Creating Opportunities

The other night, I was watching recorded episodes of "American Idol" and "The Voice."  When the contestants were being interviewed, I noticed that a lot of them kept saying that this was their "only opportunity to achieve [their] greatest dreams" and that if this didn't work out, they'd give up because then they'd know they weren't cut out for it.

That is complete bullshit.

When it comes down to it, WE decide how many opportunities we get to make our dreams come true.  Especially in the entertainment industries (music, movies, books, etc- all such different worlds), nothing worth doing is done easily.  If you are trying to achieve a career in any of those industries, you WILL be told no, probably often.  You will be told you don't have what it takes, you will be rejected, and you will be passed up.  But to give up on your dreams just because someone has told you that you're not "it" is ridiculous.

If one rejection makes you give up on your dreams, then they probably weren't really your dreams to begin with.  Whether it's one no or 1,000 no's, keep going.  Keep working, keep trying, keep finding and making opportunities to reach your goals.  The ones who never make it are the ones who stop trying, or worse, never really tried in the first place.  If you believe you only have one opportunity to make things happen, then you're not working hard enough.

In all of the entertainment industries, there is a countless number of people who want to "make it big."  In Hollywood alone, there's more than a million actors.  Of the 1,000,000 actors, only about 100,000 are working as actors.  Of those 100,000, there's only about 50-100 that are really considered to be "stars."  Even famous actors still need to get headshots, audition, network, and promote themselves in order to get work, but they keep getting work.  What separates those people from the others, in any entertainment industry?  Working hard and never giving up, creating your own opportunities, and believing in yourself are key to achieving your dreams, as well as practicing and developing your craft, talent, and skills to make them the absolute best they can be, and always aiming to be better.

There will be people, sometimes even close friends and family (unfortunately), who may say they don't think you can do it.  They might not believe in you, but there's only one person that matters, and that's you.  As long as YOU believe in yourself, it doesn't matter if anyone else does.  And no one else will believe in you if you don't believe in yourself first.

Some of the contestants had been working for years to try out for either one of these shows.  Some had been working in the industry before and wanted to achieve more, while others had been singing on the side and had never taken their talents outside the karaoke bar until now.  Both types said that this was their only chance to make it; of course, there were also some that said if this opportunity didn't work out, they would move on to the next one.  The latter is the type that will make it in their career, while the former will probably settle in to some job they happen to fall into and always wonder why it didn't work out in the talent industry.  Which one will you be?

Spare the time to watch this video, it's only ten minutes.  Save it to your favorites and come back and watch it whenever you need some motivation (that's what I do):