Acting Business Boot Camp

Free Masterclass Today we are going to talk about celebrating The Language of Letting Go "Take time to celebrate." Now the funny thing is that I rarely take time to celebrate, and I need to keep doing it more and more and more because it is in the times of celebration, and it's in our resting times that we are getting prepared to do and accomplish more. But it's so important to reward ourselves. It's one of the things I talk about in time management to reward ourselves for all our hard work. "Celebrate your successes, your growth, your accomplishments. Celebrate you. And who you are because through celebration, we are truly loving the self. We are truly celebrating who we are." And isn't that what we are putting out to the business? We want to put out, "Hey, I've got this great product. It's me!" I mean, isn't that what it's all about? It's show business. Let me show you me. It's important to have joy. "For too long, we have been too hard on ourselves. Others have spilled negative energy, attitudes, beliefs, and pain on you." And guess what? It had nothing to do with you. "All along, you have always been a gift to yourself and the universe." We teach people how to treat us. I was working with a private client today, and she was talking to me about how she'd been really doing this work with me and how she suddenly didn't feel like she had a lot of friends. And I said, you know what? That's kind of part of the process. And it is odd because as you get healthier, the unhealthy people in your life do kind of seem to drift off. And there can be that period of loneliness, but it's in that gap that we are being prepared for healthier people to come into our lives. One of my biggest universe moments or god moments, whatever the heck you want to call it, moments happened on my 25th birthday. I had just started really delving into this work, and I spent my birthday alone. I told myself, well, I'm going to do something I always wanted to do. And I took myself to the New York Aquarium. And there was an exhibit of Beluga Whales. I have always loved whales. I was always so into whales when I was a little girl, and I went to the back of the exhibit, and there was this small porthole. And I walked up to the porthole, and this whale came by me. This beluga whale came by me, and then it came, swam around the tank, and came up the second time and pressed its eye against the window of this little porthole so that me and the whale were looking at each other. Sometimes when we celebrate who we are, there are people in our lives who don't want to celebrate us with us, and there can be that lag in between. And for me, that day, my best friend was that whale. And I will never, ever, ever forget that moment. And it stayed with me for a long time. My birth on that day with kind of the most unexpected creature I could have imagined. "You are a child of God. You are beautiful. You are a delight. You are a joy. You do not have to try harder. You do not have to be better. You do not have to be perfect or be anything. Anything that you are not. Your beauty is in you just as you are in each moment. It's time to celebrate that when you have a success when you accomplish something, enjoy it. Pause, reflect, rejoice. Too long you have a listen to the admonishments. Not to feel good about what you have done, lest you travel downward, downward to the road of arrogance. You're not arrogant; you're just celebrating you. Celebration is a high form of praise, of gratitude to the universe for the beauty of its creation. To enjoy and celebrate the good does not mean it will be taken from you." Oh my God, I love that sentence so much because I always thought, well, if I get too excited, then it means it's going to go away. That's such fucking bullshit. "To celebrate is to delight in the gift to show gratitude. Celebrate your relationships, celebrate the lessons from the past, and the love and the warmth that is there today, even if it is you giving it to you. Enjoy the beauty of others and their connection to you. Celebrate all that is in your life. Celebrate all that is good and celebrate you." Be your own best friend. Take yourself out to somewhere you want to be you and only you and celebrate it.

Okay, now what? We graduated, and there's a fucking writer's strike, and a pending actors strike. Wait, this is not what I showed up for. I've been a member of SAG AFTRA for over 30 years and a working actress for over 30 years. And let me tell you something, I've been through a lot of strikes, and you know what the greatest thing about them is? They end. There is a lot you can do right now, and that's getting ready. The number one thing I recommend to actors getting out of drama school is learning "the Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors." If you think you learned it in drama school, I am here to tell you that, no, you did not. Chances are that you did not learn what the industry was like from the agents and the casting director's points of view. Some of the things to know, though, is that yes, you are the newbies on the block, and you are fresh meat. Everybody's all excited about you, but this is the thing you need to know is there have been thousands of you beforehand, and the more you can learn to be professional, and what I mean by that is to not waste an agent and a casting director's time. So it is best to keep your ears open and listen to what industry professionals are saying. As a casting director, the number one thing I cannot stand is actors who waste my time. And one of the ways they waste my time is if I'm in the middle of casting and I want to audition you, I need you to already know some of the things that I talk about in that masterclass because I don't have time to train you. You also understand that if somebody goes out of their way to give you advice, listen to it. That's why when people reach out to me over social media, if they make some kind of a blunder, I actually say to them, "Hey, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not going to take your submission seriously because you did this or that or the other thing. A lot of people call me Pamela. My name is Peter. A lot of people say, dear Peter and Pamela, well, you obviously haven't done your research on me. And if you are looking for me to hire you on a job, I would hope that you would know what to call me. And I know that sounds like a really silly thing, but that's just kind of that immediately tells me that you haven't even done one ounce of a bit of research on me. You've got Google, the internet, do your research. The other thing that I would say is that although you may have been told how special you were in drama school, you are entering a whole new realm here. There are lots of special people here, and there are lots of really talented actors here. One of the pieces of advice that I wish somebody had given me many years ago was, don't ever, ever, ever underestimate how good you need to be. This means keep up your training and keep doing your warmups. Keep practicing your voice. Keep going to dance classes, keep going to movement classes. Keep going to acting classes. Finally, I want to talk to you about core work. That's the work on yourself, and that's the hardest thing because when you are early in your career, you can be given phenomenal opportunities. I was given some, and I'm going, to be honest with you, I blew it. I auditioned for two films. I'll talk about the Jerry Lee Lewis film Great Balls of Fire with Dennis Quaid, and Winona Rider got the part I also auditioned for. For Say Anything, I auditioned for the Lily Taylor role in that. First of all, I should mention I was very young. I was still a minor actually, when I auditioned, and this was the thing, I didn't have the confidence. I didn't believe that I was talented enough. I didn't believe I was good enough. As even a human being, I don't even think I got a call back for that one, and that's okay. I wish I'd had the core work and the work on myself at even that young age because what I didn't understand was that I needed to work for me when all I was doing was working against me. I remember going into the audition and giving away the part to every other actress in that room. I remember being scared to meet this big casting director when I felt so small. There are so many things I wish I had worked on as a young actor, but more than any of them, it's core work. I let my ego get in the way of giving a great audition. I was so right for that part. I could have kicked some serious ass, but my focus was in the wrong place. Stop working against yourself. Start working for yourself. You can do this. You can do this, and although I understand you are coming to this industry in one heck of an interesting time period with AI and strikes and so much going on. The fact of the matter is if you work for you instead of against you, you can do it. Become a damn good actor. Be good at your job. That's what we, the casting director, are hiring you for. Know "the Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors," I can help you with that in the Working Actor Road Map.

You Can Heal Your Life Letting the Past Hold You Back. "Many people come to me and say they cannot enjoy today because of something that happened in the past. Because they did not do something or do it in a certain way in the past, they cannot live a full life today. Because they no longer have something they had in the past they cannot enjoy today. Because they were hurt in the past, they will not accept love now. Because something unpleasant happened when they did something once, they are sure it will happen again today. Because they once did something that they are sorry for, they are sure there are bad people around them forever. Because once someone did something to them, it is now all that other person's fault their life is not where they want it to be today. Because they became angry over a situation in the past, they will hold on to that self, self-righteousness. Because of some very old experience where they were treated badly, they will never forgive and forget." Ways that we use our past as an excuse. Forgiving is not forgetting; it's letting go of the hurt. When you are so angry at your past or at someone in your past, it's like you are taking the poison and expecting them to die. Not even the universe can change the past. If something happened to you in your past, it is important that you look back but don't stare. It is important that you trace it, face it, and erase it. Let's talk about an audition that was botched up or a meeting that was botched up, or you were late, so you didn't get to do something in your career. Always keep in mind that you are doing the very best you can, if you could have done better than you would've. If you say, "Well, I could do it better now, you're probably right." Letting the past hold you back is working against you instead of for you. As an actor, this business is so darn hard. Why are you going to make it harder for yourself? You don't deserve that. You deserve the very best the universe has to offer. Now it's time to accept that, and we accept that by starting to let go of our past. Let me focus on today on the present so that I may create a better future for myself, a future that works for me instead of against me. Because somebody else hurt, you doesn't mean you need to keep punishing yourself for that hurt. It all comes down to self-love. One day I realized this is the only person I can be. So let's have a love affair with ourselves. Just because something happens to you once doesn't mean it will happen to you again. I now look at challenges in my life as opportunities to grow stronger and to show myself that I am more capable, stronger, and smarter than I ever thought. I think everyone deserves to be forgiven. Forgiving ourselves is sometimes the hardest thing to do. Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Forgiving is not forgetting. It's hanging onto the hurt, and this is the thing. If you're hanging onto the hurt, the only person you're hurting is you. The past is over and done with and cannot be changed. This is the only moment we can experience, even when we lament about the past. We are experiencing our memory of it in this moment and losing the real experience of this moment in the process. If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you're pissing on the present. If there is something that you want to let go of. Write it down on a piece of paper and put it in a box. And then, in a month from now, look at it and see if you have let go of it just a little bit. And in the process, be as loving to yourself, as good to yourself, and as kind to yourself as you possibly can. Because I'm in your corner. I genuinely am in your corner to make your life and career move forward instead of staying stuck in the past.

Learn about Wendy's Class About Wendy: Wendy Allnutt trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She held the post of Head of Movement at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for 25 years and is a founder member of L'Oltrarno, Acting School in Florence. Other teaching credits include Colorado College USA, Conservatoire Stratford Ontario, Canada, Penn State summer schools, Laboratorio Internationale Teatro Degli Astrussi in Montalcino/St Mineato, l'Accademia SilviovD'Amico, Rome, LAMDA, Colby London Programme, BESG, and BADA. Movement Director: Sky TV's Fungus the Bogeyman (2016), BBC's Walking with Cavemen, and The Iceman Murderer. Wendy has been the Master of Movement at Shakespeare's Globe 1st season and recently Henry V1 parts 1, 2, and 3. Revival choreographer for Welsh National Opera's Magic Flute (Out of Joint / RNT) She Stoops to Conquer and A Laughing Matter, Romeo, and Juliet & Private Lives (Mercury) Brothers Karamazov, Maybe and Private Lives (Manchester Royal Exchange) India Song (Clywd), Goliath, Voyage in The Dark, and A Wedding Story (Sphinx). Bad Habits Slumping Animals into people Being in your body as an actor Just standing in the space. It takes quite a lot of understanding where your weight is in the space. Do you lean forward, which gives maybe an air of anxiety or enthusiasm? I would hate to say that if you stand in a certain way, it is a certain thing. Right. But we do read bodies. I work on trying to find a neutrality Neutral plus, so that your body is relaxed in line and ready to go. Your body and your voice, and your everything are ready to go. That's why you see so many British actors that you think are mind-blowing because they're ready. Musicians train every day. The actors don't, and if you're lucky enough, you need to be ready to play Hamlet now. Not in five weeks when you've done the work. No. Now. Yeah. And I think actors are a bit lazy about that. Are you keeping up with your instrument? It's about finding your inner self, your inner balance, and how your body works. It's a tough old business. It's not a nice game to play. We mustn't do mindless movement. Maybe you should challenge yourself on the treadmill, run towards something, or somebody's chasing you. It alters the way you run on the treadmill. I love it because it's talking about being conscious in your movement. I think that if we can apply a little bit of thought to why we do something about finding the weight in a movement. We have to keep the mind alive. There are so many things that block the mind off. You're going to be exploring conscious movement, that one to warm up the body, but also that can be used in learning what the conscious movement of your characters would be. I think you have to start with yourself. And discover maybe that your rib cage is very tight and that perhaps you can find a way to make it move a bit more. And also, if you change the thought, the quality of the movement changes. So again, if I reach up and I want to hail someone over there, it's a different kind of reach. That's what interests me about movement. How we move and why we move rather than just, it's an exercise. So that is actually if you are going to play an old person just for argument's sake. Why is their body decreed? What is it about their body? What are they? What are they working against? I mean, fears, for instance, in the Cherry Orchard. What is his body like? Is it just arthritis? What is it that makes his movements? And if you know the why and the how, then it's easier to inhabit the body of fears. To be bringing questions to you. The language changes the body. A physical imagination. Just try it. And try not to judge. Variation is what's interesting. It's not about being a clone.

Free month of The Weekly Adjustment Coaching Group The Language of Letting Go "It is important to identify what we want and what we need, but where does this concept leave us? Well, generally, what it leaves us with is a large but clearly identified package of currently unmet wants and needs, but we've taken the risk to stop denying and to start accepting what we want and need. But the problem is now that the want or the need hangs there unmet. This can be frustrating. Painful, annoying, and sometimes obsession producing." After identifying our needs, there is a next step in getting our wants and needs met. The next step is letting go of our wants and needs after we have painstakingly identified what they are and the steps to achieve them. We let go. We give them up on a mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical level. It's not always easy to get to this place, but this is usually where we need to go." I'm not talking here about giving up as an actor and giving up your dream. What I am talking about is giving up the obsession, giving up the frustration, and giving up the pain, giving up the annoyance. Because how often have I denied a want or a need? Then I went through the steps to identify my needs, only to become even more annoyed, frustrated, and challenged because I didn't have what I want and didn't know how to get it. If I embark on a plan to control or influence getting that want or need met, I usually make things worse. "Searching, trying to control the process doesn't work. I must, and I have learned to my dismay, need to let go." This is very different from getting a practical plan of action, taking the steps, aligning the thoughts, and then letting go. "Visiting our own head is like visiting a bad neighborhood because it's a place that works against us instead of for us." I'm going to take these actions, let go of the results, and produce amazing results. The more I hope and try to get it, the more frustrated I feel because I'm not getting it. We often find that we really actually can have what we want and need or even something better. But sometimes, letting go is part of it. Letting go of that obsession, of that frustration, of that annoyance, of that pain.

