When entries are at least 10 years old, I sometimes re-publish them here on my blog in the category of This Date in My History (TDIMH). They helped me see how far I’ve come and hopefully encouraged others along their path.

Today, I happened to wonder about my life 20 years ago. I hadn’t planned to write on my blog, but the story that day was too good to pass up.

Situation

I worked 11 hours without lunch on 1/22/03 to fix an inoperable email server. At 7:50pm that evening, I wrote:

Days like today are when I hate my day job the most. I only got home within the last 10 minutes. I had barely stepped foot in the building before I knew that our email server was down. I was getting my bagel in the cafeteria — I hadn’t even gotten to my desk, much less taken off my coat…

I wore a hole in the carpet between my desk and the computer room while I attempted one tape restore after another. The damn thing finally came up just after 6pm, but now I don’t know if it’s usable.

Journal Entry

Thursday 23 January 2003 10:35am at my desk at work

I had heated words with one of the attorneys who was worrying me to death about that stupid server. He had been sending the secretary to ask me about the progress. On her last trip, she said he asked why I hadn’t gotten help. In the sexist environment that is our office, that question is equal to saying that I am at the end of my technical expertise, and I should get a man to fix the problem.

I started to tell her my answer, but then I told her I would call him. He’s a loud, bully sort of person from NY who is probably not used to women standing up to him.

During our “conversation”, I told him that I had spent 11 hours yesterday and all morning today trying to solve this problem. I said I had asked for help, but none is forthcoming.

He said he wanted to be sure I knew the magnitude of this situation. I said I understand it better than anyone because I’m the one who has to fix it.

At one point, I told him if he could do a better job, he was welcome to come and do it.

Anyway, he got louder, and I told him that he was yelling at me. I said I am a professional person, and I don’t let people yell at me.

After a few more sentences from him, I said again that I would not listen to him yell at me. I would be glad to talk to him later if he could be calmer.

Goodbye. (Click) I hung up on him.

Hell must have frozen over twice today, and I don’t say that just because the outside temperature is 16 degrees! First, after the server was back on-line, [the attorney] actually sent an email to apologize! He said he didn’t mean to sound like he was attacking me personally.

The next line was more of an insult than an apology to me because he wanted to be sure we were doing all we could. (No, [attorney], I’m just sitting here twiddling my thumbs and not really trying to solve the problem.) He ended it with a line about being appreciative of my efforts.

To the people who kept asking me when the server would be up, I wanted to respond with 1 or a combination of these comments:

1. You know, if I could see the future, I’d buy winning lottery tickets so I would never have to see your a** or work on this kind of s*** again.
2. I just added 1 hour to the time that I let you back on the system. No matter how long it takes to bring the server on line, I’m going to keep you off it for as many more hours as each time you have worried me and asked this question.
3. I can give…and I can take away. If you ask me about this one more time, I’ll make sure you never get email again.
4. Take your silly-a**ed problem down the hall to someone who gives a s*** about it.

Take-aways

No one has the right to verbally abuse you.
My mother used to tell my brothers and me that we shouldn’t let anyone walk all over us. After a male boss yelled and cursed at me one day, I decided that I’d never allow anyone else to treat me that way again. I found that the more I stood up for myself, the more people respected me.

Have patience with those working to solve your problem.
Whether it’s your computer network/bank/electricity/gas that isn’t working, rest assured that the people charged with fixing it really do want it to work and are doing what they can as fast as possible to restore your service. Hounding them about it being down doesn’t endear you to them or help them move any faster.

Although my story doesn’t illustrate the following points, I would add:

A little humor goes a long way in easing frustrating situations.
I admit that I lost my patience and temper with that attorney. While I’d still say he deserved it, I’ve found that humor reaps much better results!

Don’t make a life-altering decision based on a temporary condition.
I had many days when I hated the job so much I could have easily and happily quit. However, I value security, so I realized that kind of life-changing decision should be made only after careful thought and planning. Had I quit on any of those bad days, I would have hurt my finances in both the short and long terms.

These days, I barely think about my 25-year tenure in information technology unless I read one of my journals written during that period!

I still have problems to solve and frustrations in my career as an audiobook narrator, but I know they will teach me lessons if only I look for them.

