Episode 227: The Potential Writer's Strike & What You Can Control

Ken Rea’s Outstanding Actor Class

So people have been asking me about the writer's strike.

Keep the focus on yourself.

But what can you do? Use this opportunity to let go of drama.

There's a great Michael Jordan quote, “Why would I worry about a shot that I haven't even taken yet?”

Everybody is worried about something that hasn't even happened yet.

Now let's talk about how that affects us as a human being.

We're going to talk about that in a moment. But I just want to talk about this subject and my own experience with worrying about a bunch of stuff that I cannot even control. What it does is it uses up my energy. 

When I am worried about something that is truly probably, if you think about it, none of my business.

If I am trying to get somebody to do something, I am out of myself and into control.

So when it comes to this "potential writer's strike," I again urge you to think about keeping the focus on myself, and taking care of myself pays enormous dividends. 

Simple Exercise:

• I want you to make two columns.
• What can I control, and what can't I control.
• And the stuff that you can't control, I want you to just try and put it aside.
• I want you to look at the column where you can control
• Now in that column can be, and this is what I said I would address, preparing if there is a strike.

So what would you need to do if it's going to affect your income?

What would be the things that you could do to make sure that you are taking care of yourself financially?

Is there stuff you need to start thinking about cutting back?

Are there other jobs that are not in the industry that you could start to push a little bit or put a potential plan that, if you need to pull the trigger on it, you've got it?

Is this a time for you to start looking at your acting career as a whole and looking and seeing, are all of your material speaking that "Language of the Agents and the Casting Directors" that I've talked about so many times? 

I want you to look at the things that you can control in your life.

Maybe it's you want to start looking at eating better. Maybe it's that you want to start looking at your movement as an actor or your voice work as an actor, or your training as an actor.

And if this happens, what can you do to prepare yourself financially?

See, that's all keeping the focus on yourself. That's all doing things that you can control.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.