Keeping at it as an actor. For me, that means continuing to practice healthy habits as an actor, meaning a devotion to training, business skills, to core work, which is the work on yourself. We need to work on these things with diligence, effort, and repeated practice. But every time we go just a little bit out of our comfort zone, that's where we get stronger, and that's where our new boundaries end. We can practice our acting training, do business skills, and work on ourselves even when we don't quote-unquote feel like it. And again, I would say especially then, because if we don't feel we are worth it and we do it anyway, we are acting our way into right thinking and sending a very powerful message to not only to ourselves, but to the universe as well. We can act as if it is worth it. We can act as if we are worth it, but we need to do it and do it, and do it, and do it, and do it day after day, year after year. It's unreasonable to expect this a hundred percent commitment to your life and your career. In fact, I dare say that success will come when you are ready. So that is why the core work is so important. So when that opportunity comes, you know, in and of yourself, that you are enough. We need to use our minds to govern our brains. And especially using your mind to govern your brain when you find yourself getting tired, stressed, frustrated, et cetera, because that is when you will revert back to old ways of thinking and behaving that will work against you instead of for you. Getting you to work for you instead of against you so you can keep at it. Building solid relationships in this industry. Understanding and learning how you tick and operate takes time. It takes self-love, it takes practice, and it takes time, and life experience. It takes keeping at it over and over again. One of the things my mom always said to me when I was a little girl and, um, things wouldn't go my way. She'd say, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again. And you know when you do that over and over and over again, and just when you think you've got it, guess what you find out. You have more to learn. But that's the beauty. That's the beauty of life. That's the beauty of the process of expansion. Keep training as an actor. Keep sharpening your business skills. Keep deepening your core work and learning more about yourself. Keep at it even when you don't feel like it. Just keep at it.

Today I'm going to talk about making it happen or if you're me forcing it to happen. The Language of Letting Go. "Stop trying so hard to make it happen. Stop doing so much. If doing so much is wearing you out or not achieving the desired results, stop thinking so much and so hard about it. Stop worrying so much about it. Stop trying to force, manipulate, coerce, or make it happen." Now around an acting career, it feels like so much is out of our control, so I get it. The actor mentality is, well, I'm going to make it happen. But again, it's out of our control. "Stop doing so much if doing so much is wearing you out or not achieving the desired results." Recording a podcast, I need number eight, nine, and ten energy, and I was operating at four, so it wasn't working. Also, there's obsession. Oh, obsession. You know, one of the things that I used to suffer terribly from was that my thinking was unbearable because I would just obsess about wanting to be a working actor or a famous actor, or I want this, I want that. How am I going to make this happen? It was so toxic in my own brain. Stop trying to force. To manipulate. My thinking was crazy. So I would do, I would do, do, do, and force, force, force, even though it wouldn't get me the desired result. I would think, think, think, trying to get the universe to get me what I wanted. And I'm not talking about positive affirmations here. I'm talking about worrying, thinking, obsessive thinking, and stinking thinking. And all of this was about trying to make something happen instead of stopping, taking a step back, observing, asking myself if it was healthy for me or unhealthy for me to do this, and then maybe responding. That is the anecdote to this. That is the way to change things around, and I do this at Acting Business Bootcamp by ensuring you're getting the best training, the best business skills, and learning how to manage this. The obsessive doing and the obsessive thinking. Making things happen is controlling. We can take positive action to help things happen, that's more of a response, and we can do our part, which, again, is a response, but many of us do much more than our part. We overstep the boundaries from caring and doing our part into controlling or overcare taking or over coercing our careers. And this is the thing, controlling is self-defeating. It doesn't work by overextending ourselves to make something happen. We may actually be stopping it from happening. Let that land. Wow. I wish I could return to that 18 or 19-year-old girl and teach her the lesson of let. Not even God can change the past, and I can only coach you and teach you from the lessons I've learned because I know people, and I can see when I get myself into it that it just doesn't work. It's painful to understand that when you have a goal, you need to align your thoughts and then align your actions in positive, affirmative, and effective ways. You're gonna have to do a lot of un uncomfy things to get successful. "Do your part. In relaxed, peaceful harmony with the universe. Then let it go. Just let it go. Force yourself to let it go. If necessary, act as if you're letting it go. Put as much energy into letting go and relaxing as you have into trying to control you will get much better results." Learn to let things happen because that's what they'll do anyway. Learn to let things happen because that's what's gonna happen anyway. And while we're waiting around to see what happens, we will be happier, and so will the people around us. I'll be happier and have more energy to do the things that will be effective for my career and life instead of ineffective. So instead of worrying about whether agent x, y, or z will call that, I focus on something that will actually be effective, like reading a play or taking a class. Think of that energy instead of staying home and worrying or staying home and forcing. Let it happen. Take the steps, and then let it happen.

David's Advanced Commercial Class About David: DAVID CADY is currently a professor of commercial and musical theatre performance at AMDA, NYU, and Pace University. Prior, he was a casting director for Donna DeSeta Casting for close to 30 years. In addition to countless commercials, his casting credits include the original Dirty Dancing, Disney's Enchanted, Michael John LaChiusa's The Petrified Prince for the Public Theater, and the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the Wind, directed by Harold Prince. He was an original cast member of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, and can be seen in Lonny Price's film about the experience, The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened. Most of the auditions are self-tapes. When do you make a daring choice? The times when I didn't ask for permission to be Peter Pamela Rose. Those were the times I got the callback or maybe booked the job. Really understanding how to interpret that script. What is your relationship to the product? When you have a theatrical text, it's your job to become the person on the page. And when you have a commercial text, it's your job to make the person on the page you. It's odd because even though you are filming something, you are capturing a live performance. It must still have that sense of spontaneity, that alive quality if something is 95%. Great. Or let's even say 90% great. You don't throw it out because 10% is not exactly what you would want it to be. How many takes do you do? What am I trying to achieve here? They have to have performance energy, and they have to have performance commitment. It's hard to develop a healthy perspective as to what they are looking for. Ask yourself: What am I looking for when I watch myself tapes? Go to an audition with the, "I can't wait to show you what I've got. Like I can't wait to show you what I have." And I think in some ways if you can bottle that excitement in your self-tape, and I think there's a real trick there. Dropping off the gift of your talent. Are you someone who has strong ideas about what this performance looks like? Are you someone who makes choices? Are you someone who makes interesting choices? Are you someone who does something that's out of the box that gets their attention, whether it's something that ever ends up in the commercial or not? It's a sense of self, and it's a freedom, and it's a joy in, in doing this that just, that comes through. There isn't a tentativeness. It's not your job to tell the audience how they felt about your performance. I would always love it when an actor screwed something up or said something that wasn't in the script. And I would say to them, do you know that that happened? And they'd say, oh, really? Improv in Commercials is different. You want to be accessible to yourself. How to handle one-liners.

Improv Class with Peggy ABOUT PEGGY: For over 40 years, Peggy has studied and performed Improv with The Groundings, Gross National Product, National Lampoon Players, TheatreSports, and Improvatorium. She is a current performing member of Puppet Up! (Adult Improv Puppet Show produced by The Jim Henson Company). She can be seen in The Barbarian and The Troll (series regular), Seinfeld, Boston Legal, Crash and Bernstein, The Last Champion, Earth to Ned, among others... She studied at San Francisco State University, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, American Conservatory Theatre, and holds a degree in Theatre. She taught short form at Improvatorium. It's also great for learning communication skills in your day-to-day time. Listening in your day-to-day. The power of Yes and. Let's try that again, but this time with a yes, try with a yes. The Who, the What, and the Where. Listening is a skill, and it's a muscle. Emotional response as another tool. Improv works onstage, it works in auditions, and it works in life.

So now what? "Few situations, no matter how greatly they appear to demand it, can be bettered by going berserk." It's important to put all of this into perspective. This is survivable. It's going to be survivable. Is it tough? Is it a pain in the neck? Does it potentially throw off some of our career plans? Does it maybe stop some stuff that we hoped would go forward and now isn't because of the strike? Absolutely. Is it survivable? Is it manageable? The answer is yes, it is. Us freaking out about it doesn't do us any good. What I would say is, Let's try and move into accepting it. I need to do what I can to be proactive in supporting the writers and keep the focus on myself. I need to take care of myself, my finances, my family, and especially my sanity. So let's look at how we deal with panic and uncertainty during this time. "Don't panic. If panic strikes, we do not have to allow it to control our behaviors." I don't have to let this strike control my behavior. "Behaviors controlled by panic tend to be self-defeating. No matter what the situation or circumstance, panic is usually not a good foundation. No matter what the circumstance or the situation, we usually have at least a moment to breathe deeply and restore ourselves to serenity and peace." Strikes can be marathons, not sprints. If we panic and we don't look at this by taking that step back and observing, what happens is that we lose our path. Breathe deeply, and let peace flow through our body and mind from our source, the power that makes the sunshine, the energy that knows best. Our higher selves shall supply the necessary resources. Let's stick together. Let's take care of each other. And the best way to do that is to take care of ourselves.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Workshop Well, this week, I turn another year older. In the 30-plus years, I've been in this industry, I've watched it change dramatically. Age is wisdom Age is an advantage Aging is beautiful Aging is a privilege "The walls of your comfort zone are lovingly decorated with your lifelong collection of favorite excuses." -Jen Sincero I was using age as an excuse. When you see what you're weak at, you don't want to shy away from it. You want to lean into it. You want to practice it more. You want to get stronger and better and master it. I've learned so much through getting older. They are looking for everything. They just want real. Start saying to yourself. "Why not me? Why not now?" What is stopping me? What is stopping me because if it's age or any other lifelong collection of excuses, then keep in mind you're the one who's making those excuses, and you can just as easily choose to overcome them.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Workshop Wendy Alnutt Class Last week I talked about the potential writer's strike, and I also talked about control. This is a business of practicing self-control. But what I think is far healthier is really learning how to keep the focus on ourselves. The Language of Letting Go "Control. Many of us have been trying to keep the whole world in orbit with sheer and forceful application of mental energy. What happens if we let go? If we stop trying to keep the world orbiting and just let it whirl? It'll keep right on whirling. It'll keep right on whirling. It'll stay right on track with no help from us. And we'll be free and relaxed enough to enjoy our place in it." "Control is an illusion. Especially the kind of control we've been trying to exert on our acting career." Your exercise for this week is to list out what are the things that I am trying to control in my acting career that will happen whether I try to control them or not. Writing things down. And seeing them with our own eyes. Teaches us more wisdom. To be smarter to access our higher knowledge. How many times did I think, "Oh my God, am I going to get a callback for that?" How many times have I thought, "Oh my God, am I going to get that role?" How many times have I thought those kinds of things? Did it affect the outcome? Of course, it didn't. All it did was it drove me crazy at that moment when I could have been enjoying the day when I could have been present. When I could have been listening to higher knowledge and maybe hearing about guidance for something else that was going to come through for me. How much of my life do I miss? Because I'm trying to control the uncontrollable. "Whatever we try to control does have control over us and our life. I have given this control to many things and people in my life. I have never gotten the results I wanted from controlling or trying to control other people. What I received from my efforts is an unmanageable life, and I will add an unmanageable mind, whether it's whether that unmanaged ability was inside of me or in external events. It just makes everyone crazy. I trade a life where I have tried to control to receive something better. And that thing that I receive by giving up control is a life that is manageable." A manageable mind is something that needs to be earned. And the only person we can earn it from is ourselves.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Class So people have been asking me about the writer's strike. Keep the focus on yourself. But what can you do? Use this opportunity to let go of drama. There's a great Michael Jordan quote, "Why would I worry about a shot that I haven't even taken yet?" Everybody is worried about something that hasn't even happened yet. Now let's talk about how that affects us as a human being. We're going to talk about that in a moment. But I just want to talk about this subject and my own experience with worrying about a bunch of stuff that I cannot even control. What it does is it uses up my energy. When I am worried about something that is truly probably, if you think about it, none of my business. If I am trying to get somebody to do something, I am out of myself and into control. So when it comes to this "potential writer's strike," I again urge you to think about keeping the focus on myself, and taking care of myself pays enormous dividends. Simple Exercise: I want you to make two columns. What can I control, and what can't I control. And the stuff that you can't control, I want you to just try and put it aside. I want you to look at the column where you can control Now in that column can be, and this is what I said I would address, preparing if there is a strike. So what would you need to do if it's going to affect your income? What would be the things that you could do to make sure that you are taking care of yourself financially? Is there stuff you need to start thinking about cutting back? Are there other jobs that are not in the industry that you could start to push a little bit or put a potential plan that, if you need to pull the trigger on it, you've got it? Is this a time for you to start looking at your acting career as a whole and looking and seeing, are all of your material speaking that "Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors" that I've talked about so many times? I want you to look at the things that you can control in your life. Maybe it's you want to start looking at eating better. Maybe it's that you want to start looking at your movement as an actor or your voice work as an actor, or your training as an actor. And if this happens, what can you do to prepare yourself financially? See, that's all keeping the focus on yourself. That's all doing things that you can control. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Workshop Ken's Theater Troupe So we wanted to do something that challenged that, that could excite and inspire young audiences and people, people who didn't go to the theater. There was such an amazing optimism, upbeat, warm energy. And we just got on and did it. Is it possible to have that attitude again in the world as it is now? I'm not looking to change the world anymore, but if I can help someone else change themselves, they will then be able to help change other people. Our first duty is to ourselves. What can I put back to the planet as a kind of legacy for being on this earth? Actors have a very important job to do right now in that by telling stories that are powerful and that are going to uplift people and give people hope and inspiration that can hopefully make the world better and better. How do you step up to that next level? How do you inspire people to find the courage to get up to that next level? So the first thing is to create an environment in which you can be playful in a generous way, generous, playful with each other, making sure your partner enjoys playing with you. And that takes away some of the fear. And how do I set that up? Often by saying to people, You don't have to do your best. You know, you don't be afraid of getting it wrong. You don't have to impress me. You don't have to impress each other right here to explore, to find out things. Your great strength as an American actor is your sense of naturalism. Until you can remove the fear in the room, good work can't happen. You have to love the audience. It's an act of love being on stage or on screen. You're giving something to the audience. The Structure of the Workshop.