Image: Travis Randolph / Flickr under Creative Commons 2.0 license

The post TDIMH – Frustration Is Temporary appeared first on Karen Commins.

I started to write this quick story as a Twitter thread, but I strive to keep my original content on MY site and share it on social media.

On Tuesday 3 June 2014, I wrote in my journal:

The recording of FANNY HERSELF [by Edna Ferber] is done! Yay!

I had been thinking…of how to change the title to make the book different from the free edition…I want to retain the original title but add something to it to differentiate it [due to Kindle rules for publishing public domain books.]

The Audioblocks site [now Storyblocks.com] lets you search by instrument, mood, and time in addition to genre…I knew I wanted something with a violin solo since Fanny’s brother Theodore was a child prodigy violinist. She and her mother had to do without almost everything in order to pay for his studies overseas. He doesn’t even have a lot of lines in dialogue, yet you always know about Fanny’s brother.

I found a piece that sounds like a clock ticking and machinery before a violin solo of a contrasting tune emerges. It has a tension that suddenly resolves, just like the end of the book! I really liked it on the first listen and declared it perfect on the second one when Drew listened and liked it, too. The music was named “Passionate Instinct”.

And “Passionate Instinct” is now part of my ebook’s title — FANNY HERSELF: A PASSIONATE INSTINCT. Drew and I both think it sort of describes the book.

Not only did I write all of that in my journal, but I also wrote this 2014 article about finding and using M. Leone Bracker’s hand-drawn illustrations from 1917 in my ebook.

I looked at the illustrations this morning, and sure enough, I found one of Theodore playing violin for his teacher.

You can hear the haunting violin music I selected for the credits below.

Opening credits (Note that book was in the public domain when I recorded it. I would now say “The text is in the public domain” instead of the details I gave about the original publication.)

Closing credits

The post The Story Behind the Story Part 2: Music appeared first on Karen Commins.

Happy 20th anniversary to me!

I launched my voiceover business 20 years ago.

Since my last post was about using my journal, it’s only appropriate that this one goes back to where it all began, my first entry in my first book.

Saturday 8/28/1999 9:25pm

I’m spending my evening copying the CD of my first voice-over demo with the plan to mail a few to agents on Monday. How I got to this point and where I go from here will be the subject of this journal.

Friday 9/3/99 10:15pm

On Wednesday, September 1, 1999, I mailed 3 CDs to [3 Atlanta VO agents]. It was such a huge step, and I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment and excitement to have pushed the dream out to people who could do something about it!

The past 20 years have been a remarkable evolutionary journey, to say the least! As I was reflecting on all that I’ve seen, read, written, voiced, and otherwise done in that time, I decided a blog post of 20 things I’ve learned would be a great way to celebrate this milestone!

So here’s the list, in no particular order. By the way, you’ll find more private journal entries sprinkled throughout these articles!

1) As I wrote in my journal on 8/30/99 (the part highlighted in green is from that journal entry), all of your family or friends won’t necessarily support you in your efforts to follow your dreams. That’s okay. People are in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

2) Like so many people, I mailed my first demo to VO agents without first establishing I was a marketable commodity who could offer them something they didn’t already have among the people they represent.

3) My library has a smorgasbord of material that will help me move forward in this career.

4) Every freelance voice talent/audiobook narrator needs a web site so people can find you. You wouldn’t believe how many times I see people asking on Facebook for contact info for a certain audiobook narrator. For what it’s worth, I’m on version 4 of my web site, and it probably won’t be my last.

5) Being a creative person in the public eye means that bad reviews go with the territory. If the reviews reveal a trend, it’s time to work with a coach to improve. Otherwise, shrug off the criticism.

6) I learned 6 valuable lessons from my first voiceover job.

7) If you don’t have work, create your own, and then do it again.

8) When the idea fairy hands you an inspired idea, act quickly because ideas love speed.

9) People who are price shoppers will cause you to spend the most time on their project, aren’t easily satisfied, brag to their friends about beating you down on price, and are often the slowest to pay. I don’t compete on price but instead market my strengths to prospective clients.

