It’s an often rough road to success as a singer, performer, artist, musician, composure, manager, vocal coach – in short – the road to all things related to music is not always perfectly measured, phrased, or harmonious. You need survival tools in order to arrive or thrive in the pursuit of your dreams.
Something I discovered as a kid fumbling to find my way past the creeks and pastures of my rural Virginia roots to the promise of dreams to set sail and gardens to grow is that the positive and creative must be engaged on a daily basis in order to survive.
Hanging onto the positive and creative was a daunting task for this unpopular overweight awkward kid with a weird, goofy name that sounded like a cow crying for its mother. But fortunately, that commitment to the positively creative has given me a heart for helping others rise above the dark and dreary shadows that often creep in to crush or deny our dreams.
Nix The Negative Nasties
BMA vocal coach Deborah “Zuke” Smith cited having to overcome defeatist thoughts and negative self-talk as one of the most common challenges she faces in working with her students.
“It’s that listening to the little voice in the head that says, you can’t do this,” Zuke said. “But, I must give special thanks to my student, Dan Toth, for coming up with the phrase, you control your voice, your voice doesn’t control you. So, stop listening to imaginary voices, folks!”
No Jive Just Jam With Jack Plotnick
Zuke suggested that we check out the website of actor Jack Plotnick. The site was actually recommended to Zuke by Seth Rudetsky, the Broadway host of Sirius Satellite Radio, with whom she recently had a Master Class. She said there was a lot there at Jack’s site to explore, and she wasn’t kidding.
Jack’s site is a safe haven and restorative oasis for artists that need encouragement, inspiration, engagement, education, and a sense of belonging to something good and greater that comes when you’re called to be an artist.
Live The Affirmative
When you go to his site at jackplotnick.com, click on: New Thoughts For Actors. You will then find five treasure troves to prompt positive creative endeavor that can be adapted for singers, performers, composers, songwriters…anyone that needs to put a helpful, hopeful spin on rising up, shining brightly, and moving forward with a powerful, positive purpose.
These five topics are: The Power of Thought, Taking Care of Yourself, Secrets of Success, Approaching Your Art, and The Performance. Please visit his site and be encouraged. Let him know how much his site means to your creative spirit and artistic commitment to development.
Freed Without Need
Jack shares a number of positive affirmations he uses to gain focus and stay the course whether it’s an audition, rehearsal, warm up, warm down, or simply another day to dance through. One of his favorites for auditioning is: I release and destroy my need to get this job.
Think about the pressure you put yourself under because of a mindset of neediness or desperation. That kind of do-or-I’ll-die thinking only invites stress and confusion. It will most likely drive you to distraction and can shift your focus from the task at hand.
It’s like a slap in the face of your creative self. It tears up the gift rather than simply allowing it to open so that it can be shared as you give something away for others to play with and take to heart.
