Remember, not everyone has the same dreams, goals and aspirations as you.  In fact some people don’t want to see you successful, believe it or not.  You’re gonna have to believe in your yourself, believe in your own dreams.

People will try to discourage you from your dreams but it’s important that you don’t let them steer you off course. Stay away from the “haters.” Stay away from people who are jealous you and your talents. Stay away from those who belittle your skills and gifts.  People who do that aren’t your real friends.  You don’t need to be around people who are not supportive of you.

Before coming to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, you need to know what you’re gonna be getting into. Going after your dreams of becoming a successful working actor will not be easy.  I’m in no way trying to discourage you.  I just want you to be aware that if by any chance you don’t become the next Tom Cruise or Miley Cyrus, or Julia Roberts or Denzel Washington or whoever; it does not mean you still can’t be successful in this business. The key to your success in Hollywood will be based on how consistent you are as a working professional actor.

It doesn’t matter if you win an Emmy or an Oscar. It doesn’t matter if you make a gazillion dollars. Eventually you will come to grips with asking yourself if you’re truly happy doing what you’re doing. Of course, having an Oscar or making a gazillion dollars is great but what if that doesn’t happen for you? What if you were able to work consistently as an actor, making a decent living, would you still be happy? Would you still consider yourself successful?

The fact is that most professional actors are not on a Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts “level” but it certainly does not mean they are not successful actors. If you’re only motive is to come to Hollywood and make a lot of money and be a big star, then you’re in it for all the wrong reasons. This is not reality. Your reason for wanting to come to Hollywood should be to express creatively what you believe is a God-given talent. You should enjoy the craft of acting so much that you can’t imagine doing anything else. Know what you’re getting into.

Shun: to keep away from (a place, person, object, etc.), from motives of dislike, caution, etc.; take pains to avoid.

You have aspirations of becoming a professional actor only not everyone is “for” you. You’re just gonna have to shun the haters. Most people probably don’t think outside the box like you. Just think, how many people want to make it as an actor? Oh no, that’s taking a chance on life for some. Many people tend to stay in their comfort zones opting to not pursue their dreams. They want to to pursue their dreams they probably don’t have the guts like you. It’s not that they’re really “hating” on you.  They may just dislike what you stand for and that’s okay.  Sometimes when you talk about your dreams it makes them feel bad or guilty because they don’t have the tenacity like you to want to go after their own dreams.

So what do you do?  Be nice.  You may have a talent and desire but you have a long way to go before you accomplish your goals.  Now is not the time to start belittling people just because they’e not trying to “go places”.  You may have some family members who are totally against what you want to do.  If you’re a young person; respect your parents.  Get the best grades and always do more of what’s expected of you.  Parents are more apt to help you with your hobbies or goals is you go out your way to do more than what’s expected of you.

You may have some people who are close to you who, quite frankly, are a bit envious of your talents or your desire to be an actor.  Those are the people you want to keep your distance from.  They’re probably not your real friends anyway.  Real friends encourage you no matter what.  They don’t discourage you.  Real friends WANT to see you succeed.  Always be careful to whom you share your dreams, goals and aspirations to as they may not always want to hear it.  You can usually “feel” who these people are.  Are they always negative when you mention that you want to be an actor?  If so, there’s your answer.  Be careful.  Stay aways from those people as much as you can.  Don’t cast your pearls to the swine.

Building Your Self-Image – A Major Key To Success

It doesn’t matter how old you are. If you have a strong self-image of yourself, you can accomplish anything and everything you set out to do. The reason this article is of significant importance is because of the many times you will be discouraged from fulfilling your dreams of becoming an actor. Actually, you will at times be discouraged from fulfilling any dream. Before we can get into posting on our site where you are to go for auditions and all that good stuff, showing you how to build a self-image of yourself is most important to me. You see, you and I both know that there are many other websites you can visit and find various articles and tips on acting. The only thing I advise you to do is study and analyze the source from whom you get your information from.

There are many people who claim to have knowledge about acting on the Internet. There are many phonies out there so be careful. Truthfully, there are are many who have knowledge of acting. You can read any book on acting to gain this knowledge, however, knowledge is very much different than experience. I’ve enjoyed acting as a child and as an adult and have much experience in my field.

Getting Your Mind Right

A good self-image is gonna be the key to your success. You must “see” yourself as a successful actor even before others do. In fact, if you can envision yourself as a success in your field, your peers will see it too! Your peers can be family members, teachers, casting directors, talent agents, managers or your fans. In order to be a success, it starts with your thinking. So what are you thinking? Do you have dreams of failure or do you have dreams of success? Have you ever dreamt you were on TV or on the “big screen” in the movies? If so, your positive self-image is already manifesting itself. You see, everyone in this world has a purpose in life. A good purpose.

Unfortunately not all of us make choices for the good. This is because of negative thinking. Everyone also has gifts and talents that have been ordained to come out. We are all created in the likeness and image of God for good works. So whatever your dreams are, whether you believe it or not, did not come from you. That’s right, your dreams and desires were given to you by the good Lord above. Now guess what? If God has given you these dreams and desires, wouldn’t he want you to fulfill it? Wouldn’t he want you to accomplish it? Yes! So, step number one in building your self image is to know that someone else greater than you believes in you besides yourself. Understanding this truth alone will be sure to encourage you in fulfilling your dreams.

Start Talking Positive

As mentioned before, one major key to success is self-image or how you feel about yourself. In the acting business there is much competition. There are a hundred or so or more people already in Hollywood that have your facial features, height, weight, eye color, same everything. You will only be one of many people in your category to audition. That is, if you can get an audition. I’m not trying to discourage you. Actually, most new actors that come to Hollywood for acting stardom don’t necessarily get an agent or manager right away. Yep, not one audition. Actually many start off doing “extra work” or background work”. More on “extra work” in another article.

I know this because I’ve help many of my friends get in the business this way plus I used to hang out with new actors (extras) all the time while on the set working as a principle actor. So, with all this competition what do you do? The first thing you’re gonna have to do and I mean starting from this point on in your life is to: Start talking positive! That goes for anything you’re trying to accomplish in life. Maybe you’d like to get better grades in school or to have a better relationship with your parents. Whatever the case may be, it’s time you started talking more positive. Take the word “I can’t” or “I’ll never be able to…” out of your vocabulary right now! Never, ever allow yourself to say anything negative about anyone or anything.

There’s an old saying. “If you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all!” So what does all this have to do with acting and fulfilling your dream? Well, I’ll continue this in Part 2 because I don’t want to get too “heavy” on you in one article. Just know this and I’ll explain more later: Things will seemingly start to work for your good when you start talking positive. Try it. Start today. “Out” with anything negative in your vocabulary and “in” with an all positive vocabulary and outlook on life. Do this an you’ll go far.