10) I’ve read a lot about the Law of Attraction. I constantly must remind myself to not complain and instead think/speak/write what I want into existence.

11) I’m naturally an organized person, but creating and using a central repository for ideas was a game changer.

12) Every passion shouldn’t necessarily lead to a career choice, but the ones that do can fill you with boundless joy and an incredible sense of accomplishment!

13) As a strong introvert, I have a lot of natural resistance to meeting new people. However, I’ve found some ways to feel more at ease in —and even enjoy — those situations.

14) Stop the comparisons! It is the most self-defeating, self-negating behavior many of us have. I strive to be like Mel Fisher and maintain NOW thinking.

15) Every moment has meaning, so I decided to not only be grateful for the day job, but look for ways to actually find happiness when I hated that job.

16) One of the most exciting days in my life yielded 10 observations about marketing in a crowded marketplace.

17) I always look to see how other situations can apply to me and my business. I’ve drawn parallels and discovered secrets to success from my hair stylist, a tree service, our surfing instructor in Hawaii, movies like this one and this one, a TV show, and even during my time in swimming laps at the gym pool.

18) Acceptance of my life was the key to being in the flow. I don’t have to force things to happen. They will occur when the time is right.

19) The majority of audiobooks posted on ACX.com have royalty share contracts. I look for certain criteria before accepting one.

20) Helping other people achieve their dream has greatly helped me get even closer to fulfilling my own. I’m so very grateful for and humbled by all your kind comments here, on social media, and in person about how my articles and Facebook responses have helped you.

I feel like I’m barely scratching the surface with this list! Check out my blog archives for even more lessons learned!

Now that I’m heading into my 21st year of my business, it’s fitting that I’m stepping into an exciting new level of my destiny! My new site NarratorsRoadmap.com will be unveiled this month. Whether you dream of becoming an audiobook narrator or already are one, this site will be THE designation for narrators of all levels! Sign up for email updates or follow me and/or NarratorsRoadmap on Twitter to be alerted about the grand opening!

The post 20 Things Learned in Last 20 Years appeared first on Karen Commins.

In 1889, Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland were female reporters in New York. Each went on a daring solo trip around the world at the same time. Nellie wanted to beat the time of Phileas Fogg, Jules Verne’s fictional character in Around The World in 80 Days. Rival reporter Elizabeth Bisland left on a solo race around the world hoping to beat Nellie’s time!

Nellie sailed east to England in the morning. That night, and unbeknownst to Nellie, Elizabeth took a train west to San Francisco. In Bly vs Bisland: Beating Phileas Fogg In A Race Around The World, I combined the narratives from both women into a single book with 1 timeline! Who will win the race?!

My journal entries tell Part 1 of the story behind the story between idea and implementation.

Sunday 16 November 2014 1:10pm

With no book in progress, I am officially on vacation.

Monday 17 November 2014 9:55pm

When a divine, inspired idea comes to you at bedtime, you can’t swat it away and say, “I’m on vacation!” Well, I guess you could do that, but only if you don’t value the Creator handing you an inspired idea!

I was lying in bed last night when an idea just magically appeared in my mind. It was raining outside, but this idea didn’t come accompanied by a thunderbolt, either real or imagined. It just quietly showed up for no reason I can recall. I don’t even remember exactly how it was worded at the time it arrived, but it was something like this:

Do an audiobook mash-up of Nellie Bly’s and Elizabeth Bisland’s books about their race around the world.

I had planned to do Elizabeth Bisland’s book earlier this year but then decided to do Fanny Herself first. Bisland’s book is not in audio anywhere. I thought Nellie Bly’s book was done…

On the 14th, Drew told me that he saw an article on that it was the 125th anniversary of the start of that race. He showed me that someone had done a board game…. I guess it was a bit of a delayed reaction because 48 hours later, the Divine made sure I knew that….Nellie Bly’s travel story isn’t on Audible! I had wanted to do it originally, but I thought it had been done.

However, this mash-up idea is completely original! I haven’t seen anyone create an audiobook out of 2 different books to make 1 cohesive story!…

I sent a long email to Melissa Frank to see if she would [narrate] with me… She responded quickly and favorably… she’s in!