Ken Rea's Outstanding Actor Masterclass About Ken: Professor Ken Rea is a theatre director, internationally acclaimed acting teacher, and author of the bestselling book, The Outstanding Actor, Seven Keys to Success Starting out in New Zealand, he worked with the country's leading theatres and in television drama. In 1973 he formed the Living Theatre Troupe, one of New Zealand's most important experimental companies. He went on to study theatre in China, Japan, and India, then moved to Europe, where he studied with leading European teachers. As Professor of Theatre at the renowned Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Ken has trained some of Britain's top actors and film stars, including EWAN MCGREGOR, LILY JAMES, JOSEPH FIENNES, DOMINIC WEST, JODIE WHITTAKER, DAMIAN LEWIS, HAYLEY ATWELL, RHYS IFANS, MICHELLE DOCKERY, FREDDIE FOX, SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, ORLANDO BLOOM, PAAPA ESSIEDU, and DANIEL CRAIG. Ken is in regular demand internationally and has previously taught at the national drama academies of China, India, New Zealand, and Italy, and he has given courses in the UK, Canada, Indonesia, Germany, USA, and Singapore. As a journalist, he has been a regular feature writer for The Times and was for 15 years a theatre critic for The Guardian. As a public speaker, Ken has given many large-scale presentations in the worlds of business and the arts. He also trains top executives throughout Europe in presentation skills and personal impact. He is about to launch his major online course: Ken Rea Teaches Acting. How do I get better work? And it's a really interesting question so you don't feel stuck in your career. Ask yourself what would that next level look like for you. Let's think about the acting itself. What would that look like? And so that immediately gives you a target. I want to be like this. So you know where you're going. So the next question to ask yourself is, where do you feel you are now? Which then shows you the gap between now where you are and there where you want to be. Then the next question you could ask yourself is, what would you like to have more of in your work? You know, for example, would you like to have more personality in your acting, more sense of danger in your acting, more gravitas, more presence, more charisma, more twinkle in the eye, more playfulness? And that immediately is going to take you out of your comfort zone. Progress happens not inside that comfort zone, but just outside it. That's the life of an actor, to be comfortable being uncomfortable. And that's your life as an actor, constantly taking risks, working outside that comfort zone. How can you be out of your comfort zone and still enjoy that, you know, and love performing? If you want to be more playful, more twinkle in the eye, more dangerous, what is stopping you from bringing that into the work that's stopping you from being out of your comfort zone? And what can you do about that? It takes a certain amount of comfortability in being yourself to know that you can go emotionally to a specific place and also know and play there, and it is out of your comfort zone and in a danger zone and in a scary zone, a risk zone, as you put it, but also always knowing that you have that anchor in yourself that you are able to handle it. Am I going to be good enough? Will I be found out? And I think as you get older, you make it about them, not about you. I find what works for me is, is to get the right mindset. It's about them, the energy going outward and forward with the focus on them, on what I can bring to them. Prepare meticulously. Outstanding Actor So I think the preparation is important and the mindset. You know, you can coach yourself a lot these days just by trying things out on your laptop, on your phone, recording, and playing it back. Start to experiment with things. Be very specific in your choices. Using contrary action as an actor. And it helps get that kind of volcano principle, you know, just the rumbling underneath the volcano before it erupts. Before it explodes, which creates, as you mentioned before, a sense of danger. Danger, I tend to think of that as you set up a tension between yourself, the actor, and the audience, thinking, "Oh, wow, where's she going with this? What's going to happen next?" Because audiences love to be thrilled and surprised, don't they? We lose that sense of playfulness that is the source of our charm, our creativity, and our imagination in adult life. And so a lot of the journey of the actor is to go back the wheel turns full circle back to that, to find at the adult age. I think that it's more fun to play the game if you know that you are capable and can handle whatever circumstance comes your way in life. Knowing you are capable, I think, is such an important part of being a good actor because you need to feel safe. So a good question to ask yourself then is okay, if there is fear, what is the source of the fear? Ken's New Exercise Ken's Secret Weapon Exercise And I think a lot is abo

Money Mastery for Actors We have a problem because we are looking outside of ourselves to get validation. The only validation that counts is getting validation from the hardest person on the planet to get it from, which is ourselves. What do you need? And it's the same for our self-tapes, and it's the same for auditions. I also need to say, from a casting point of view, from a casting director's point of view, if I see somebody posting something and asking if it is good enough on social media, I am immediately not interested. Because what that tells me as a casting director is you don't think it's good enough and that you need to go and get validation somewhere else. As a casting director, I am only interested in auditioning and only interested in booking actors who know that their work is good and doesn't don't need to put it out on social media. You are good enough. I always say that I am good enough is the one affirmation you can't say enough. Our self-esteem and our confidence as actors are imperative. It is imperative because agents, managers, casting directors, producers, and directors can read your desperation. And we're not interested in working with really desperate people. I'm interested in working with and collaborating with actors who know they are good and know their stuff in their training, in their skill set, and in how they operate in the business. The more you know yourself, the more you build your self-esteem, the more you work on yourself, and the more I (the casting director) want you. The more attractive you are, the more magnetic you are. And isn't that frickin incredible? "Trust can be one of the most confusing concepts in life. Who do we trust, and for what? And the answer is learning little bit by little bit to trust ourselves. A friend and I have been texting quite a bit, and he says, "Don't forget, anyone can eat an elephant one bite at a time." So that's the first tool I want to teach you is in learning how to trust yourself, say just a little bit less, and listen a little bit more. Also, when someone has a problem, not immediately going to solve it for them or try to be helpful, but just be a good friend and listen and say, "I hear you." "The most important trust issue we face is learning to trust ourselves. The most detrimental thing that's happened to us is that we came to believe that we couldn't trust ourselves. Ask yourself, Where did I learn not to trust me?" Keep the focus on yourself. And focus on trusting yourself instead of getting other people to trust you. Focus on your own opinion. Your own opinion of your self-tape. How do you feel you did? Be rigorously honest with yourself. Was that the best work you could do in that moment? Were you 100% committed? Was what was going on in the scene more important to you than what somebody else might think about it? Well, if your answer is yes and you know you did your best, guess what? It's a great self-tape; you don't have to post it on social media. Say it with me. I am good enough. I am good enough. And if you are having trouble saying that, I encourage you to just do something very simple: written affirmation work, which is just take the phrase I am good enough. And write it out with pen and paper and say it as you write it ten times a day if you can do it ten times in the morning and ten times at night. Start to change that thought pattern around being good enough because the Truth, the Universal Truth, is that you really are. Now. It's time to believe it.

Money Mastery for Actors Ken Rea Katie Flahive Setting Boundaries The Language of Letting Go "Boundaries. Sometimes life and people. And the business seemed to push and push. But because we are used to so much pain, we may tell ourselves that it doesn't hurt. Because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating us, we may tell ourselves that there is something wrong with us. There is nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to actually get our attention. Sometimes the pain and the pushing are pointing toward a lesson. And the lesson may be that we've become too controlling, or maybe we're being pushed to own our own power and take care of ourselves. When this comes up, the issue is actually boundaries. If something or somebody is pushing you to your limits, that's exactly what's happening. You're being pushed to your limits. And a different way of thinking about it is we can actually be grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and help us to set boundaries." The exercise for when somebody is pushing me And I can't take it anymore: Sit down with a blank piece of paper, or a notebook A pen and an extra pen just in case you run out of ink Take yourself to a coffee shop and sit down and bring only that I want you to write that person Basically, what I call your fuck you letter. You want to tell them everything about how you feel and what you needed in this situation. And you can be as loud and angry. And underline and exclamation points. And use as vulgar language as you can come up with. And then what I want you to do is take a deep breath. And then I want you to read through it. And I want you to write down. Two things in one column, I want you to write down how you feel. So emotions, adjectives. And then, in the next column, I want you to write down what you needed. From that person and possibly even, dare I say it, from yourself. And then, I want you to construct a different letter And in that, I want you to say how you felt. And that you needed. But leave the word "you" out. Example: Because if I say to you, you're always late. "I'm really pissed. You're always late." Well, what I'm immediately doing is putting you in the defensive position, and that's not going to help anybody. Instead, try: "I feel frustrated when I am kept waiting and waiting, and I need for our coffee dates to start on time." So that's how you set a boundary. And I encourage you to rewind this a bit and listen to it again so you really, really understand it. "Sometimes life and people seem to push and push." And that's where we get burnt out. That's where we get cranky. That's where we get into hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. "But because we are used to so much pain, we may tell ourselves it doesn't hurt because we are so used to people controlling and manipulating us. We may tell ourselves there is something wrong with us." And that's the problem: we continue to accept unacceptable behavior, but that doesn't make it right. It's time for us to start treating people how we want to be treated. When we head into that, telling ourselves that there is something wrong with us. That's Shame. That's shame because we feel that there is something defective with us, which there absolutely is not. "There is nothing wrong with us. Life is pushing and hurting to get our attention. Sometimes the pain and pushing we are pointing toward is a lesson." You might have to set a boundary with yourself. We can be grateful for the lesson that's here to help us explore and to help us learn how to set boundaries.

Chiropractor for the Mind Money Mastery for Actors The longevity of the work. You helped me to see how strong I could be and how secure and how confident, and how you have to teach people how to treat you. And from that advice, I have continued to use it when negotiating clients and contracts and, you know, dating, you can't assume people are going to treat you right, and you have to stand up for yourself and ask for what you deserve. You just gave me the right tools for me to realize that it was all in my control. I didn't have to be a victim of other people's bad actions or negativity holding me back. You stand in your own way. Let's say when you came to coaching, you were operating at 30%. Of where you were at, of where of what your potential was—30%. I helped you to see—the other 70%. And on the good days, it's 100%. And on the bad days, it's 80 or 90%. But it's a heck of a lot more than the 30% that was being operated with. Life and work are hard enough. Why aren't we using our full potential? And I think we're not using our full potential because we're only aware of the 30%. We don't even realize there's a whole other 70% there. I was afraid of change. I didn't want to not be the victim anymore. It was easier being a victim and complaining than it was to actually. Deal with the issues and learn how to do things to make it better. I realized that something needed to change. I wasn't sure what it was, but I needed help. And because I was desperate. "When you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you'll change." Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at really do change. I am no longer miserable in my own head. My head is a happy neighborhood. We would rather stay in the misery because that's familiar than take the risk on the incredible. Your life is like a thermometer, and you've got a certain temperature that you're comfortable being at. But if you get too cold or hot, your body wants to return to its comfort zone. For me, that was the most challenging part about change was that I knew that I was getting out of my comfort level. The coaching: We had a global pandemic. It was not your fault. "It gets better; it gets worse; it gets different; it gets real." So what is the number one word that comes up for me when I think of Karen is capable. You had the foresight that the ability to do enormous things. You lost your business. You dealt with that. You saw your income go from mid-six figures to zero. You had a condo that you could sell. Your mom is getting older. So that's an opportunity. Also, you landed a full-time job in a company. You did that. Take a moment and acknowledge you weren't a victim. You handled this situation. And not only that, when the shit hit the fan, you picked up the tools. You picked up the core work tools, and you applied them. So incredible because when the shit hits the fan, our number one thing is to go to all the negative stuff. You are probably the most capable person you know. Can you reframe what your life is actually like? It gave me gratitude for what I did have—and reframing where I am now. I'm getting time with my mom. There's a good chance I wouldn't get this time with her if the pandemic didn't happen. But I think the hardest part still is how quickly you can go back to that little girl. And I immediately went right back to that little girl with big brown hair and, you know, the dress with the sneakers on because I felt so alone. I felt like it was my fault. I've learned that it isn't and wasn't. Use the tools to get me in the right direction quicker. Truth with a capital T: Yes, you could have made things easier for yourself with a bigger nest egg. But you also can make things easier with your thoughts. I love the Louise Hay phrase. "Stop torturing yourself." It's about creating a happy place in your brain. Sometimes my brain isn't 100% happy, but I'd say, 80% of the time, it's pretty damn happy. Exercise: find a picture of yourself. As that little girl when you started to feel the fear. And keep it with you always and refer to it always because that's who you're taking care of. Go back to that exercise, and I want you to tell her that even though, yes, you lost your footing. You still always had her back through this whole thing that has happened for you. You still had her back. There is a lot to be grateful for. The opportunity to deal with it, to show myself that, yet again, I am capable. Exercise: Please look at everything that you have shared with us today. And I want you to find the evidence that shows you that you are capable. I want you to use your life to show that you are capable. Why don't you think of it differently? Because thoughts are just thoughts, and they can be changed. I am fucking capable. The work is about realizing your full potential in all areas of your life. Love the skin you're in.

