I recently ran into a very famous actress who said to me, “I get your newsletters… and I’m amazed that your stuff even applies to me.” I told her, “You know, I am convinced that I am also an actor playing the role of a businessman, salesman, author and father.”
In life, we’re all actors.
Throughout my entire life I have had to step up and be (or at least act like) something long before I had actually earned the title. Unlike a movie, your life is not a rehearsal – it’s the real thing. Every scene counts and everything you do is causing the audience to experience something. You, your family, your friends, the people you work with and your customers are all your audience. Are you creating suspense, mystery, action, drama, keeping your audiences riveted to their seats or is the audience becoming bored and disinterested?
Consider now that not only are you an actor, but also the producer, director, and writer in the marketplace you act in. In your world, you are just like the famous Weinsteins who fund so many movies in Hollywood. It’s your life! You fund it all. It’s all on you.
Whether you are a rookie sales person, an experienced well seasoned sales pro, a manager of a company, an engineer, banker or an owner/entrepreneur, you are required to act. Every day requires you to play a role. On any given day, most of us are busy fulfilling many roles and you probably want to be great at all of them.
Now, if I have convinced you that you are an actor and required to act everyday, ask yourself these questions:
- What have you been acting like?
- Have you made a decision on the roles you want?
- What roles do you want most?
- Are you acting like success?
- Are you acting like an entrepreneur?
- Are you acting like you are in control?
- What role would your family say you play the most?
I hope you found this little exercise interesting. I did and I quickly realized that I am done acting like the character that every audience ends up disliking in the movie; victim, blamer, excuse maker, hypocrite, Mr. Self-Important and well, you get the point.
Look, your life is a movie and people are watching – your kids, your friends, and your customers. Now, what kind of movie are you going to make? What’s your “role of your lifetime?”