Nellie left by ship going east. Elizabeth left by train going west…. I’ve spend part of the evening dividing the text into chapters. Nellie included a timetable at the end of her book, which certainly helps….

So far, the story is dove-tailing sooo well! The chapters alternate for the most part. I’m working to keep their timelines consistent. It’s also interesting to see how they were writing about similar things at the same time, like how other travelers treated them as women traveling alone.

Not only could I not ignore the divine, inspired idea, but it’s hard to disconnect when audiobooks are my passion, my vocation, and such a large part of my life!

Tuesday 18 November 2014 10:10pm

I sure am working a lot for a person who says she’s on vacation.

…I spent all afternoon working on my text mash-up of Bly vs Bisland….

In addition to matching their timelines, I’m starting and ending chapters at places that highlight contrast. [For example,] Bisland says how every plank in her ship creaked and groaned such that she couldn’t sleep. I start the next chapter with Bly saying she slept great on the train.

Wednesday 19 November 2014 10:45pm

I have spent at least 7 hours of this “vacation” day sequencing Bly vs Bisland. My shoulder hurts from being extended on the desk for my mouse all day. I got tired, cold, and hungry, yet I pressed on. I feel like an explorer myself as I read their accounts and try to figure out which day something happened and align the timelines.

I’m an explorer as I look at the maps to see where they’ve been, but I’m also a detective. I’ve Googled distances between 2 places like Singapore and Penang, and I’ve also called up calendars for Dec. 1889 and Jan. 1890 so I could plot the timeline based on references to “Sunday”, “the next day”, “on the fifth day”, etc.

Bly gave her timeline in the back of her book, but it had an error. She expected to arrive in Hong Kong on 25 Dec. but instead got there on 23 Dec. Bisland wrote less overall. While she was overly detailed in her descriptions of the people and their clothes, she was very sketchy about dates.

I’m excited about the project and increasingly proud of my editing to create chapters that make sense and often compare/contrast the journeys of both women. I hope to finish the text mash-up tomorrow.

Thursday 20 November 2014 11:40pm

I spent about 5 hours (I think) in finishing my text mash-up of Bly vs Bisland. I feel it is a monumental accomplishment! I might actually have something resembling a vacation day tomorrow!

Friday 21 November 2014 10:32pm

I went through every chapter with Drew for 2.5 hours or so. I found and fixed some chapter numbering problems.

Coming up in Part 2, I’ll share the stories about recording the text and choosing the cover art and music for the credits.

In the meantime, I invite you to listen to the retail sample of this audiobook and leave me any questions or comments about this audiobook on the blog. If you’d like a FREE copy of this fantastic audiobook, just click this link to start a trial membership at Audible.com.

The post Bly vs Bisland: The Story Behind the Story (Part 1) appeared first on Karen Commins.

Friday 27 May 2011 9:08pm

I received a Joyfully Jobless newsletter from Barbara Winter today. I just signed up for her newsletter recently although I’ve known about her for years.

Today’s was titled “The Company You Keep”. She wrote that John Tesh had received a letter from a 15-year-old boy who wanted to know how to make it in the music business. Tesh

said his best advice to was to listen to great music every day and study what other musicians do.

She also gave the example of Simon Cowell, who said that in his early days,

he was a sponge soaking up the advice of those around him who were more experienced.

She continued:

I’m surprised to discover that everyone isn’t an enthusiastic student of success…Would-be writer is not an active reader. Would-be entrepreneurs have never had a conversation with someone who is successfully self-employed about how they got started…

So where do you want to succeed? Study those who have done what you want to do. Absorb the lessons of success, not failure.

With that in mind, I realize I need and want to be an active audiobook listener. I think the last one I heard was in Hawaii last year [a year before this writing].

I downloaded Anne Frank Remembered narrated by the audiobook master herself, Barbara Rosenblat…I’ll be listening to the phrasing and pauses as much or more than the accent.

I will listen to an audiobook every day on my day job. It’s another good way to prepare for the audiobook success and constant work that is coming to me. I’m also thinking it would be great to listen to a book while swimming. I’ll have to give it a try.

