I was catching up on Voice Coaches Radio and listened back to episode 269, Getting Started Getting Started!, which had Warren and Chris reading an email from a listener. I’d forgotten, in amongst all the other things that go on in life, that it was my email, and they once again reminded me that one of the biggest pieces of advice you need to follow is to just do it. It doesn’t matter if you’re in web development, voice over, acting, modelling, or anything else (which I seem to be all of at the moment!), you just need to do it.

Think of it this way. You can talk about it. Set up meetings about it. Have those meetings and decide on something. All of that is wasted effort if you don’t actually do it.

We’ve all been guilty of procrastination. Life gets in the way sometimes, or that thing that we need to do, we really don’t want to do, so we put it off. I’ve been very guilty of that, as I know I need to get a showreel scene filmed, but I’ve put it off because it’s a lot of money to get it filmed that I could be putting to other uses. It might be that you mean to go to the gym in the morning, but you feel sore that morning so you’ll go tomorrow.

Stop procrastinating. Not just as an actor, but as a person, you need to grab life with both hands. And in your acting life, whether on-camera, on the stage, or as a voice over, you need to make sure that you do what you need to do in order to get ahead.

It could be that marketing yourself is something you struggle with, or you don’t think you have time to do, so you put it off. That’s harming you and your career.

Imagine that you’re told by someone that in order to break into the video game market, you first need a commercial showreel. You could complain, say you only want to do character voices, and wind up not getting work because people are casting for an advert for the game, too, or you could get the training you need and get a commercial reel done.* If you want to work on TV, you could think about contacting casting directors, or getting a showreel, or you could actually do it. If you need more training, go and get it. If you need new headshots, get them done. If you need to chase up an invoice, do it.

I would say that the biggest stumbling block to forging a successful career in anything isn’t a lack of skills or knowledge. It’s a lack of drive to put your plans into action.

As The Pink Fairies sang in 1971, Don’t think about it, all you’ve got to do is, do it!.

And as they also say, Don’t sing about it if you ain’t gonna DO IT!; so, my promise to everyone, is that I am going to join you in this call, and I’m going to do more. So, tomorrow, off to the gym again I go!

Thanks again to Warren and Chris for always giving great advice. Check out Voice Coaches Radio on iTunes.

* Kristine Oller uses this example when talking to Pat Fraley in Pat’s voice over marketing home study course