The Secret to Success and Mastery of Anything

One secret to success is not much of a secret and yet, I wonder if you can decipher it in this blog before you scroll to the end? And, how does an empty bench signify success? Ah, the irony.

I’m about to tell you all the requirements of finding success in voice acting, BUT, turns out, it is the secret to mastery of ANYTHING.

As a voice actor (a mysterious occupation to some), I know family members to voice acting hopefuls, new acquaintances to clients occasionally wonder “What do you do with your day???”

Some days are EPIC. Some days are flexible. Many of us go into this business for those reasons – to have both an epic and flexible life and as a result, “live the dream“.

What I Do With My Days

Here’s a simple, straightforward, no-holds-barred run down of what’s involved in being a productive, working voice talent:

1. training
2. goal setting
3. industry research
4. business planning
5. market strategizing
6. demo creation
7. studio set up
8. knowledge of editing software
9. office systems set-up
10. rate card creation
11. technical troubleshooting
12. creating promotional assets – business card, promo photo, web page, (potentially) social media accounts…

…that was for starters.

Ongoingly…

1. consistent training
2. auditioning
3. networking
4. relationship building
5. lead building
6. demo auditing
7. administration – data base management, accounts receivable, bookkeeping…
8. collecting of assets – work completed, testimonials, client logos…
9. inbound and outbound marketing(!) – content creation, social media participation
10. industry education
11. and, more. Much more.

… kinda goes on and repeats itself… DAILY. And, I could honestly break each item down ad nauseam. (Check out my past course Master VO To-Do List. I hope to offer this again in the future!)

Did you notice, I didn’t even mention actually recording for clients which is a priority over and above all of those “to-do’s”…?

Turns out… I love this $***! The hustle. And, you have to love it.

Figured out the true secret of success yet?

It’s sweat equity.

I was literally given this “secret” information in my mid-20’s, though I wish it was sooner, and I’m here to testify that it is a truest truth. (Figuratively, I could have learned the lesson from looking around me.)

Success as a voice actor

What does it really mean to be successful in the voice over industry? I’ve been investigating… the epitome of success in my industry… One person’s answer recently was simply being in the actor’s union, Sag-Aftra. Most people, however, don’t seem to have an answer.

The voice over industry has evolved significantly over the past 15 years, not to mention 15 months. I’ve contemplated what would make something the epitome of success – money, high profile gig(s), fame… I say that working steadily, with a decent full time income – union or not, agent or not, would define success. But, it finally hit me (aside from the fact that everyone has their own definition of success)…

Being in voice over has always meant “living the dream” – affording us the time to live a flexible life while being paid for full-time work.

If sweat equity is the secret, simply being paid to work at what you set out to do is, in itself, success.

So why an empty park bench? Well, it’s a symbol of both the dream and the reality. The dream is having the time and flexibility to sit and watch the world go by and the reality is, we’re likely too busy to sit there.