Today’s Take-aways:

1) To quote the fabulous and wise Barbara Winter one more time:  Be a keen observer. Identify with excellence at every turn. It will make a huge difference in your ultimate results.

2) If you want to narrate books, you need to listen to books. If you’re an author who is considering making an audiobook from your text, you need to listen to books.

For the past 4 years, I have listened to an audiobook every day. I have listened to an average of 20 books in each of those years. Since audiobooks are a multitasker’s dream come true, you can listen while doing some other activity. This thread on Goodreads will give you some ideas of how to include audiobooks in your schedule.

3) I do listen to books while swimming, and I highly recommend the Waterfi waterproof Shuffle for that purpose. Since I don’t swim every day, I’ve found that it helps if I already know the story. Gone With the Wind accompanied me in the pool last summer, and I’m determined to finish it this summer!
 

The post TDIMH — Identify With Excellence appeared first on Karen Commins.

I decided to make it a little more obvious that these journal entries are not current after the last article in this series caused a few people to think I was really down in the dumps. While I truly appreciate their friendship and encouragement, I share these journal entries to help encourage others along their path.

Situation

In this entry, I was in Phoenix for 2 weeks to attend a class for my day job, which I described in an earlier entry:

One down and 7 more to go. Seven more weekdays of mind-numbingly boring class on Exchange 2000 with all these people, 2 of whom are constantly, obnoxiously loud and on my nerves….The temperature here has been 109 degrees. Everyone says “yes, but it’s a dry heat.” It’s still hotter than hell. It’s like poking your whole body into an oven.

Journal Entry

TDIMH — Wednesday June 26, 2002 10:45pm watching Seinfeld in Phoenix

“Maybe when I retire” seems to be a common phrase and state of mind for most people I know.

I was trying to get [a coworker] thinking about her dreams this morning at breakfast. I guess the questions not only came too early in the day but also too early in her life. She’s 43 and said she might like to open a dive shop in Japan — someday — “maybe when I retire.” Most people can’t seem to think about the here and now, preferring to think of “somedays” that may never happen.

Not me. I am so focused on my goals, and I am determined that no one or nothing will stop me from achieving them.

Half of the people attending the class have spent the last 2 weeks drinking by the hotel pool.

Not me. I’ve spent time almost every day trying to make new contacts for voice work. Tonight, I was online for 3 hours. I posted a situation wanted at [one web site]. I looked at web sites on Mandy.com and sent an email to one company. I also have spent time today looking at [at least 5 other sites].

I am a working voice actress who makes my living voicing commercials, narrations, audiobooks and cartoons primarily from my home studio. I am well-known in the industry; well-loved by legions of fans; well-respected by peers, directors, and producers; very well utilized because I can pick and choose my projects; and EXTREMELY well-paid.

Today’s Take-aways

1. How you spend your days is how you will spend your LIFE. How will you spend your next 24 hours? If you have a day job, realize that it isn’t the thing that is holding you back. I’ve previously written about ways to find happiness when you hate your day job. Taking active steps toward your dream will spill over into every other facet of your life.

2.

3.  A dream is just a wish until you WRITE IT DOWN. Most of the last paragraph in the journal entry was so far away from my reality in 2002 but is becoming truer for me every day. It’s important to write what you want to happen in the present tense as if it’s already here. Doing so rewires your brain so that you can feel and live the truth of the thought. You become filled with a joyful expectancy that naturally inspires you to take action to make your statements a reality! To prove this point, take a look at Jim Carrey’s wonderful true story about visualization and manifestation.

Photo: iStockPhoto/maxmihai

The post TDIMH — Maybe When I Retire appeared first on Karen Commins.

TDIMH — Friday 16 April 2004 1:20pm

Sometimes I just feel like giving up.

No, I don’t mean on my life — just on this whole voice-over dream. I allow myself to feel confidence and think that I am talented and a capable engineer until things happen that make me think I am deluding myself.

This week, I’ve had 2 incidents — one minor, one major — that have really made me question myself and make me wonder whether I should quit. Yes, I know that:

• These stresses are  temporary, a reaction, and something that will pass.
• I don’t want to get to my later life and think “what if I had kept going with voice-over” or “I wish I had followed my dream”.
• [I was reminded of] the story about the gold miner who sold his rights after years of fruitless search and frustration, only to discover the next day that the new owner found gold just 3 feet away from where he stopped. You never know how close you are to the gold.
• And remember Mel Fisher and the Atocha — 17 years before he found it.

