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The Actor’s Guide To Surviving Pilot Season!

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So…it’s Pilot Season!

For many actors this is a time of great opportunity and excitement.

But for others this could be a time of disappointment, disregard, and even depression.

Whatever the case may be, I want you to realize that you are the Pilot of your season.

Meaning you have the opportunity to be the controller of how you experience your reality during this time based on how you utilize your thoughts and your energies.

Are you squandering them in overwhelm, jealousy, competition, stress, and helplessness?

Or are you being fruitful with those energies by using them towards the creative process of either opportunities that are coming to you from an outside source or opportunities that you are more than capable of creating for yourself…

My point is that you are not a helpless victim in this industry!

You are an active participant of this industry capable of creating a reality that serves you based on how you align your thoughts, energies, and potentials to work for you!

Here are five easy but crucial steps I work on with all my students/clients to keep them from crashing during the potential craziness of the industry’s most anticipated season:

1. Maintain your peace:

Whether you are going out like crazy or you are not going out as much as you would like, it is essential that you maintain your peace and stay grounded.

Be the oak tree in the storm rather than the blade of grass being easily blown every which way.

Stress depletes us of our vital creative forces and prevents us from executing and achieving our greatest potential.

2. Do not compare yourself to others:

You are the president of your own corporation and that corporation is one of a kind.

Comparing yourself to another is fruitless and serves nothing other than creating a false sense of competition which is a complete waste of mental space and energy.

Whether you would like to admit it or not, you are not competing against anyone.

Your only competition is the illusory internal fear that tries to get you to believe that you cannot materialize your greatest dreams.

Your essence is either right in the minds of those choosing casting or it simply may not align for a particular role/project at that time.

Either way, always stay true to yourself and do not get fixed on an idea of what you think is being sought.

You are your instrument so play it with honesty, pride, and integrity.

Live your truth in the reality of the circumstances and trust that your individual approach is worthy of being considered…because it is!

And who knows, your essence may change the whole idea of what was originally being sought.

3. Accountability:

Do your work!

You are an artist with a craft for a reason.

It is not enough to just memorize your lines.

You have to endow the life that gives birth to the lines.

The same information you know in relationship to your life, the character would also know in relationship to his or her’s.

Always be sure to bring that level of truth and sophistication to your work and in the room or on tape.

Trust and utilize your skills to bring walking life to the written page by utilizing the entirety of your instrument.

Take risks but never under estimate your simplicity.

There is power in it.

4. Own the room:

Do not go into any situation with a sense of intimidation or apology for what you are bringing in.

If you are given a note, take it and then execute it instinctively.

But do not hold onto it.

You have invested a lot of time, energy, and in many cases money into that situation that, lets be honest, 9 out of 10 times does not bring the return as immediately as we hope.

Go in there and give it your all because you deserve to be there.

Do you hear that?

You are deserving, worthy, and earned the right to be be there!

That audition is your time!

It is your time and your time is just as important and valuable as anyone else’s!

You re not a dime a dozen!

You are You!

One of a kind!

And you are priceless!

5. Let it go:

Once you leave the room, the audition has concluded.

If things went amazing, great!

If things did not go as well as you had hoped, take a few minutes to process what can be adjusted for your next opportunity and then move on.

Go to the gym, read a book, watch a movie, get a coffee, burn some incense, do some yoga, meditate, paint a picture, eat an entire cake…whatever.

Give yourself the freedom from the mental torture of holding onto an idea of how thing should have gone.

Do not stay in the bondage of the past.

Holding onto events of past completely dimishes the present and who knows what you may be missing out on.

The present is the very thing that holds an infinite amount of inspiration that can be utilized for future creative endeavors.

Stay open to what is meant to be in perfect alignment for you.

Give yourself the chance to appreciate the fact that you just put yourself through a very stressful and rigorous process that derserves your kindess, support, compassion, nurturing, and even celebration.

And keep this in mind…

Maybe you are not so much auditioning to see if you are right for a role…

Maybe the universe is auditioning the role to see if it is right for you! 

I am rooting for you!

Break A Leg and have an amazing Pilot Season!