Money Mastery for Actors Guide to Booking Commercial Voiceover Ken Rea Class Katie Flahive Classes Introduction to Commercial Voiceovers Advanced Commercial Workshop What to do when they "pass." Leslie Jones/ Chris Rock Story: "You're not ready." Basically what she said is, what the fuck does that mean? But, she kept following him. She kept, you know, making sure he saw her work, and then one day he basically got her an audition for SNL. And sometimes a pass means just that by that one person. That you're not ready. And sometimes it means, "Hey, I can't do anything for you. I would like to, but I can't do anything for you." I cannot tell you how many times I have said to an actor, "I don't have anything for you right now." And I can tell that Actor believes I am lying, but I genuinely don't have anything for them at that moment. The Language of Letting Go. And I'm going to talk about the emotion of sadness. "Ultimately to grieve our losses means to surrender to our feelings." I think it takes a brave person to feel their feelings. And it takes a lot to do that. And I can fight it. I can say, No, I don't. But the best thing I can do is just feel them, process them. "But we can learn from our grief. So many of us have lost so much, have said so many goodbyes. Have been through so many changes. We may want to hold back to the tides of change, not because the change is in good, but because we've had so much change and so much loss." Because that is something when we change, we have to let go of something to make. There is a part of me inside emotionally in my solar plexus that feels exhausted, exhausted by change, exhausted by new. "Sometimes when we are in the midst of pain and grief, we become short sighted. Like members of a tribe described in the movie Out of Africa. "If you put them in prison," one character said, "they die." "Why?" Asked another character. "Because they can't grasp the idea that they'll be let out one day. They think it's permanent, so they die." Many of us have had so much grief to get through, sometimes we begin to believe grief or pain is a permanent condition." The pain will stop. This, too, shall pass. Because once felt and released, our feelings will bring us to a better place from where we started. Even when an agent, or manager, or a casting director, or a project passes on us. Feeling our feelings, instead of denying or minimizing them, is how we heal from our past and move forward into a better future. Feeling our feelings is how we let go. Feeling our feelings is learning about how we feel so that we can be the vessel for characters to feel them as well. How can we play abject sadness if we have not allowed ourselves to feel abject sadness? Feeling our feelings, as artists is good, is educational, makes us better. Now, mind you, I'm saying feel them, not wallow in them. Feel them. Process them. When I'm going through a hard time, I say, "help me to feel these feelings as much as I need to in order to process them." "It may hurt for a moment, but peace and acceptance are on the other side. And here's the best part: so is a new beginning." So let's feel those feelings and go out there and create our best.

Today I'm going to talk about resisting negativity. I want to talk about preserving in you a spark. No matter how many times you get beaten down. That is never extinguished. The Language of Letting Go "Some people are carriers of negativity. They are storehouses of pent-up anger and volatile emotions. Some remain trapped in the victim role and act in ways that further their victimization. And others are still caught in the cycle of addictive or compulsive behavior. Negative energy can have a powerful pull on us, especially if we are struggling to maintain positive energy and balance." HALT: stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. And when it becomes more difficult for me to resist negativity, is when I'm hungry and when I'm tired. If I let my blood sugar get too low or I get too tired, resisting negativity from other people around me becomes more challenging. But negative energy is a powerful pull on us when we are struggling to maintain positive energy and balance. It's so incredibly challenging because it's truly like being at a fork in the road and choosing, "No, I'm going to find a way to be positive or I'm going to give in to the negativity." And sometimes it may seem that others who exude negative energy would like to pull us into the darkness with them. I'm sure you've heard the phrase misery loves company, but we do not have to go. We can choose to stay positive. We can choose to go. With good, orderly direction. Instead of going with the negativity, we can choose to find a way to stay positive. "Without judgment, we can decide it's okay to walk away. It's okay to protect ourselves." Stepping into an imaginary bag that no one else can see. And I think of it as being a protective layer just outside my skin. And I step into it and I bring it up past my ankles, my knees, my hips, my waist and my breasts and my shoulders and all the way up above my head. And then I seal it, I seal it, and I just tell myself, this is my protection. Here things stay positive, even though I may be in negative circumstances, and especially if I know that some things are unavoidable. You know, it's going to be contentious, but it doesn't mean you have to go there as well. Drop the rope, and find ways to be kind. I think what's really important to remember is that we cannot change other people. It does not help others for us to get off balance. In fact, maybe we can make a little bit of a positive difference by being kind to them and maybe just listen. "We do not lead others into the light by stepping into the darkness with them." That's what I mean by dropping the rope. If you think of a tug of war and that negative person is on one end and you're on the other. It's okay to drop the rope and let them carry it. "Today helped me to know that I don't have to allow myself to be pulled into negativity even around those who I love. Help me to set boundaries if necessary. Help me to know that it's okay to take care of myself and to glow."

Money Mastery for Actors Ken Rea On Camera with Katie Flahive Business of Voiceover The Language of Letting Go. "I sat in the car looking at a sign on the door of the food shelf office. Closed until Friday. It was Wednesday. I had two hungry children and myself. I had no money. I laid my head on the steering wheel. I couldn't take it anymore. I had been so strong, so brave, so trusting for so long. I was a single parent with two children, recently divorced. I had worked so courageously at being grateful for what I had while setting financial goals and working at believing I deserved the best. I had put up with so much poverty, so much deprivation. Daily, I worked the 11 step. I worked so hard at praying for the knowledge of the universe's will for me and the power to carry me through. I believed I was doing what I needed to do in my life. I wasn't lollygagging. I was doing my best, working my hardest. And there just wasn't enough money. Life had been a struggle in many ways, but the financial struggle seemed endless. Money isn't everything, but it takes money to solve certain problems. I was sick of letting go and letting go and letting go. I was sick of acting as if I had enough money. I was tired of having to work so hard daily and letting go of the pain and fear about not having enough. I was tired of working so hard at being happy without having enough. Actually, most of the time, I was happy I had found my soul in poverty. But now that I had my soul and myself. I wanted some money too. While I sat in the car trying to compose myself, I heard the universe speak to me in that silent, still voice that whispers gently to our souls. You don't ever have to worry about money again, child. Not unless you want to. I told you that I would take care of you. And I will. "Great." I thought, "Thanks a lot." I believe you. I trust you. But look around. I have no money. I have no food. And the food shelf is closed. You've let me down. Again. I heard the voice in my soul. You don't have to worry about money again. You don't have to be afraid. I promised to meet all of your needs. I went home, called a friend, and asked to borrow some money. I hated borrowing, but I had no choice. My breakdown in the car was a release. But it didn't solve a thing that day. There was no check in the mailbox. But you know what? I got food for the day. And the next day. And the next. Within six months, my income doubled. Within nine months, it tripled. Since that day, yes, I have had hard times. But I have never had to go without. Not for more than a moment in time. Now I have enough. Sometimes I still worry about money because that seems to be habitual. But now I know I don't have to, and I know I never did." The number of years I truly suffered. But my suffering was self-inflicted. And then I remember saying to myself, "Well. You've got two choices here. You can continue to live the way you've lived with money. Or, you can try this." Even though I knew that didn't work for me. It was comfortable. You have a goal, so let's say the goal is to be financially free. In order for that goal to happen, your thoughts must align with the goal, and your actions must align with the goal. And that is difficult. Why do I say it's difficult? Well, one, the action is difficult because you need to do contrary behavior. You need to get out of your comfort zone and do different things. But it's also about your belief system. And what you believe about money, and not only what you believe about money but what you believe money says about you. And that's why it's so damn difficult to change your behavior and to change your thoughts because. That is the combination of the two of them. Gives you a really good indication of what you believe about yourself. And that's fucking hard to face. It certainly was for me. Because it was really when I started looking at my money, did I start to unearth, did I start to excavate the real problem. Around my relationship with myself, which is I didn't love myself. And that was reflected in my self-worth. If I can get out of that stinking thinking around money, if someone who is partially dyslexic around money can learn this budget system and thrive so that they have a whole entire year of expenses in the bank as a cushion. So can you. Imagine this being the first day of the rest of your life regarding your finances.

Money Mastery for Actors Guide to Booking Commercial VO Workshop Time Management Replay Ken Rea Class The Language of Letting Go "Love yourself into health and a good life of your own. Love yourself into relationships that work for you and the other person. Love yourself into peace, happiness, joy, success, and contentment. Love yourself into all that you always wanted." I love the idea of loving myself into health. And I think the first relationship that I always need to love myself into is, again, the one with me and also the one with the power that makes the sunshine. A love affair with your higher, smarter self: the Universe. Loving myself into peace means when I put my head on the pillow at night, it is to rest. Not to worry. Not to fret. I also love, love myself into happiness, which is allowing myself to be happy. Giving myself the space to be happy, to feel joy, to be successful, and not worry about whether the other shoe is going to drop. And then this one. I think this is a toughie. Love yourself into contentment. Can I be content? Loving myself into peace means allowing myself the stop time. A wonderful exercise is to write down all the ways you want to love yourself and have love in your life. "We can stop treating ourselves the way others treated us if they behaved in less than healthy or desirable ways. If we have learned to see ourselves critically, conditionally, and in diminishing and punishing ways, well, hey, it's time to stop. Other people treated us this way, but it doesn't mean that we have to treat ourselves this way. It's so incredible to love ourselves this way." Now, how do we love ourselves? Well, sometimes we have to force ourselves at first. Sometimes we have to fake it till we make it. Can you work as hard at loving yourself as much as you did working not to love yourself? How do you expect somebody else to love you if you aren't loving yourself? How do you expect someone to value your work as an actor if you aren't valuing yourself and your work as an actor? Have a love affair with yourself. Wouldn't that be the kindest, most loving thing you could possibly do?

Time Management Replay Money Mastery for Actors Today we're going to talk about money and we're going to talk about our emotional connection to money. And our faith and money, meaning faith that the money will come. I am still working on my thought patterns around money. The Language of Letting Go "Sometimes there is not enough money to make ends meet, much less afford any luxuries. People may tell us we need to do a budget and we chuckle. The expenses we need to pay for survival surpass the income. We look at the situation, shake our heads and say, No way. Many of us have had to live through these situations. This is not the time to panic. This is not the time to despair." I used to be one of those people that would look at my finances and go, okay, well, I have I'm just going to make up numbers here, 1500 dollars in expenses and I have $1,000 to pay it with. What am I going to do? And when people would talk to me about budgeting, I would burst into tears over money situations. Learning a budget system that worked for someone like me who has a terribly unpredictable income. And that's what actors and freelancers have, incredibly unpredictable incomes. So the first part that I would say the huge change I had was really learning my numbers. And I'm going to tell you this. I did it with a tissue box next to me. I would look at the size of my bank account and I would say, well, that's my worth as a human being. And that's just bullshit. So the first thing I needed to do was get clarity, get clarity around my numbers. And then this was kind of the magical thing. Once I got the clarity. It wasn't so frightening. Once I knew what the situation was, I felt more empowered to do something about it. But yet there was another piece, which is piece number two, which is the emotional part around money. Louise Hay says that she would rather teach a seminar around sex and talk about all sorts of kinky sex than teach a seminar around money. Why? Because we all get so worked up about it. We all tie our self-worth into it. Use our minds to govern our brains, to help us to see what we are doing, to spot it, to notice it, to become aware of it, to accept it, and then to take action to get rid of those thoughts around money that don't work for us. All the gates open. And then then, as I talk about in time management, then things can really start to happen. "Panic and desperation will lead to bad judgment and desperate moves. This is the time to substitute faith for fear. This is the time to trust the universe to meet our needs. I am willing for you to show me a way around money. I am willing to learn how to manage my money. I am willing to change my thoughts around money. I am willing. Take life one day at a time and one need at a time. Use your survival skills positively. Know that your possibilities are not limited by the past. Examine any blocks that might be stopping the flow of money in your life. Do you have an attitude, an issue, a lesson that might be yours to change or to learn?" The great thing about shitty situations that come up in your life is, is that you can look at them and learn from them. But it does take that effort and that bravery and that courage to do so. "Maybe the lesson is a simple one of faith. Faith in the universe, but also faith in yourself. In biblical times, it is said that Jesus walked on water. It is said that his followers could too, but the moment they let fear take over, they sank. During financial hard times. We can learn to walk on water with our money issues. If we make out a budget and there's not enough money to survive and pay legitimate expenses, do your best. And then let it go. Trust. Source. To supply your needs. If an emergency arises and there is no cash to meet the need, look beyond your wallet. Look to your source, claim a divine supply, an unlimited supply for all that you need. Do your part. Strive for an attitude of financial responsibility in thought and action. Ask for divine wisdom. Listen to the universe's leading. Then let go of your fears and your need to control." Once you learn it and you understand it, it's like getting on a bike. You can align yourself with abundance. And bring more abundance into your life.

Katie Flahive On Camera Class Time Management Replay About Lev: Lev is a celebrated actor, photographer, fine artist, and award-winning filmmaker. He is currently recurring on Apple TV's FOR ALL MANKIND, and Starz' RAISING KANAN. Lev's acting career covers over 50 films and TV series. He is widely recognized for his role as Arkady Ivonovich on FX's EMMY WINNING THE AMERICANS, and as the character of Eton on the HBO series THE WIRE. In film, he has worked with WOODY ALLEN, SUSAN SARANDON, ROBERT DENIRO, and many others. He is set to direct his first feature film in the Fall of 2023. What really influenced my acting as I got older is when I began to realize that good acting is really bad acting. So for me, what became really important is behavior. Truthful behavior in imaginary circumstances. If you approach roles, if you approach parts, if you approach scenes as behavior. Then you're not taking a page and trying to justify what the writer wrote. I'm not going to pretend to do something if it's not me. What I started to think of when I look at scripts now is commitment. Just bringing the skill of utter 1,000% commitment because that's what I practice every day at my work. All of a sudden and you have an imagination of what's happened to this character, all of a sudden you have this life. If you want to get stronger as a human being and get to know yourself better, let's just talk about AB exercises, okay? So I hate this exercise called mountain climbers. It's fucking painful. I fucking hate it. But you know, what is the number one exercise I always go to when I'm working on abs? Mountain climbers. Why? Because that is the area of my body that is weak, that I want to strengthen. I get stronger and I build the one thing you cannot buy no matter if you are a billionaire or not. And that is self-esteem. And the other thing that happens is, is that you gain knowledge of yourself. And the more I understand how Peter Pamela Rose ticks, the more I will be able to incorporate that into her character. You need to face yourself on the top of the mountain every day. Letting yourself be present in the work. And I think that that takes a tremendous amount of self-trust and self-esteem. Because it's an incredibly brave thing to do. Being entitled and having confidence is slightly different. I think being entitled is a positive thing. You should expect only the best. You should be entitled. I don't mean be an asshole, be arrogant, be rude, be mean. Those things are not being entitled. Those things are just being insecure and rude and mean. Being entitled means. Yes, this. I deserve this. This is coming to me. Be entitled. Be confident. Have humility. But be confident enough to say, I deserve this. So feel entitled. It's okay.

