Develop Your Inner Actor to Get Out of Your Own Way

It's a funny thing. Actors are driven to perform, to take on roles that bring a world of imagination, fantasy and mirrored life reflections into believable existence. In order to achieve the performance of a character well told, the actor has to commit to the unknown, get out of their own way, and be in the present moment. This power of presence and authentic self-assurance in the role create the charisma that draws us to actors and the stories they tell.

"I just let the work speak for itself. An actor is not afraid to take risks; to put on different hats; to be a good guy, a bad guy, a victim, an abuser. There are all kinds of people in the world, and playing them is what acting is all about." - Kevin Bacon

Why is it, then, that so many actors forget the skills and tools they've worked hard to develop over a life-time when it comes to how they show up in their own life story? Why are so many actors insecure, in their own way and out of alignment with their own power and authenticity?

Actors are brilliant at saying YES to the authenticity of a character; saying YES to the story told, saying YES to the performance. Yet they leave this power to take risks, ability to trust their instincts, and willingness to stretch way beyond the comfort zone in their own lives. Often they hold themselves back in the choices they make or self-sabotage in a big way making tabloid headlines. They leave their personal power that is their birthright and the force that inspires them to be an actor at the door as they say NO to the life experience they dream of.

An actor in performance is able to leave the Inner Critic of self-doubt and fear behind. If an actor can disarm the Inner Critic of its power during a performance, she has the ability to disarm the very same Inner Critic in her personal life. What is it that an actor is able to do during a performance that is not being done in an unwanted life experience? The answer is simple. An actor is highly skilled in showing up in the present moment while in character and forgets to apply that same talent in life. When you show up in life in the present moment you are fully engaged, focused, unaware of time passing and 'in the zone' of intentional creativity.

You create your life experience in every moment of every day. If your thoughts, feelings and actions are based in the perceived events of the past you will continue to create similar experiences to your past. For example, if some incident in your past brings forth a belief system, a 'rule book of life' that you're not talented/good/smart/rich/pretty/young "enough" for what you want to achieve you will continue to create experiences which 'prove' that you are what you thought - not enough! Often an actor who inwardly believes that 'it's just a matter of time before they find out I'm not whatever enough' will unconsciously create drama in the form of self-destruction to justify this belief!

"A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." - John Barrymore

If you spend your time in the past you miss your moment of now, the present moment. The only time you can deliberately, intentionally, create the future you desire is in the present moment. In the present moment you are awake, aware, ready and available for whatever is 'next'. You are firing on all cylinders and tapped in to your Higher Self, Inner Being or what I playfully call the Wizard Within - the voice of your intuition, truth and authenticity. This inner wisdom and guidance is your birthright. Actors know how to tap into this powerful resource in character. The presence to extend the use of that magnificent tool in their own life is the recipe for their own story well told, an authentic passionate life well lived.

"To be a good actor you have to be something like a criminal, to be willing to break the rules to strive for something new." - Nicolas Cage

Break the tired old belief system, rule book of your past. Mindfully and fully express your full potential as an authentic and intentional creative being in the present moment, fully engaged, ready and available for the Oscar winning performance that is your life.