However, I also know that my life would be sooo much simpler if I just went to work, came home and watched TV like everyone else.

The minor thing that happened was that [Client A] at [Company A] had some unflattering comments about one of my reads for the commercials. He said it had an accent and asked “where ARE you from?” Since I’m in the speech class to improve, I could laugh at this exchange, especially when he told me that he knew it wasn’t a Southern accent. [My teacher] listened to the read and told me that any time someone hears something different that they label it as an accent.

The major thing that had me questioning this career choice occurred today. The girl at [Company B] called today and said that my files contained way too much sibilance. She said it was distracting to listen to for an hour, and she couldn’t use it the way it is. Great. I had only spent 7+ hours in creating it, and now it has a problem. I told her I’d try to experiment with software to reduce the sibilance.

I was somewhat relieved that she called back a short while later to say that someone has told her it was fine the way it was. On the first call, she said another person said they could hear the sibilance but didn’t find it troubling. She’s working with a contractor who had previous experience with TV, and apparently, the contractor is the one who said it was sibilance and caused by microphone placement.

Of course, these conversations made me feel extremely stressed. Not only am I being told about 2 problems — my incorrect placement when making S sounds and an hour-long presentation that is full of them — but I’m hearing about it while on my day job where I can do absolutely nothing about it.

I had already planned to take 3 hours of leave today so I could [run a bunch of errands] and then find some way to spend an enjoyable few hours….  I did NOT intend to rush home and start working on fixing this sibilance problem.

All the way home, I felt upset thinking about the situation  and wondering if I should just forget my whole dream. I’m tired of struggling all the time. I know that it all should be a learning experience, but I’m tired of learning. When will I be considered the master? I love the voice-over part and wish I could leave the audio engineering to someone else. When will that happen?

I downloaded a de-esser plug-in for Cool Edit and experimented for over 2 hours with it. I forgot to say that when I turned on my computer, I got an email message that seemed to be a direct answer to my thoughts, today’s motivational quote of the day:

You are where you are today
because you’ve chosen to be there.

True, but I didn’t choose to have all these problems.

I sent her a couple of MP3s with the sibilance reduced. I’ve decided that I will send a CD of everything on Monday with the sibilance reduced, with another CD with the files in their original state since I have to record some slides over due to script changes.

I talked to Drew when he got home. Of course, I’m not going to give up. I truly believe that I am destined to be a star. I’m stressed, exhausted, frustrated, needing a vacation desperately, and depressed about Daddy [who had passed away 6 months before this entry], but I’m not willing to give up on my dream.

I think — no, I KNOW — that all of these other factors have made me feel so overwhelmed and cause me to react so negatively to a problem. I need to keep in mind that a problem is just an opportunity to learn something (even if I don’t want to).

Today’s Take-Aways

1.  BREATHE. When you feel overwhelmed or stressed, take a moment to take some good, deep breaths. Chances are that your problem is not as big as it first seems.

2.  At the time, I didn’t understand how much my grief over the loss of my much-beloved dad infiltrated every part of my life. I looked like I normally did. I acted like everything was normal. Inside, though, everything was NOT normal. If you’re grieving, go easy on yourself and postpone any life-changing decisions until you feel stronger.

3.  You also don’t want to make life-changing decisions based on one bad day. Problems are inherent in any job. You have to take the bad with the good, and problems can steer you off course. However, with determination, you can make course corrections and get back on the path of your dream!

4.  You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t occasionally have doubts. It helps to talk to someone you trust and/or write in a journal to remind yourself of all your good qualities and capabilities that will lift you up when you feel like giving up.

5. The real take-away here is that I was much too critical of myself. I could’ve let the OPINION OF ONE PERSON keep me from my dream and my destiny! Don’t give away your power to another person. When it comes to your dream, yours is the only opinion that matters!