Katie Flahive Class "Setting our own course. We are powerless over other people's expectations of us. We cannot control what they want, what they expect, or what they want us to do or be." Keep the focus on yourself. What other people think of me is none of my business. Taking care of myself pays enormous dividends. Take care of yourself first, and the rest will follow. Put on your bubble suit. When you go into difficult situations with people who push your buttons, probably because they install them, it's really helpful to know that you have a little space around you that nobody can penetrate. "We can, however, control how we respond to other people's expectations." We are not responsible for our first thought, but we are responsible for our second. I encourage you to stop taking a step back and ask yourself, "is this healthy for me or unhealthy for me?" And then responding. A response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it. "During the course of any day, people may make demands on our time, talents, energy, money, and emotions. We do not have to say yes to every request. No is a complete sentence. We do not have to feel guilty if we say no, and we do not have to allow the barrage of demands to control the course of our life." They are on their time, but that doesn't mean it has to wreck my day. No is a complete sentence. I do not bring stuff into my life anymore that I am not 1,000% committed to. "We do not have to spend our life reacting to others and to the course they would prefer we took in our life." We can, through core work, be strong enough in and of ourselves to know that we are enough. And keep the course steady ourselves. As Diana Nyad said, "find a way, find a way to stay on course. Find a way to stay on course." We can set boundaries. We can firm up limits on how far we will go with others. We can trust and listen to ourselves. We can set goals and direction for our life. And we can. This is so important to place value on our life, on what we want. We can own our power with people. "Think about what you want. Consider how responding to another's need will affect the course of your life. We live our own life, not by letting other people, their expectations, and their demands control the course of our life. We can let them have their demands and their expectations, and we can allow them to have their feelings. But we can also own our own power to choose the path that is right for us." Taking that time to plan out and think about what I want and my needs are. So it's finding that balance and setting my own course of maintaining the wonderful goals that I have already achieved, but yet still shooting for more. And not worrying about what anybody thinks. It's learning what is best for you and following that.

Time Management Workshop Do the next right thing. The Language of Letting Go "Rest when you're tired. Take a drink of cold water when you're thirsty. Call a friend when you're lonely. Ask the universe to help when you feel overwhelmed." Yeah, I was in a very challenging, difficult place, along with millions of other people. But I'm here. I survived. I handled it. And out of that came self-esteem, more self-esteem that I'm capable of and will never, ever be given more than I can handle. I will never be given more than I can handle, but I will be given more than I can control. "Many of us have learned how to deprive and neglect ourselves. Many of us have learned to push ourselves hard when the problem is that we've already pushed too hard. Many of us are afraid the work won't get done if we rest when we're tired. The work will get done. It will be done better than work that emerges from tiredness of soul and spirit." Refuel. With self-love, with good food, with tea. Because nourished, nurtured people who love themselves and care for themselves are the delight of the universe. They are well-timed, efficient, and divinely led. And that is why self-care, especially during stressful times, is so very, very, very important.

Time Management Workshop Everything is fixable.

Time Management Workshop Ask Me Anything I always find December to be actually the hardest time of the year. I feel like there are more demands put on me in all areas of my life. I will allow myself just to be where I'm at. So if you feel like you're starting the new year exhausted. I just wanted to say I hear you. I'm kind of there myself, but it's all right. Find the pockets of time when you can take care of yourself. The Language of Letting Go: "Make New Year's goals. Dig within and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part." If you want to change your own life, you need to take responsibility for it. "It is an affirmation that you're interested in fully living in the year to come." Goals give us direction. They put a powerful force into play on a universal, conscious and subconscious level. Goals give our life direction. What would you like to have happen in your life this year? "What would you like to do? What would you like to accomplish? What good would you like to attract into your life? What particular areas of growth would you like to have happen to you? What blocks or character defects would you like to have removed? What would you like to attain? What little things would you like to attain? What big things would you like to attain? Where would you like to go? Where do you want to travel to this year? How would you like your mind to open this year? What would you like to have happen in your friendships? What would you like to have happen in your love life? What would you like to have happen in your family life?" Remember, we aren't controlling others with our goals. "What problems would you like to see solved? What decisions would you like to make? What would you like to have happen in your career?" "Write it down. Take a piece of paper. Take the time out as an affirmation of you, your life. Your ability to choose. Then let it go. Certainly, things happen that are out of our control. Sometimes these events are pleasant surprises. Sometimes they are of another nature. But they are all part of the chapter that will be this year in our life and will move us forward in the story. The New Year stands before us like a chapter in a book waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals." One of the things that I spent a lot of time over the holiday doing is going over my goals, motivations, and next steps and planning things out for 2023.

I'm really grateful for this year. I want you to think of a few things that you are grateful for. What's number one? Fill in the blank. What's the number two? Fill in the blank. And what's the third thing you're grateful for this year, in 2022? Fill in the blank. Also, start to look forward to 2023. Are you looking to this year coming up with anticipation and excitement? Dread? Worry? Fill in the blank. What are the three emotions you are looking at 2023 with? Feelings aren't facts. Take your emotions out of your to do list. When we are worried or anxious, the real question is, "what are we not taking responsibility for?" So if you have some sort of negative feeling toward 2023, ask yourself, "what are you not taking responsibility for?" Ask yourself, How can I baby step and take responsibility? Once taking responsibility, especially when you're frightened, especially when you're scared. When you're able to do that, you build so much self-esteem. Take contrary action. Breathing Meditation When you connect to your breath, you feel a little bit better. You feel a little more connected to what you're grateful for. I wish you a wonderful, incredible holiday season. And an even better 2023.

Time Management Workshop About Geneva: GENEVA CARR is best known for her portrayal of Marissa Morgan on 6 seasons of the CBS television series BULL. Additional TV credits include Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Intent, Rescue Me, Younger, The Mysteries of Laura, Royal Pains, Elementary, The Good Wife, and Sex and the City. Film credits include Wonder Wheel, Love and Other Drugs, Ava's possessions, It's Complicated, College Road Trip, and the upcoming Asian Persuasion. Geneva earned a 2015 Tony Nomination for Lead Actress in a Play for her performance as 'Margery' in Broadway's Hand To God. Additional NY theatre credits include Trevor, Just Sex, I Wanna Destroy You, Finding Claire, Rose's Dilemma, Clash by Night, Betty's Summer Vacation, and Boise. You have to create a space where you can find work for yourself. Bull was my eighth pilot, which I like telling actors about because it doesn't happen overnight. This was my eighth. Hand to God led to Bull on CBS. I did that for six seasons. And the truth is, nobody loves to audition as much as me because it's a 30-second movie starring me right now. I love to prepare. It's like going to the gym. It's like putting on a show. And you know that for 5 minutes, you have a captive audience. Casting directors want to like you. They want to get to know you. So if you can put your nerves aside and realize that it's a real treat to be in that room. You have to watch everything ON TV. "I don't put people on TV if they don't watch TV." You can only be yourself. Maybe it's easier for me now because I know who I am. I'm not apologizing for who I am. I can't please everyone. But the truth is, I don't like everyone, and the more you are authentically yourself, the more you will work. If you want to build somebody up, give them an honest compliment. I had to go back to being an actor looking for work with a whole new toolkit. The Director Tells the Story Being a costar and a guest star has zero to do with being a series regular. It is very challenging being a series regular. Costars and guest stars- savor those opportunities to learn because a series regular is really hard.

Ask Me Anything Time Management Class What to get Casting Directors, Managers, and Agents over the holidays. This year I'm suggesting one of two things: a thoughtful gift card or a charity donation. So a thoughtful gift card would be that you contact someone else in the casting office or agency and ask what their fellow employees like. "Hey, are they a Starbucks person, or are they a Costco person? Are they a McDonald's person or a Dunkin Donuts person?" And then, you can send them an electronic gift card. If you're booking a lot. Yes. You want to be thinking more $50, $75, $100. But if you're a new client or you haven't been booking that year, or there's a casting office that has maybe thought of you a few times throughout the year. A simple $20 gift card. A $25 gift card is fine. Defaults: Amazon, you can buy anything there. Starbucks, you can get food, you can get coffee, you can get tea Or, the charity donation, which, again, you could ask someone in the office or even ask that person, "I'd like to make a donation to a charity of your choice this year. Would you please let me know what charity you support?" And then you make a donation in their name. Or you could choose a charity yourself. The Actors Fund or Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS are wonderful charities that the industry recognizes. The gifts are just tokens. A well-written card, something that says something from the heart, is also a wonderful, wonderful way for you to show your appreciation. You're not going to buy your way into that casting director's heart. You're not going to buy your way into that agent or manager's heart. You're just genuinely letting them know that you appreciate how they have thought of you this year.

Time Management Workshop About Andi: Andi Matheny is a 25-year veteran of Hollywood who started the Andi Matheny Acting Studios in 2010 and has coached hundreds of actors to book their first roles in TV and film. Andi has had a recurring role on The Resident as Dr. Kelly Whitley, starred opposite Sara Rue in The Hallmark Channel Movie True Love Blooms, opposite Kelsey Grammer in the film High Expectations, opposite Phylicia Rashad in the Oprah Winfrey production David Makes Man and opposite Ryan Phillippe and Patrick Duffy in the comedy Lady of the Manor, written and directed by Justin Long. Other notable credits include Devious Maids, The Mentalist, Ugly Betty, Zoey 101, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and The Shadow Effect. Andi hosted the talk shows Friends or Lovers, Essentials, Fit Resort and Spa, and Kwik Witz. She appeared in dozens of commercials, including a worldwide campaign for Olay. Andi won the Jury Prize for Best Florida Film for her directorial debut The Newest Member at the 2017 Sunscreen Film Festival. Her web series Good Morning St. Pete! which she wrote, directed, and starred in, won Best Web Series at the 2018 Sunscreen Film Festival and garnered her the Best Leading Actress Award at the 2018 Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival. Andi's groundbreaking book "Act ALIVE: The Essential Guide to Igniting and Sustaining Your Working Actor Career" was published in 2022 and debuted on Amazon at #3 in Acting and Auditioning. Get the book: Act Alive How hosting has changed. Human beings are interesting. hHere is a thing that beginning actors and even experienced actors do. They'll look at a script, right? And the script will say things like, "I hate you, you have ruined my life, blah, blah, blah." And everybody jumps to the conclusion of, "Well, this is an angry scene, and I got to say, I hate you, and you've ruined my life." The hot person confrontation is when you find somebody, this "hot person" in your life who has screwed you over, and now you're kind of doing the fantasy version of talking to them the way you wish you could have talked to them in that moment. As a coach, I'm not interested in your excuses. I'm interested in what you're going to do about it. In spite of all the odds against you. If your job is to act, you better get fucking good at acting. Understand what casting directors had been trying to get through my head, which is, I want you to be good. When you audition, you are solving somebody's problem. So when you have the working actor mindset, you show up in a collaborative, helpful spirit to help solve the casting director's problem because the casting director has pressure on them to fulfill all of these roles. As soon as you make it about the other person and not about you and your ego, that's when your bookings are going to start soaring. Art comes from a totally different place. You've got to be connected. You have to be connected from your soul, from a soul level, to what you're doing. Sometimes the less, the better.

Ask Me Anything Marianne Williamson "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." My manifesto for my life is to inspire. It is the one word that I feel describes what my purpose on this planet is to do. I wake up, and I show up for duty. What's your one word purpose? It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. And I believe it is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us because it is not our darkness that we need to take responsibility for. But it is our light. It is our talent. Every single one of us has a purpose. As your life gets bigger, it requires more of your attention. Because I cannot give away what I have not given myself. You not being your best; who the fuck does that serve? You hiding your talent that has been so freely given to you? Who the hell does that serve? You're not being generous and fabulous and showing your light and being who you really are. Who does that serve? The answer is no one except maybe your ego. There's the ego mindset, which is finite and is only what is in me. And then there is the universal mindset, which is infinite. Which plugs into that universal intelligence. There is power in serving. Because when you serve, you get out of yourself. When you are out of yourself, and you are serving, you are no longer in fear. I am so done with playing small so that people around me feel more comfortable. If you don't feel comfortable being around me, don't hang around me. I want to concentrate on serving one because it makes me happy. Inspiring brings me more joy than anything else in the world, no matter what form it is. It's not my job to help you feel better by diminishing myself. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. If you go on social media and you see somebody do something. And it makes you feel bad about yourself. Ask yourself, what do I not want to take responsibility for? When one of your friends wins an award or one of your friends makes a short film, and it gets voted best something at the Grand Canyon Film Festival. Congratulate them. Thank them for showing you that it is possible. Isn't that much better than just feeling shitty about yourself? That doesn't serve anybody. That doesn't do anything. I want to inspire you to do something. To be brave. To serve, because when you serve through your craft, through your talent, you are a positive force in this world. And, my God, we need a powerful force. So be that in your world. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. That is the power of serving as an actor. By you doing your work as an artist. You help other people, but you also help yourself, which only enables you to help more people.

