The Dream Is Alive & Well
by Kevin Urban
…but you need a plan!
So our recent newsletters have addressed phrases associated with the business like “They Say” and “I Should” This month, I’d like to address “The Dream”.
The word dream is typically used by and associated with artists and performers in describing their goals. As actors, we’re said to be “following our dreams.” “Living the dream.” “Aspiring to our dream.” Sometimes it’s looked upon positively and other times negatively. When it’s looked upon negatively, it’s usually because we don’t have a plan or can’t express that plan in words to our support system.
Each and everyone one of us has a specific dream, but when sharing with others we tend to generalize it or not be able to verbalize it. We all became actors to follow our dreams. So what is your dream? I mean specifically and how are you going to make that dream a reality. Many actors don’t like to speak in specifics because not only is it scary, but they're afraid of what happens if it doesn’t come true? And it’s even scarier is to write them down. The truth is we need to craft our career much like we craft our characters. Look to American Idol and Disney for evidence that careers can be crafted.
The more actors I teach & coach, the more I realize that we all tell similar stories as to why we became an actor. Many stories start off with "I've dreamed of being an actor since I was___________." or “I first realized I wanted to be an actor_________.” “I love the _____.” Our career description doesn’t seem generic to us because we live it, but could you imagine being an agent hearing essentially the same story over and over again in each meeting. What that tells me is that we need to be very specific.
We need to know our goals inside and out. We need to investigate our strengths and work to those strengths. To know what really separates you from other actors. Your Brand. And create an action plan to support it.
Most importantly, we need to name our goals, which are essentially our dreams. We can achieve these dreams, but we need a plan and the specific steps to make them actionable.
What are you going to do today to for your Dream? I challenge you to right down your wildest dreams and how you can start to achieve them. If you need help join us in class or work with us one on one. We love dreams and we want to help yours become specific and actionable.