Bonus Round of Comments for Voice Talent

I was writing about a problem with sibilance. I actually went back and listened to that 10-year-old file. While I did hear some sibilance on a few words, I’ve heard much worse sibilance issues in new audiobooks from experienced talent! And when you consider the script was as overrun with S sounds as trees in Georgia are choking in kudzu, I’m amazed that I didn’t end up sounding like Sylvester the cat!

I added a sample here for your reading pleasure; you really need to read it aloud to get the full joy from it. Note that the full script had dozens and dozens of occurrences of Sarbanes-Oxley!

Sarbanes-Oxley aims to increase investor confidence by introducing a whole new level of accountability for senior corporate executives by holding them personally responsible for their company’s financial statements….The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is comprised of 11 distinct areas or titles. Each title contains additional sections which clearly outline responsibilities, requirements, and penalties.

The post Do You Feel Like Giving Up? appeared first on Karen Commins.

TDIMH — Tuesday 20 January 2004 11:18pm on my sofa

When I leave my day job on the day before holidays, vacation, or wonderful Wednesday, I have the lightness of step and giddy heart of a child out of school for the summer. Knowing that I don’t have to get up early tomorrow and go there gives me such joy! It doesn’t even matter that I feel little stress or pressure on the job. I just love my freedom away from it!

I didn’t even mind going to the doctor for a physical this afternoon. It meant I left even earlier and could start wonderful Wednesday even sooner. It also meant I got home earlier than normal.

While I was in the waiting room, I continued to read Harlan Hogan’s book VO: Tales and Techniques of a Voice-over Actor. Reading his many anecdotes, which, of course, mentioned his clients and credit list along the way, made me feel a bit depressed and discouraged. Sometimes, I feel like I’m a dreamer (on a rough road, to quote the song Swing Street by Barry). I wonder when I’ll get my big break.

However, I was heartened when I read p. 208-210 in his book. He states that we have been taught to ask the big, breakthrough kinds of questions. [He wrote:]

These questions are self-defeating and downright depressing. They are ends, not means.

He talked about Kaizen, which is an ancient Zen philosophy that teaches small, constant improvements by taking tiny steps and asking easy questions to achieve large goals. You should look closely at small, seemingly insignificant details to learn big lessons. [He continued:]

Ask yourself what tiny thing can I do to further my voice-over career today? Keep acquiring and improving the four Ts of voice over — training, talent, tools, and technique — by asking the small questions, taking the small steps, learning each lesson and enjoying the long journey — one session at a time.

I always feel better when I record my activities on my Goals calendar. I get stars for voice-over, and I earn a star almost every day. Some of my activities are pretty small, indeed, but I guess they are better than nothing.

Today’s Take-aways

1.  Do one thing, no matter how small, each day toward your goals. I actually wrote a post on this same topic 5 years ago, which featured a lovely story from Joe Cipriano explaining why it’s important to do something everyday.

2.  You may find it fun and inspirational to track your progress on a calendar. You may even want to give yourself stickers as a small reward for each accomplishment. I got the idea for rewarding myself with stickers on my goals calendar from this post on the Barbara Sher board.  I described how I decorated and used my book in this post. Unfortunately, the links in that post to the pictures no longer work, and I don’t seem to have copies of them to re-upload to my site.

I kept the sticker format for years! I have a binder full of calendars going back to 2003. I stopped keeping a paper calendar in the last couple of years only because I wanted to take less stuff with me on trips. However, I still track my progress every day in an iPad app called Daily Notes. It allows you to create as many tabs as you like so you can track different parts of your life. You also can draw and add pictures, as well as tag and search posts.

3.  I notice in this journal entry that I was once again making comparisons between myself and another voiceover actor. For peace of mind and happiness every day, it’s vital to STOP THE COMPARISONS! Just remember: Comparison is a cancer of the soul.
 

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Wednesday 20 Nov., 2002 9:35pm on my sofa in front of the fire

Today’s word is disappointment.

I was disappointed to wake up and realize it’s only Wednesday; the preceding 2 days seemed long enough to be a week. I was disappointed to learn we did not win the lottery last night, and I have to go to work. I’m disappointed that my headache came back today.

The biggest disappointment, though, were the calls from [a potential client] telling me that he wouldn’t use me for the commercial after all. The regular talent will be back in town tomorrow, so, of course, she gets the gig.