Ask Me Anything "I was 35 years old the first time I spoke up to my mother and refused to buy into her games and manipulation. I was terribly frightened and almost couldn't believe I was doing this. I found I didn't have to be mean. I didn't have to start an argument. But I could say what I wanted and needed to say to take care of myself. I learned I could love and honor myself and still care about my mother the way I wanted to, not the way she wanted me to." Take a step back and observe. I tell myself, mouth shut. If you are using your mind to govern your brain while you are with family over the holiday and you start to spot the stuff going on. You can simply remain quiet and just observe it: Maybe go to the kitchen. Make yourself a cup of tea. Make yourself a cup of coffee. Go to the bathroom. Say, "You know what? My legs are a bit stiff. I'm going to go for a walk." Understand that you don't need to be trapped into it. You can observe it and can choose how you are going to respond to it. I also recommend bringing some sort of a journal. I also find that if there is a pet in the house, that's a great always a great diversion to go to the pet if you need a touchstone because animals are the presence keepers. Drop the rope. The best frickin' piece of advice I can give is when somebody goes at you, respond in kindness. It's not that you're not participating. It's that you're taking care of yourself. Just for this holiday. Take care of your emotional self. Say less. Be kind. Be there for others. Here's an old thing I've used to use quite a lot, put on your bubble suit. When you get to where you are arriving or if you're taking a train or a plane, go to the public restroom, and bend all the way down to the floor. Imagine yourself stepping into an imaginary bubble suit. Pull it up around your head. Clench it tight and know that in your little bubble suit, you are safe and secure.

Ask Me Anything Control versus trust. "There was a time in my life when I felt so afraid of and overwhelmed by the very act of living. That I actually wanted to make out a schedule for each day of my life for the next five years. I wanted to include all the chores I had to do when I would do them, even when I would schedule relaxation. I wanted to get some order into what felt so incredibly overwhelming. I wanted to feel like I was in control." How many times have I woken up in the morning and just gone, "Oh my God, I don't know how I'm going to be able to face this day?" How many times have I woken up going, "How am I going to take a step forward?" And the fact of the matter is, I can't control anything. The only thing I can change is myself and my attitude. And the whole thing I think about anxiety is that anxiety is about control. Remember, we will never be given more than we can handle. But we will be given more than we can control. "Controlling is a direct response to our fear, panic and sense of helplessness. It is a direct response to feeling overwhelmed. And to distrust. We may not trust ourselves, our higher power, or the universe. The plan. The process of life. But instead of trusting, which is really what we need to be doing, we revert to trying to control. We can approach this need to control by dealing with our fear. We deal with fear by trusting ourselves, our higher power, the love and the support of the universe, the plan, and this process we call life. And the recovery of ourselves. We can trust that when things don't work out the way we want. The universe does have something better planned." Sometimes we don't immediately see it. And we want to see it immediately. Why do we want to see it immediately? Well, because we want to control. My job is not to control. My job is to show up. And do the next right thing. The next thing on my plate. "We can trust ourselves to get where we need to go. Say what we need to say. Do what we need to do. Know what we need to know. Be who we need to be and become all we can become. When we are intended to do that, when we are ready. And when the time is right." So imagine that. Just imagine that. When we are ready. When the time is right. We can trust our higher power, the universe, whatever the heck you want to call it, to give us direction. We are always doing the very, very best we can in each and every moment. We need to trust. "We can trust. All that we need on this journey shall come to us. We will not get all we need for the entire journey. Today, we shall receive today's supplies today. And tomorrow's supplies tomorrow. We are never intended to carry supplies for the entire journey. The burden would be too heavy. And the way was intended to actually be light. Trust in yourself. We do not have to plan or control or schedule all things. The schedule and the plan have been written. All we need to do is show up. The way will become clear and the supplies will be amply provided for us and clearly provided. One day at a time. Trust in yourself. Trust in the universe. And trust in today."

Ask Me Anything! Have some fun. How important that is, for your instrument as an actor, but also for you as a human being. "So have some fun. Loosen up a bit, enjoy life. We do not have to be so somber and serious. We do not have to be so reflective, so critical, so bound up within ourselves and the rigid parameters others and often ourselves have placed around us." One of the things when I was starting out as a young actress, I would always be quite somber and serious. It wasn't until doing this work that I allowed myself to be a little bit more silly because it was almost like I felt like it wasn't safe for me to have fun. I think that I had this idea that I had to work, work, work, and I had to be miserable, and it had to be hard. And that's just not the way it is. Because when we relax and we have fun, and we play, that's when we enjoy our lives the most, but also how we enjoy a scene or acting the most. The best actors are so relaxed and in the moment. "This is life, not a funeral service. Have some fun with it. Enter into it. Participate. Experiment. Take a risk. Be spontaneous. Do not always be so concerned about doing it right. Doing the 'appropriate thing.'" Just do the next right thing. It's moving from "do the next thing right" to "just do the next right thing." One is a very healthy way of thinking, and the other is very judgmental. Do I want to choose the healthy way, or do I want to go the way I've always done it. "Do not always be so concerned about what others will think or say. What they think and say are their issues, not ours. Do not be so afraid of making a mistake. Do not be so fearful and proper. Do not inhibit yourself so much." Just let go. Take a risk. See what happens. "To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." "We were not intended to be so inhibited, so restricted, so controlled. These repressive parameters are what other people have imposed on us, what we have allowed to be done to us." We teach people how to treat us. We can also reteach people how to treat us. But that involves setting boundaries, that involves standing up for ourselves. That involves allowing us and allowing ourselves to be free. "We were created fully human. We were given emotions. Desires, hopes. Dreams. Feelings. There is an alive, excited, fun-loving child in us somewhere. Let it come out. Let it come alive. Let it have some fun. Not for just 2 hours on a Saturday evening. Bring it with us. Let it help us enjoy this gift of being alive. Being fully human and being who we are." That's what I would describe as great acting, that it is about being fully human, about being fully alive, about being unrestricted, about being fearless. And I find, again, the more I can do that in my own life. The more that can be brought into the art of acting. "So many rules. So much shame we've lived with. It simply isn't necessary. We have been brainwashed. It is time now to free ourselves. Let ourselves go and enter fully human into a full life. Don't worry. We will learn our lessons when necessary. We have learned discipline. We will not go awry. What will happen is we will begin enjoying life. We will begin enjoying and experiencing our whole self. We can trust ourselves." Anxiety is about feeling like we can't handle it. And the fact of the matter is we can handle it. "We have boundaries now. We have a foundation. We can afford to experiment and experience. We are in touch with ourselves and our universe. We are being guided. But a frozen inanimate object cannot be guided. It cannot even be moved. Have some fun. Loosen up a bit. Break a few rules. We won't be punished. We don't have to allow people to punish us. And we can stop punishing ourselves. As long as we are here and alive, let's begin to live." I want to give you a tool: Listen to my other podcasts. Listen to all of the core work podcasts. Listen to them once. And then listen to them again with a pad and paper. Take notes. And writing it down. It's so, so powerful.

Ask Me Anything Letting go of timing Be humble to the moment "Time thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me untie." That nagging feeling of like, "why isn't it moving faster?" That's what this is all about. The Language of Letting Go "When the time is right. How often have we heard those words from a friend? From the universe. From anyone. We sometimes want things so badly: that job, that check, a relationship, a possession. We want our life to change. So we wait sometimes patiently, sometimes anxiously wondering all the while, when will the future bring me what I long for? Will I be happy then? We tried to predict, circling dates on the calendar, asking questions. We forget that we don't hold the answers. The answers come from the universe. And if we really listen closely, we will hear them. When the time is right. When the time is right. Be happy now." And when it comes to being uncomfortable, meaning being in process, that makes even more sense. Because who wants to be in process? We want to get there. If I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, I have the power to change my life. Because in order to make that kind of a change, like a huge change in your life, you're going to have to do things that you're not so comfortable doing. Exercise: I want you to think of the things that you so want to have happen. And then I want you to also think about how you will need to change in order to make those things happen. I also want you to look at how you can enjoy the process of making it happen.

About Michael: Michael Kostroff is an established TV and stage actor best known for his role as unscrupulous gang attorney Maury Levy on HBO's legendary series, The Wire. In addition to his many television gigs, he's toured with The Producers and Les Misérables, appeared on regional stages all across the country, served as an advice columnist for Backstage, created the popular workshop "Audition Psych 101" (which focuses on the psychological side of auditioning), and written four books, including his recently published manual, The Stage Actor's Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional. The gospel of low expectations. My philosophy is very different from the popular philosophies—no one's entitled to a career. If you decide this is what you want to do, then you're signing on for the unemployment, the insecurity, the inconsistency, and you don't get to complain about it. Yeah, I love being an actor, but it's not dependent on credits or being employed. It's who I am and what I've chosen to do with my life. So sign on for the whole thing. Not just the days when you work. Remind yourself that this is a job, and you are being paid to do it, so you need to show up and do it. The reason that the psychology of auditioning is my specialty is because I was miserable at it. I hated every moment of it. I was terrible at it, and I was all in my head about stuff. And I had to pick it apart to get to the place where I am now, which is I enjoy it. Most auditions do not result in jobs. That's math. It's not because we suck. It's just applying mathematics. And I realized that I was putting all my energy and focus into figuring out how to get a job. And when I realized that is not going to happen 99% of the time, there has to be another reason to go to an audition. And now, I relish the opportunity to be an actor and play a role. And I have a much better time auditioning. And as soon as I said, You're not getting the fucking job; I started to go, Oh, okay. Well, then, I'm going to make the choices I would make if I had the role because I'm only going to do it for one performance. Let's. Let's invest in it. Let's make the decisions. Let's do all the choices. Let's do it my way. Because I can't guess what they're going to like or not like. I think self-knowledge is essential for actors. Because I really know myself. Thank you. Thank you. I'm able to morph into these other characters from it, from a place that's truthful and neutral. I think that to really play those roles well. You know, you have to make a case for your character. You need to be the best advocate for your character. That is sometimes difficult because sometimes the person who we have the hardest time advocating for is ourselves. I really want actors to step into their authority as actors. Trying to predict what people will respond to is the enemy of good acting. Just going, "I don't know if they're going to pick me. Probably they won't. But here's how I'd like to play this scene today." It's hard for us to believe in our own work. I think that's very challenging. It is more effective for me not to think in terms of whether I am a good actor or not a good actor. Instead, I've got stuff to do in this scene. Get yourself so busy with the thoughts of the character and the objectives of the character. I always say when I'm in the scene; there's nobody else who can do it. I'm the only one who can convince these people that my wife is trying to kill me. My mantra is you're not getting the fucking job. Trying to get the job is not conducive to getting a job because nobody wants to watch an actor try to get a job. You're not getting the fucking job. There's no fucking job. Now, convince these people that your wife is trying to kill you. That's what you got to do. You do your prep, and then you've got to throw the Frisbee. You got to let it go. And that's scary. That's risky because you're your ego wants to control it. My best days are the days when I'm the passenger; I'm the copilot. I'm here to show up and to be of service on this day. Rip off the Band-Aid and deal with it because it will not get easier. I really have no tolerance for actors who are always going on about how unfair the business is. Correct. What do you want to do now? Keep the focus on yourself. When somebody is bitter about that or something else, I always ask, "so what's the payoff? Okay, so they're going to be casting more actors of color. So does that mean you try less? Oh, oh, I get it. So you don't have to take responsibility now." Whenever I'm in some negative place, I ask myself this question, What are you not taking responsibility for? Take your emotions out of your to-do list. I'm trying to take judgment out of my to-do list, also. The Stage Actors Handbook And it details our traditions, our protocols, our superstitions, our particular language, and our particular chain of command that you just mostly learn from screwing up. Alfred Molina said, "l

About Christin Baker: Christin Baker (A Baker Production) is an award-winning director and Emmy-nominated producer. She has been playing with video producing and storytelling since she was 13 after her family got their first VHS camcorder. She started out directing music videos, and SNL parodies with the neighborhood kids and moved on to start her own digital distribution and production company, tellofilms.com. She is the co-founder of Tello Films, which focuses on stories for the lesbian/queer community. Tello is the first lesbian/queer network to receive an Emmy Nomination. The series Secs & EXECS has received a 2017 Emmy Nomination for Mindy Sterling, Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy/Drama Series. In 2019 the series "Riley Parra" received 2 Emmy nominations for actresses Liz Vassey and Carolyn Ratteray. Christin is passionate about telling relevant and meaningful stories. Christin was early in the streaming content creation and founded Tello Films in 2009. She is an expert on distributing and creating original content (features, shorts, and series) as well as creating a platform for monetizing niche entertainment. Christin is also passionate about directing and was awarded Best Director for her work on Maybelle at the 2016 London Raindance Film Festival. Christin is a member of the Producers Guild of America as well as the Television Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Christin just wrapped directing her 4th Lesbian/Queer Holiday RomCom "Merry & Gay" and is working on the 2nd feature for her Thriller Franchise Scare BNB called "Scare BNB: Double Booking." That follows "Christmas at the Ranch," "I Hate New Year's," and "Season of Love," which was the first Hallmark-esque Lesbian/Queer Holiday RomCom. Actors wanting to keep up with Christin as she develops and casts her movies can follow her on social media @christintello (Twitter and Instagram) and follow "A Baker Production" on Facebook. Actors making their own content and the power that has for them. As a director and producer, I love when I know an actor has tried their own hand at making a project because their respect for what we're going through is significantly greater. I think so much of acting is waiting to be called upon. Right? Like you go to an audition, you send in your tape, you send in your tape, and then you sit back, and you wait for someone to say yes or no to you. And so I think any time you can put your energy into something active, that's like telling your own story, I think just energetically that helps you and puts you in your own action. I always think work begets work. If you can, it can be very helpful when the gender of the person you're acting with is the same as who's reading with you. Don't have the camera too close to your face. So I've seen some audition tapes, and this is for people who are probably very green, who are listening to your podcast--I've had audition tapes sent in where no one is reading with the person on camera. Do your best to have someone reading with you that that's going to give you, you know, something even if it's yourself. I can sometimes tell within 10 seconds. And if the person isn't right, I move on. The most important thing is to like make a choice, make a bold choice that I can see. I'm an actor's director. I love playing with actors on set. I love that, like knowing if they can make a choice. And if I don't like that choice, I'll make a correction. But I know that like they're going to come to the table having thought about it and giving me something interesting. Favorite qualities of actors who you love to work with: I really love working with an actor who can make a quick pivot. The eyes are so important, you can literally see that shift in the eyes, and it's absolutely like it's incredible. I love actors when they have that instinct to move. What is the process of how you make an independent film? You have to kind of figure out the business of it. I wanted to get investors, meaning you have to set up an LLC. Then you have to ensure that LLC owns the rights to the script in the movie and the project. And often, those LLCs will be called like the name of the film. A crowdfunding campaign. For me, that was a perfect place to start. Accredited investors There are certain producers out there that have investors who are sitting out there waiting to invest in projects. And I know that sounds crazy. And I think it's like this magical fairyland, but it is true. And so when they get A-list stars or a big name, they can go back to their, you know, multimillion-dollar or billionaire pockets and go, "hey, we have Nick Cage. We need another $5 million, and those people will give it to them." If you don't have those people, casting an A-list star in your movie will not get you investors. What it will get you on the backend is like press and a decent distributor. It lets you have those multimillionaire billionaire people. It will not get your money on the front end. What do you think are oth

