"Should I go ahead and book that acting course? It does look amazing and I need the training.
What about next month, should I go on holiday? I do need some time off my side gigs.
But WHAT IF A CASTING COMES IN?! I'll have wasted my money then. Maybe I should just wait..."
Sounds familiar? Keep reading to learn the freelance secret trick to become great at this.
Just picture the scenario: you book a training course or a holiday (both things you likely need, if you're a working actor, anyway) and then a casting call comes in, and it's big. What do you do?
The real question is: What is your priority? Why do you work so hard, have side gigs, forge connections with Casting Directors and Industry people in the first place? Would you rather spend your life waiting for a job to come and in the meantime being stuck at home with nothing to do, and possibly regretting not booking that course or holiday, or is it best to go ahead and book, plan your life, and later, perhaps, have the opportunity to choose between that and a great casting call?
It all boils down to your long-term strategy as a freelance Artist.
Any Artist should always be working on themselves, at all times. Especially Actors, who should be experts in human behaviour, should be doing their best to grow, learn, challenge themselves, take time off, be gentle on themselves, and then back to push themselves out of their comfort zones, where they can actually learn and become the best Artists that they specifically can be.
What is the best way that you will be achieving your goals? How are you going to get more auditions and book more jobs, if you don't get better as an actor? That's why you need the training.
How are you going to be a brilliant, Truthful Actor, if you keep ignoring how you truthfully feel inside, stressed, frustrated, over-worked? You do need a holiday, you do need time off, and you do need training. You do need introspection, therapy, hobbies, friends, love, you do need to be with yourself and find how to grow into the happiest version of yourself.
If you realise this, and here comes the freelance secret trick, then the rest will come much easier to you. The trick is this: you have to learn to be comfortable in being uncomfortable. Yes, it's not the easiest trick, but once you get the hang of it, you'll get much better at everything you do; you can go ahead and plan your life, your courses, your meetings knowing that there will be a little question mark on them, and that will be fine. You will be in a much more confident and stronger position, the one where you're in control of (most) of your planning, with the odd pleasant surprise and re-planning to do along the way.
How do I do this, you ask? Well, this is one of the magical tricks our Method Campus courses are centred around, as we want Artists to learn how to best manage their mental health and their lifestyle, and essentially, we want them to be happy.
Ultimately, do what makes you happy. Learn to balance your work, time off and personal growth. Some things won't go as planned, and that's just the life you chose: there is actual beauty in it. After all, who is in complete control of their life, really?
Well done for choosing the path that makes you happiest. It's not always the easiest. But it is the most rewarding.
Always in the Art!
Alexander
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