I did make 2 follow up calls, and I sent 5-6 follow up emails. I guess I’ll just have to make my own luck. I like the quote yesterday in my 28 Days marketing book:

When doing business with the Universe, remember you must place an order if you want to get a delivery.

I think I’ve placed my order many, many times, so I keep wondering when it will be filled. I have to trust that things will happen in their own good time and when I’m ready. (I think I’m ready now if that makes a difference!)

Today’s Take-aways

These aren’t so much take-aways from the entry I copied as things I’ve learned about the Laws of Attraction and Creation since I wrote it.

1. “You can’t achieve victory if you’re constantly talking defeat.”  — Joel Osteen

“What you think about expands” — Wayne Dyer

We all have disappointments in life. Dwelling on them will only ensure that the Universe serves up more disappointments to us. I wrote a blog entry titled Think/Write/Speak what you WANT into Being that goes into greater detail about changing your thoughts to a more positive pattern.

2. When we place our order to the Universe, we don’t know WHEN or HOW it will materialize. We waste valuable energy worrying about the WHEN or HOW. Instead of concerning ourselves with those two unknowable things, it’s important to continue taking steps and doing our best each day toward our dreams. When the Universe is free to deliver our order in the time and way that is best for us, the outcome will be better than we could have thought possible!

The post TDIMH — Place Your Order With the Universe appeared first on Karen Commins.

(A private journal entry from at least 10 years ago with lessons that apply today)

I occasionally have fleeting thoughts of quitting [voice-over]. However, I quickly remind myself of 2 stories that keep me going.

The first story is about a man who had been digging for gold for however many years. He finally gave up in frustration and sold his claim to the land to someone else.

The next day, the new owner found a gold mine worthy of a king’s fortune 3 feet away from where his predecesor stopped digging. The moral is to never give up because you don’t know how close you are to the gold.

The other story is definitely a true story, while the first one may be just a lesson.

Mel Fisher was convinced that he would find the shipwreck of the Atocha, which was laden with gold, silver, emeralds and other precious items when it sank.

Every day, for 17 years, he looked for it. Every day during those 17 years, he started the day by saying “This could be the day!” Every day, when he didn’t find it, he would tell the crew around the supper table “Tomorrow could be the day!”

His enthusiasm and positive outlook were infectious. Even when he endured personal tragedy like the death of his son during or as a result of a dive, he persevered.

He did find a shipwreck, and I believe it was the find of greatest value ever recorded — something like $400 million bucks!

He has a museum in Key West where many breathtaking relics are on display. I think it’s safe to say that he and his family live on Easy Street.

I do feel more hopeful when I remind myself of these stories of perseverance against the odds. I am so anxious to get where I’m going that I find it difficult to enjoy and learn from the journey. I still feel like my marketing is scattered, and maybe I’m not targeting the right people. [My brother] talked about having an intermediate goal and steps plotted along the way.

As for my next intermediate goal, how can I set them without being in complete control of the outcome? In other words, it’s hard to have goals when I have to depend on fickle, forgetful people to make a conscious choice to hire me.

Maybe the better question is how do I distinguish myself from the 1000s of voice talent who are streaming out of every nook and cranny to set up shop on the web?

To say people are fickle and forgetful is probably not accurate since they actually tend to be loyal to those they’ve used before by throwing more work their way. How do I break in and convince them that they should pick me as a relative newcomer?

What is my competitive advantage? I think it’s my ability to sightread long passages and speak with proper inflection. I want to target narrations and audiobooks….Perhaps my next intermediate goal would be to re-do my audiobook demos.

Today’s Take-Aways:

1) While you need to have the big picture in mind, your progress will be incremental and sometimes may even seem non-existent. Think of the stories in this post and remind yourself that perseverance pays off!

2) Do something every day toward your goals, no matter how small.

3) Spend some time in quiet reflection to assess your skills, interests, and passions and how they might help move you forward toward your dream life.

4) Give up your need for control. Actually, very little in our lives is totally under our control. If you keep the end result in mind while you continue taking steps, the Universe will open pathways and create possibilities that you never even considered.

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