Negative Energy

Have you ever been at a point where you’ve run out of ideas or you feel like progress is slower than watching paint dry?  Or not at all if you try and paint your finger nails with shellac and you don’t have the special lamp to dry it!  I’ve been there literally with the nail thing.  But in all seriousness I’ve been at a standstill point a number of times in pursuit of my dream of being an actress.  I get to this point where I can’t get to the next step and I don’t know what to do next and find myself stuck there.  Then you get a little down, a little depressed even.  Sitting in this state you build negative energy and you start to believe you’re not going to succeed.  Such negative thoughts are counterproductive to your ultimate goal and I have allowed such thoughts to consume me many times.  I’ve spoken about self-doubt and self-pity in previous blogs but when you are actually feeling this way your mind does an amazing thing  - it triggers a coping mechanism that makes you think your goals or dreams are too far out of reach and that you can’t possibly succeed.  Like for instance here are few of my favourites.   

• For god sake women you’re knocking on 40. 
  
• You can’t act.  You can’t even get an audition.  
  
• You’re an idiot if you think they’ll cast you.  Why would they – you can’t even get an audition.  
  
• Nobody likes  you.
  
• And my bestest favourite one ever -  ‘I’m too fat, dark and ugly!’  
  

Hell! Talk about wallowing in it!  With all this psychological rubbish of course you’re not going anywhere Bernice!  The more you generate negative thoughts the more you welcome that negativity to impede upon your life and goals.  It’s like a plague and you lose sight of your goal and your passion for acting begins to diminish.  The mind is so powerful and that old saying ‘you are what you think’ is so true.

So how do I bring myself out of this?  Well everyone has different personalities and motivational triggers.  My trigger is challenges.  I love it when people tell me I can’t do something because my focus shifts.  I was once told I would never make it in Hollywood because he said I was too old and not pretty enough.  My reply to him was ‘I’ll see you L.A.’  As crazy as this sounds and regardless of if he’s right or not I’m going to move mountains, reshuffle priorities, map out a path to a successful Hollywood career AND when I get to L.A I’m going to knock on his door and say ‘………..ain’t ya gonna invite me in!’  Ah! I know what you thought I was going to say.  Now don’t get me wrong here I’m not saying the only reason I’m an actress is because someone challenged me because my passion for being an actress is always there it’s always going to be inside of me.  A challenge is the push I need to kick me out of my negative state. 

The point is if you are serious about your acting career you must have a goal and plan of where you’re going and how you plan to get there.  When you hit brick walls you have to knock them down.  Find that push to kick you out of those negative states.  I promise you this if you don’t believe in yourself no else will.  I encourage you to keep pushing forward.

It’s fulfilling for me to share my life experiences and my acting journey as they are strongly linked.  So if you have any questions about this blogs content or you just want help to push yourself toward your acting goals please contact me here.