I was reminded of the value of the idea of “surround yourself with motivated people and you will be better off,” when I was at the gym a while ago. Let me explain; it was a group class and in this particular one we were put into pods. There was a small group in each and there were three groups in total. Each pod had certain exercises to do and you were allotted time to rest between the sets and exercises. I noticed in the beginning that most people in my group were not resting in between the breaks and continuing to do some kind of movement, unlike the other groups. At first I laughed and thought “oh boy I am in a group of overachievers” but then I decided well, I’m going to use them as my inspiration and keep me motivated. Throughout the whole class we kept up in between the exercises by doing some movements to keep the heart rate up and it was a fabulous class. I was reminded that your mindset is everything and had I sat there and just brushed off the opportunity to rise to the occasion I would have missed an opportunity to push myself to another level. Had I just let them be the ones to get more in I would have no one to blame but myself. The truth is, I love when others come along and push me. It is exciting and even though I may at first balk at it, I find when I shake off the initial thought/reaction I am almost always left in a better position. In this case, I left the gym and will be looking for these people in other classes to help keep me inspired!
It’s crazy the number of times I’ve worked with or heard of people who want to know how to get gigs, placements, better voices, etc. but don’t want to actually work for it or do the necessary things to obtain the “reward”. They want to hear about the prize and seem to go deaf when it comes to hearing what is needed to earn it. Maybe it’s the unknowns that create the stops, the fear of what will be encountered along the way, or just the unwillingness to confront the work but whatever it may be. The truth is it can be as simple as learning from those ahead of you that you admire and trust and just following the steps. Yes, you need to be authentic, and yes you will discover your own style of a walk but why go reinventing the wheel (or better yet waiting for someone to come pick you up that seems to have taken a wrong turn)? So, to all of you staring at the prize, start moving. It may take a week, a month, a year, or years but you will eventually obtain it!
