As we start off this new year, I’m continuing where we left off last week with Brooke McNamara by talking with another psychologist, Alisa Hurwitz. In this episode from 2020, we dive into why mindset is so important and how we as actors can better handle rejection and the challenges we face in this business.
Each of us has an inner voice that can be very loud and persuasive. Hopefully, it’s pushing us to do better and reminding us of all we can accomplish, but sometimes it leads us to believe that the theater industry is too hard by constantly telling us we’re not good enough or don’t deserve an amazing acting career.
With an inner critic like that it can be really difficult to motivate ourselves to keep going, to go to that next audition. The very title of this podcast is an example of the ways in which we can stifle our own potential. Yes, training and talent are certainly important too, but it’s our mindset that is the key to using our training and talent to their fullest extent.
Her moniker Dr. Drama comes from her many analytical interviews, discussions, and articles on theater, specifically her lifelong passion for musical theater. She’s even consulted on regional and off Broadway productions on elements related to psychological concepts and mental health issues. So she is the perfect person to help us face some of the realities of this make-believe world of theater, a profession that can bring us tremendous joy but also disappointment and frustration.
STORY #1- Setting Realistic and Aspirational Goals
STORY #2- Defining Success as an Actor
STORY #3- The Peter Principle
EXTRAS- Comparing Ourselves to Others
EXTRAS- Our Performance Onstage and Online
EXTRAS- Strategies of How to Push Forward in Life and Career
EXTRAS- The (Not-So) Secret of Positive Thinking
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Why I’ll Never Make It is an award-winning, Top Theater Podcast hosted by actor and singer Patrick Oliver Jones and is a production of WINMI Media. Background music is by John Bartmann and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.