I am an actor. Actor’s love, love LOVE doing things in a big way. Seriously, we’re not happy if we can’t slap makeup on it and give it a dance number.
One of the very first things we teach in our Acting for the Business Professional classes is the magic “what if.” All actors, from day one, learn a variation of the magic “if.” It allows the possibility of EVERYTHING. “What if” can take you further than empathy…it can put you right there in the shoes of someone else. It allows you to contemplate yourself in any situation. “What if” let’s you walk into any situation fully confident that you’ve got this…even if you don’t. “What if” allows for really spectacular mistakes.
Actor’s know they’re going to fail. It’s part of the contract we make with the acting gods. We walk into every job interview, a.k.a. audition, knowing there’s a damn excellent chance that no matter how good we are, we’re probably not going to get the gig. Astoundingly, we go to another, and another and another, because, what if the next one is the one? What if I get to do the thing I love most in the world? And, oh my God, they’re actually going to pay me real live dollars for it (sounds of hallelujah chorus)! “What if” propels you forward.
Every business person, every executive, every entrepreneur has made mistakes and had failures. Some of them small, some of them huge, but all of those failures reshaped and redefined their path. They learned something from each and the lessons learned are directly proportional in size to the failure – bigger for bigger.
In order to have fantastical success, you must be willing to fail in an epic way. Allowing yourself to imagine your successes and your failures allows you to face your fear of both. Without mistakes and failures, we cannot move forward. Without imagining and constantly reinventing ourselves and our plan, we cannot move forward. I know it’s scary. All the best stuff is scary, but “what if” you get everything you ever wanted…?
LB Adams
LB Adams is the Owner of Pragmatic Dramatics based out of Charleston, SC. Her company uses basic acting techniques and theatre games to train business professionals to communicate more effectively.