Ask Me Anything! Being the Alpha Class for SAG-AFTRA "Most of us want to be liked. We want other people to think of us as nice, friendly, kind, and loving. Most of us want the approval of others." What I started to learn was that people not liking me was survivable. That not everybody had to like Peter. Not everybody had to approve of Peter. But the number one person who did need to approve of Peter, who did need to like Peter. Who did need to love Peter was Peter. "Since childhood, some of us have been trying to get approval, trying to get people to like us and think highly of us. We may be afraid people will leave us if they disapprove of our actions." I survived. And not only did I survive, but I also thrived. Because I no longer was looking for that person's approval. I was looking for my own. What was so scary about people leaving me was that I didn't know how to love myself. But guess what I learned? I learned. It's something that you can learn. Please guide me. Please guide me to love myself. Please guide me to approve of myself. So I don't ask agents, casting directors, and managers for it. Because guess what? Them approving of you is not their job. "In order to live happily, to live consistently with a way our higher power or the universe wants us to live and to tap into a way of life that is in harmony with the universe. We need to let go of our extreme need for approval." If that casting director, agent, or manager doesn't like you, and that's probably not what it is, they're just passing on you because they don't feel they can serve you. You will survive. But it's about you gaining perspective on yourself. And you approving of you. That is so important. "These unmet needs for approval and love from our past give others control of us today." I can control whether I give my power away. "These needs from the past can prevent us from acting in our own best interest and being true to ourselves. Acting in her own best interest." I want to act in my own best interest. I don't want to give my power away anymore. I want to be true to myself. Even if it upsets the people who mean most to me in the world, we can approve of ourselves. In the end, that's the only approval that counts.

On Camera with Katie Flahive "Too often, we try to gain a clear perspective before it is time. That will make us crazy. We don't always know why things are happening the way they are. We don't always know how a particular relationship will work out. We don't always understand the source of our feelings why we've been led down a particular path. What is being worked out in us? What we are learning. Why do we need to recycle? Why we had to wait? Why we needed to go through a time of discipline, or why a door closed? How our present circumstances will work into the larger scheme of events is not always clear to us. And that is how it needs to be. Perspective will come in retrospect. We could strain for hours today for the meaning of something that may come in an instant next year. But let it go. We can let go of our need to figure things out. And we can let go of our need to feel in control. Now is time to be. To feel. To go through it. To allow things to happen. To learn. To let whatever is being worked out in us just take its course. In hindsight, we will know. It will become clear. For today being is enough. We have been told that all things shall work out for good in our life. We can trust that to happen. Even if we cannot see the place, today's events will hold in the larger picture." I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to force a decision. "Time, thou shall untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me to untie." That will allow me to have perspective. Unfold before me instead of me trying to unfold it. "We don't always know why things are happening the way they are. We just don't. I don't know. I haven't got a clue. But sometimes it's best for me just to say; you know what? I don't know. And you know what? There's no shame in saying you don't know. There's no shame in it. You don't have to know everything. All you have to do is suit up and show up and do the very, very best you can. The time that we need in order to gain perspective. It's not something that we can force, but what we can do while we're waiting for that perspective is we can take care of ourselves. "We do not always know how a particular relationship will work out. We just don't. But we can ask for guidance. Guide me. Show me what you need me to do in this particular relationship. We don't always understand the source of our feelings. "We don't always understand why we've been led down a particular path. Guide me. Show me. Show me what you need me to learn on this path. Show me what you need me to learn in this particular day." Lessons are recycled in us. And when I just kind of say, yeah, I'm not going to deal with something, or I'm not going to take responsibility for whatever this particular lesson I'm being taught in life is, I find that that lesson recycles. It recycles with just a little more urgency and just a little more; I hate to say it, pain because pain is an excellent motivator. Along with perspective and waiting for perspective on your life, I find that takes a lot of humility. And humbleness. Because to gain perspective, we need to say, "I don't know." And to obey a higher power or a universe, we need to say, "I can't. You universe can. So I'm going to let you universe take over." If you have discipline, you can do anything. And that includes waiting to gain perspective. And this question, Why did that door close? "Look back, don't stare." And again, remember, forgiving is not forgetting. It's letting go of the past. Perspective will come in retrospect. "Now is the time to be. To feel. To go through it. To allow things to happen. To learn." To be curious. "Let whatever is being worked out in us take its course." So that is the challenge I put before you today. And listening to this podcast is to implement those tools of asking for help and asking for guidance in trying to gain perspective in your life and in your acting career.

Time Management Workshop The Language of Letting Go "The more I cling to my past, the more I'm wasting my energy." When you have a computer, and you have a program minimized, understand that that program is still using battery life on your computer. "Not even God can change the past." "Holding on to the past, either through guilt, longing, denial, or resentment, is a waste of valuable energy. Energy that can be used to transform today and tomorrow." I want to transcend my past so that I have more energy to fulfill my day. "I used to live in my past. I was either trying to change it or letting it control me. Usually both." An audition where I didn't feel I did my best with the casting director, and then that casting director called me in again. What I used to do is then go, Oh, that casting director doesn't like me. So yeah, I will probably mess this one up as well. Instead of going, Wow, that casting director called me back even after an audition where I didn't feel I did so well. Hey, wow. This is an opportunity to show that casting director how good I am and do an audition that I feel good about. But when I'm holding on to my past, I'm not in the frame of mind where I can do that. But when I've let go of that past, when I've transcended that past, I am in a place of power. I am in a place where I can claim who I am and show the best work that I know I can do. "I constantly felt guilty about things that had happened, things I had done, things others had done to me, even though I had made amends for almost everything. The guilt ran deep. Everything somehow was my fault. I could never just let it go." One is, is that the definition of shame is believing that there is something fundamentally wrong with you. "I held on to anger for years, telling myself it was justified. I was in denial about a lot of things. Sometimes I tried to absolutely forget about my past, but I never really stopped and sorted through it. My past was like a dark holy crap cloud. I can speak cloud that followed me around, and I couldn't shake clear of it. I guess I was scared to let it go. Afraid of today. Afraid of tomorrow." That's the other thing when we don't work through the anger. The frustration, then, why hasn't it happened for me in our acting careers? The only thing it does is hold us back. And I think it's impossible to force yourself to forget something. There's a fear of success and a fear of failure. I always say those two things are opposite sides of the coin. But, what it is, is about taking responsibility for your past choices—taking responsibility for where you are today—and then understanding that you have a responsibility. And most importantly, and this is what is exciting, is the opportunity, the incredible opportunity I have. You have. We all have to shape our future. Trace it. Face it. Erase it. And then that is how it will be. Let go. Forgiving is not forgetting. It's letting go of the hurt. "I've even developed gratitude for my failed relationships because they have brought me to who and where I am today." All of the "failures" have actually been opportunities to learn. I automatically develop peace with my new past.

Time Management Workshop About Jeremy: Jeremy Redleaf is an Emmy and Streamy award-winning artist and entrepreneur. He tells stories and creates experiences through his Brackets Creative shingle, including "Odd Jobs," the Streamy Winning web series, "3rd Street Blackout," a feature film (Available on Peacock), and the SYFY special "Who Won the Year?" He's the co-founder of Caveday, a global community built around having a healthier relationship to work. Follow him at @jeremyredleaf on all the platforms! The ultimate multi-hyphenate. "Every time I was waiting for the phone, he was going out to make something. And I started to get a little jealous of that because it can be disempowering to wait to hurry up and wait or just to wait." How empowering it is to make your own films, to make your own work. Successful working actors are very curious. Curiosity sometimes just comes out of necessity. "Well, as soon as I built some self-esteem, I encountered, you know, fiercer dragons." At some point, I started to identify with being brave and being and being like in the arena and facing the dragons. The most successful people do what they most don't want to do by noon. I find for me that being in a community helps a lot. You know, just to know that other people are fighting similar battles is enough for me usually to sort of go like, "cool, I'm just one of the gang." We all have these sorts of voices of self-doubt. When I'm faced with a challenge, I go, "Okay, now, if I don't deal with this now, this sucker is going to repeat this kind of situation is going to repeat itself down the road, and it's going to be more painful and more uncomfortable." There's ego, and then there's the universe or divine or spiritual. And with ego, it's finite because it ends and begins with me. But with the universe, it's infinite. And so, do I want to tune my radio dial into Infinite, or do I want to tune my radio dial into Finite? When you act and are in the flow , you transcend your ego and are connected to the infinite. Yeah, the best way out is always through. "I am willing, I am willing, I am willing." I don't think that we're talking enough about the pandemic in terms of like what it has done to our sort of artists' souls.

Monologue Class with Andrew Time Management Class The victim trap. Being a victim is just a way for me not to take responsibility for my life and when I am, quite frankly, scared. The Language of Letting Go "The victim trap. The belief that life has to be hard and difficult is the belief that makes us a martyr. We can change our negative beliefs about life and whether we have the power to stop our pain and take care of ourselves." Assignment: Ask yourself Do I believe that life has to be hard and difficult? And then, if I believe life has to be hard and difficult, how do I operate out of that? What are the things, what are the thoughts that I think, what are the actions that I do that indicate that? Because what we're trying to do here is to spot where we are a victim. So I'm immediately in this podcast episode just slamming you right into homework, giving you assignments on how to change so you can get out of this harmful thinking and belief pattern. "We aren't helpless. That is the Truth. With a capital T, we can solve our problems." I try and think of my problems as challenges. They're challenges for me to face. And every time I meet a challenge, I become more successful. Why? Because I gain more self-esteem. Assignment: Make a list of challenges in your life and start putting them into categories. A category of what is mine to solve and a category of what is not mine to solve. And then those that are not yours to solve, what you want to do is you want to put them aside. And you want to focus on that list of challenges and problems that are your responsibility. Taking responsibility for ourselves pays enormous dividends. Using each problem that comes our way to prove that life is hard and we are helpless. Well, this is something called codependency, and it is the victim trap. "Life does not have to be difficult. In fact, it can be smooth. Life is actually good. We don't have to "awfulize" it to ourselves or to anyone else. We don't have to live in the underside of life. And I just want to add that we can be on top. Now, that doesn't mean that we're not going to have challenges that sometimes feel insurmountable." We do have power. More power than we know, even in the difficult times. And the difficult times don't prove life is bad. They are just part of the ups and downs of life, and often they work out for the best. We can change our attitude. We can change ourselves. And sometimes we can even change our circumstances. Life is challenging. Sometimes there's more pain than we asked for. And sometimes there's more joy than we ever imagined. But it's all part of the package. And the package is good. We are not victims of life. We can learn to remove ourselves as victims of life. By letting go of our belief that life has to be hard and difficult, we can make our life so much easier." Whatever challenge I'm going through, it is survivable. And not only is it survivable, but by surviving, I gain that thing that can only be earned and not be bought no matter how much money you have. And that is self-esteem. And for an actor, self-esteem and confidence are the two magical ingredients that core work gives you.

Time Management Workshop Letting go of chaos. Language of Letting Go, Melodie Beatty What causes chaos? Well, what causes chaos is control. "No good work comes from unrest." And what I have learned about that is how true that is. Because if I don't rest, if I don't fuel up, I cannot be of service to other people around me. Wake up in the morning and say "Good morning, universe. This is Peter, Pamela Rose, and I am showing up for duty." And I know that kind of sounds crazy, but it takes a lot of pressure off the day. When I get overwhelmed, all I need to do is simply ask for help, ask for strength, ask for wisdom. And what does that look like? I'll do it right now. "Give me strength. Please guide me. Show me, show me what it is you want me to do. Show me the things that you need me to do today so I can be of maximum service to other people on this planet." "Unrest, fear, anger, or sadness may motivate us. These feelings are sometimes intended to compel action. But our best work emerges after these feelings have been replaced by peace. We will not accomplish our task any sooner or any better by performing it out of a sense of urgency, fear, anger or sadness." And that's also why I think it's so important to do what I just did: stop and take a step back. And asking for wisdom and asking for guidance and asking for strength, asking for concentration, asking for brainpower. Or for more bandwidth. "Let go of unrest. Let peace fill the void. We do not have to forfeit our power, our God-given or universe-given personal power, or our peace. Our peace to do the work as we are called upon to do today." And again, sometimes I need to think that what the universe wants me to get done in a day and what Peter Pamela Rose wants to get done in a day are often two very different things. And the universe is much kinder. What's amazing about that is that I can plug into that universe any time I can ask for that guidance. I can. Ask for that peace. I can ask for that wisdom. And I love that phrase "to do what we are called upon to do today," because I'm only responsible for today. I only need to do today. I can't live for yesterday. I can plan for tomorrow. I can prepare for tomorrow. I can do something today that my inner self will thank me for a year from now. But the fact of the matter is, I can only do today. And that acknowledgment helps to let go of the chaos. "We will be given all the power we need to do what we are meant to do when it is time. Let peace come first. Or I like to say let prayer come first or let asking come first, then proceed. The task will get done naturally and on time." You're taking your hands off the wheel and trusting the universe, which is the pilot, to steer.

