yeah, I’ve been burned by this one!)

6. You can be more successful in 3 months by helping others become successful than you will be in three years trying to get others to make you successful. – Keith Ferrazzi, Dale Carnegie

7. Don’t listen to what they say. Watch what they do. Dawson McAllister

8. Get up an hour earlier. – Scott Ginsberg 

9. Most talent is hard work in disguise. – Eric Zorn

10. Books come to you only half way finished. My job as the reader is to make the book mine by taking notes, underlining, marking it up to make it useful to me and my needs. Always read with a pen and paper.

11. The road is better than the inn. – Miguel De Cervantes

12. People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. – George Bernard Shaw

13. If you’re not enough before the gold medal, you won’t be enough with it. – John Candy in Cool Runnings

14. Pay for Dental insurance. Keep it current. (one that I am learning the hard way right now) 

15. Who do you surround yourself with? Surround your self with people who encourage and build up, and can teach you a thing or two.

16. Don’t say “Can’t”…instead say “How Can…?” 

17. A leader is a learner.

18. What can I learn from you?

19. It’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.

20. Be slow to anger and speak. Be quick to Listen. James 3:19

21. Writing is the basis for all wealth. – Scott Ginsberg, Jeffrey Gitomer

22. Always carry a “Ubiquitous Capturing Tool” (journal, notebook, paper, digital recorder), you never know when that thought will come. And it won’t be there when you try to remember it later. - David Allen

23. Every Saint has a past. Every Sinner has a future. – Dawson McAllister

24. It’s about relationships.

25. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31

26. Water is better for me than Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi. And suprisingly, I don’t crave Diet Pepsi as much now that I have been drinking water instead.

27. Most human beings have crazy families.

28. Be 100% your own person. Don’t be a cheap knock off of someone else.

29. Never try to be beter than someone else. But never stop trying to be the best you can be in all areas of your life. I can control what I do, but not what others do. – John Wooden.

30. Have focus like a lazerbeam, not like a shotgun. – Steve Sjogren

31. Create to Create. Separate yourself from the outcome and having to be perfect. – Julia Cameron

32. Don’t get caught in ‘Anaylsis Paralysis’. GET GOING.

33. Keep learning from other peoples wisdom, mistakes and stories. Read a ton. The minute you aren’t learning is the minute you are dead.

Other Posts you might enjoy:

How to Get to Wow!
Regaining Passion in Your Life
Learning Customer Service from a Fast Food Visit
Who is Stu Gray?