Time Management Workshop About Molly: Molly Noerenberg is a life and embodiment coach for performing artists. As a coach, Molly helps people make transformational changes in the way they connect to themselves, their bodies, and their unique nervous systems so that they can bring their most authentic selves into the world. Working with Molly means you will have someone on your team with unwavering belief in what is possible for you. As a coach, Molly has an incredible passion for helping performers connect to their truest essence and finding ways to express themselves that make them feel truly alive. A fellow performer and singer, Molly has spent her entire career supporting the hearts, minds, and lives of performers. Molly is a certified Life Coach from the Health Coach Institute(formerly Holistic MBA), received her Bachelor of the Arts in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, her Masters of the Arts in Vocal Performance from New York University, and her Advanced Certificate from NYU in Vocal Pedagogy. Molly is the founder of the coaching practice ExpressedLife.com, in addition to serving on the faculty of NYU Steinhardt, and being the co-founder of the NYC Vocal Studio. The unchecked thoughts and beliefs are actually standing in the way of us just showing up. It creates that feeling in your body too. Catabolic energy and anabolic energy if it's always someone else's approval, permission, or job to decide if you're good enough, then what a miserable experience that will be in your life. Most artists want to perform at the highest level. But at each new level of success, we unlock a whole host of mindsets, stories, theories, and thoughts that we have to unpack and look at. It's tolerance of really uncomfortable, painful feelings. Walking through that fear is far less than continuing to live with it. One of the things I learned about anxiety was that it's survivable. I always thought it was going to kill me. Anxiety is Manageable, Survivable, and I can handle it. Actors who have performance anxiety: Number one, go to your body. Ask: How am I feeling? Have a systematic way. What does this body, what does this brain need to feel the most connected to myself, to be free to do the work that I came here to do? The clarity and the courage to look at, "who am I? Who do I want to be in the world? How do I contribute? What makes me feel alive?" And for so many actors, it is their acting work. And so what am I willing to do? Or find a way to do so that I can put myself in the position to be in my zone of genius? Like, how am I willing to work on this? Celebration and revelry of what you have the gift to do and to really like prioritize if there's something that makes you come alive. Do you know how many people are walking around just feeling like shells of themselves? The world needs more people who feel like themselves to connect to whatever they're doing. We deserve to find a way to get to that place, free ourselves, and be in a position to do the work we came here to do. Obsessive versus harmonious passions. And for many of us, we were kind of like taught and trained that the only way to succeed is to have an obsessive passion, and that is a way to succeed. And a lot of people find a lot of success that way. But there are a lot of other people who are much more fulfilled through a harmonious blend of our passions. "I want to feel good." We're not taught how to feel good or how to honor our feelings, or how to notice how even just notice how we feel. Schedule a free consult with Molly

Making The Most Of Casting Director Workshops Two Week Monologue Slam Three-Week Commercial Workshop Time Management Workshop Surviving Slumps I'm talking about not only slumps in your career but also emotional slumps. "A slump can go on for days. We feel sluggish, unfocused and sometimes overwhelmed with feelings we can't sort out. We may not understand what is going on with us. Even our attempts to practice recovery or core work behaviors may not appear to work. We still don't feel emotionally, mentally, and spiritually good as we would like." "Don't play yesterday's rehearsal." When you're feeling shitty, you're trying to understandably recreate the feelings you felt so great about yesterday. But it's kind of like eating. You can't eat for yesterday, and you can't eat for tomorrow. You can't breathe for yesterday, and you can't breathe for tomorrow. The only day you can eat and breathe and drink for is today. When I am in a slump or negative space, the best thing I can do is accept it. The Three A's: awareness, acceptance, and action. Use your mind to govern your brain, to notice your behaviors. It's better that you just accept: You're not going to get a lot done today You got so much done on Monday and Tuesday. You were operating at number ten, energy solving lots of number ten problems You're tired; you're burnt. When I'm overwhelmed with feelings, I find the best tool is to stop. Magic happens when you put a pen in your hand, and you write and allow those feelings to come out. Don't try and live yesterday. Stop. And try and be and get yourself to where you are at and go into that awareness. And acceptance helps you to get out of that slump faster. "In a slump, we may find ourselves reverting instinctively to old patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, even when we know better. We may find ourselves obsessing, even when we know that what we're doing is obsessing and that it doesn't work." Have you ever had a day where you're exhausted from thinking? It's such an emotional hangover. But what can we do? I'm always about what I can do to help myself, transcend that slump, and transcend that time. When I find myself reverting to an old pattern, I go through the steps that I've talked about before in these podcasts: Stop. Take a step back. Observe. Ask myself, "is this healthy for me or unhealthy for me?" And then make a choice to respond to it. When you do it, you want to physically stop, and then you physically want to take a step back or adjust yourself in that seat. Distance so you can ask yourself if your thoughts are healthy or if your actions are healthy or unhealthy. And then you can respond to it. "A response is a reaction with a thought and a pause behind it." "We may find ourselves looking frantically for other people to make us feel better the whole time, knowing that our happiness and our well-being does not lay with others." My happiness comes from within. My happiness is my choice. Dr. Wayne Dyer has a great phrase. "I want to feel good." Because when I feel good, I can give goodness to others. And I always feel that that is my purpose on this planet. My purpose on this planet is to give good to others. "The other thing that when we are in a slump is that we may take things personally that are not our issues and reacting in ways we've learned all too well that does not work. Remember that when you're in a slump, it won't last forever. These periods are normal. Even necessary. They are. These are days to get through or, as I like to say, days to transcend. These are days to focus on core work behaviors, whether or not the rewards occur immediately. " These are sometimes the days to let ourselves be and love ourselves as much as possible. Sometimes you need to give yourself a break mentally. And sometimes, it's about taking the foot off the gas a bit. "We don't have to be ashamed. No matter how long we have been doing core work, we don't have to unreasonably expect more from ourselves. We don't ever have to expect ourselves to live life perfectly." When a plane is on autopilot, it's only on course 10% of the time. And then the other 90% of the time, it's trying to find the course. Get through the slump, and it will end. "This too shall pass." And that means for the good stuff as well. That's why living in the day is so important. "Do something today that you one year from now will thank you for." Understand that it's all part of the process if you're still in that slump and are still trying to get better mentally. "Practice, one recovery in one small area, and we begin to climb uphill. Soon the slump will disappear. We can never judge where we will be tomorrow by where we are today." Surviving slumps is so darn important because it can change at any time. We must stay balanced because this is such an up and down business, and that's just the business part. We haven't even gotten to the work. And when you find yourself in a slump, understand that it's not permanent. You will get better. You

Katie's Interest List David Cady Commercial Class Andrew Dolan's Monologue Slam About Rick: Rick first started acting in 1990 when he was cast as Tony in the long-running Off-Broadway hit Tony N' Tina's Wedding. He later made his Broadway debut in the Neil Simon comedy Proposals. His first film role was in the 1996 short film The Dutch Master, which also starred a young Mira Sorvino. He recently appeared in Mank, directed by David Fincher. In addition to numerous TV roles, including Friends, NCIS, and General Hospital. Rick also does voice-over work for commercials and video games. Some of his more notable works include Civilization V, Halo 5: Guardians, Batman: Arkham Knight, The Darkness II, and Grand Theft Auto V. In 2010; he voiced Vito Scaletta, the main protagonist of Mafia II and its 2016 sequel, Mafia III. He is the co-writer and star of the one-man touring show "Channelling The King." "You need to believe in yourself that that's what you want for yourself." Know your place on the set. Professionalism: Show up Know what your job is You're bringing something that they need Know your worth Do it to the best of your ability "The job of an actor is to know that you are enough." How being physically fit benefits you as an actor.

Make The Most Of Casting Director Workshops Two Week Monologue Slam With Andrew Dolan Three-Week Commercial Workshop "If there is anything I've learned with the astounding amount of core work I've done, it's these three things: Give up living in the past. Be in the present. And don't allow yourself to project into the future." It's so freaking simple, right? And yet I find it so hard. "Not even God can change the past." The mistakes I've made and my regrets, in some ways, informed the person I am today. I don't want to beat myself up for that anymore. Try to find the compassion and to really look at it and "go, wow, you are really scared. You know you are really brave." Compassion, but also understanding how much strength it took to get through those difficult moments and then using that strength to help you in your present moments when you get scared. So if you're someone who likes to live in the past: Look at those times Go back and listen to Episode 102; What is Your Strength Story? Jot down and remind yourself of how resilient you are Let's talk about the present. What I find interesting about me, at least in being in the present, is how much I avoid it. Use your mind to govern your brain. "What if--? Peter, is that the present? Okay. What are you doing in the present? Okay. I'm brushing my teeth. Okay, well, let's be here and brush my teeth. But what if--. Peter. You're not in the present. What are you doing now? Well, now I'm washing my face. Okay, so why don't you wash your face and just be here in the present? Okay. Wash my face. Wash my face. Wash my face. But what if--." This is an old habit of mine, projecting into the future the "what ifing." And the fact of the matter is, that makes you cuckoo. One of my dearest childhood friends taught me this lesson. And her name is Beth Singer. And I remember being in junior high school and always wanting to be the more popular kid. And yet I hung out with these three young girls. There was just something about Beth, and she always made me laugh. She was just hilarious. She loved fresh fruit as I did. She had the greatest cackle laugh. And I think back to that time that in that present moment when I was growing up with her, how could I ever have wanted to be with anybody else? She passed away from liver cancer on Mother's Day, her 39th birthday. I was lucky enough to visit her before she passed, and she said to her husband as I was leaving, "Pam and I had a nice visit." And what kills me about that? It's such a simple thing. It was such a simple thing. I got to hang out with my childhood friend six months before she passed. And it was something in the present moment. With the present moment. You're never going to get it back. And I'm never going to get my friend back. I have my memories of her, but I will never get her back. And if there's anybody who has taught me about value, the present moment, and its Beth. I encourage you to think: From your past, what you're thinking of is those moments when you had so much strength and tenacity. And in the present moment, what are those moments that you really were in the present that you would never give up? So now I'm going to move to projecting into the future. "Remain fluid." When you're projecting into the future, what you're really trying to do is control. Except the thing is that's not your job. Your job is to manage. Your job is to handle your life. Your job is not to control it. The future will come. It will come faster than you even can imagine. When I'm projecting into the future, I'm actually not preparing for it. When I'm projecting into the future, I'm trying to control it—but not doing what I need to do to create the future I really want to have. "Do it, or it's never going to happen." If you don't change this particular habit, the things you're trying to do for the future aren't going to happen. Instead of projecting into the future, instead of trying to control the future, you need to be preparing for it by staying in the moment. When projecting in the future, I start to go a little crazy because I'm trying to control the uncontrollable. Instead of projecting into the future and what you want to have happen and maybe the fantasy of being whatever it is you want to be, ask yourself, Well, what do I need to do now to prepare for it?

Upcoming Classes: Jason Sasportas Andrew Dolan David Cady Katie Flahive The Language of Letting Go: "Have you ever been around people pleasers? They tend to be displeasing. Being around someone who is turning themselves inside out to please another is often irritating and anxiety producing." "If you spot it, you got it." So notice that if someone's irritating you, ask yourself, "what is it about that person that is irritating me? And is that also something that I do?" "People pleasing is a behavior we may have adapted to survive in our family. We may not have been able to get the love and attention we deserved. We may not have been given permission to please ourselves, to trust ourselves, or to choose a course of action that demonstrated self-trust. People pleasing can be overt or covert. We may run around fussing over others, chattering a mile a minute, and when what we are really saying is, I hope I'm pleasing you. Or we may be covert, quietly going through life, making important decisions based on pleasing others." If you grew up in a family that question when you do something that is good for you or will question your choices or will question your judgment. That and those formidable, formidable years of your life will make you doubt yourself. Anxiety is about not feeling that you can handle a situation. The connection between people pleasing and anxiety If you grew up, if your background was trying to stay out of trouble, if your background was trying to protect yourself, that is the fertile ground for which anxiety can then grow and flourish in your adult years, which is all about feeling that you cannot handle a situation that is in front of you. Understand that we will never be given more than we can handle, but we will be given more than we can control. Overt Energy Actors— "I hope you like me. I hope you like me. I hope you like me." Or Covert--- we just will allow other people to make big life decisions for us. Because we feel that we don't have the right to make such a big choice in our lives. Have you ever been in an audition where you walk into a room, and you just cannot stop talking? This gives your power away as an actor. But also, what it does is basically you're asking the casting director for validation. And that is one hell of a responsibility to put on them. And one that I actually feel very uncomfortable doing because who the hell am I to do that for you? Because the person who needs to be doing it is you. As a casting director, I want you to come into the room or into the session, and I want you to know that you are enough, that you can do the job that I have hired you for or brought you into the audition for. And I know that I'm in good hands. Not the actor who keeps repeating, "like me." Or, "Hey, is this okay? Is this okay? Is this okay? I just want to make sure I'm doing this right. " That makes me feel like you want me to do the work for you. You are unprepared, but also that you don't have the confidence in yourself to do this job or to do this audition. No matter how talented you are, by the time you do that audition, I already have that seed in my mind. "When in doubt, leave it out." In other words, it's okay for me not to say so much. "Taking other people's wants and needs into consideration is an important part of our relationships. We have a responsibility to friends, family and employers. We have a strong inner responsibility to be loving and caring. But people pleasing backfires. Not only do others get annoyed with us, we often get annoyed when our efforts to please do not work as we have planned." "Expectations are premeditated resentments." "The most comfortable people to be around are those who are considerate of others but ultimately please themselves." As a casting director, the actors that I like to bring into casting sessions and the actors that I like to hire for jobs are those actors who I know that they are enough, who know that they can do that job, who I know have done the work. And so I know that I am in good hands. Those actors who are not going to be focused on pleasing me, but focused on doing their job, which is to act.