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Fear and Bravery

One way to look at fear is that it is just a fact of life.

And I remember when I had so much anxiety as a child. And I used to think to myself, I'd be like, "If could just get rid of this. I just wish somebody could remove anxiety from me."

But remember that anxiety and fear were given to us for a specific reason: the sabertoothed tiger.

Because a long time ago, we needed to rely on our fear instincts.

I want to have some element of that ability to feel fear because, to be quite honest, I live near a mountain and these animals are around, and I need to be cautious; I need to turn on the lights, I need to make noise, I need not to be thinking about something else when I go outside at night and to be quite honest during the day as well. But really, at night, when I can't see anything.

So, I think again to understand that fear is something that was given to us to protect us and for us to know that we don't want to get rid of i...

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Today, I am going to be talking about wisdom and choice.  

A quote from William Jennings Bryan. 

“Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved.” 

In life, we always have a choice, even when we don't feel we do. 

When I forget that I have a choice, what happens is that I am making myself a victim to life's circumstances, or to even life itself.  

Choice is the freedom to see things as we desire, feel what we want, and live as we create our lives to be.  

So, the question is, are you happening to life or is life happening to you?  

Now, I firmly believe that I am the copilot in my life. But the chief pilot in my life is the universe.  

And I choose for it to be that way because the universe is infinite, whereas me, just of myself, am finite. 

In each moment, I can choose how I want to experience life.  

I can ...

Private Coaching

So, Rosh Hashanah, Happy New Year.

I am married to a wonderful Jewish man, and this is the Jewish New Year.

You can restart your day at any point.

And I thought, you know what, it's Jewish New Year, and we could all use a bit of a restart.

I also love that it's coming up right after Labor Day; I think of it being, as I mentioned before, summertime is over, and it's, the school year has begun. So, let's try and infuse some energy.

So, what does restart my day, my week, my month, my year at any point mean to me?

It means that there needs to be some sort of an attitude adjustment.

Meaning that either I have been slacking on something I have been not aligning positive thoughts or positive action with my goals, which is one of the biggest things I talk about.

And I need to make an adjustment.

Free month of coaching

As a Chiropractor for the Mind, I adjust your thoughts so that they are in line.

In other words, getting you to do everything you can to work for ...

Eight Tips Not to Get Ripped Off as an Actor and the Three Pillars to a Successful Acting Career

Today, I'm going to talk about clear thinking in unclear times.

And I think that could apply to so many things. It could apply to our industry, it could apply to AI, and what's going to happen, it could apply to strikes, it could apply just to the state of the world.

So, let's take a second to talk about clear thinking and how to achieve it.

The Language of Letting Go

"Clear thinking. Strive for clear thinking."

Already right there with that sentence. Strive for clear thinking. For me, what that means is to strive for wisdom.

Strive for wisdom from the smartest part of me, my highest intelligence, because many of us have had our thinking clouded by denial or potentially our egos. Some of us have even lost faith in ourselves because we've spent some time in denial.

In other words, just like pushing things away so we don't have to think about it.

"Finances, career, love, life, so ...

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Family and separating from family issues because when I think of back to life, back to reality, one of the things I think about is getting back to dealing with family issues and either the support or the lack of support or the lack of interest from family members in your acting career.

The Language of Letting Go

"We can draw a healthy line, a healthy boundary between ourselves and our nuclear family, and we can separate ourselves from their issues.

And I think that's amazing because I don't think I realized that I could separate my issues or anybody else's issues from me.

I thought anybody I spoke to their issue was my issue, and my issue was their issue. But that is highly codependent thinking and does not lead to a happy or successful life.

"Some of us have family members who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, or you know what, anything ...

Learn More About Money Mastery for Actors

About Rose Marie:

Official "Auntie Bear," Rose Marie is Peter's right-hand woman at Acting Business Boot Camp. She learned the budget system and used it to completely renew her relationship with money. Moving from the kind of person who checked her bank account with her eyes closed every few months to knowing exactly how she wants to spend her resources to serve her goals.

She learned this system from Mama Bear herself, which completely changed her relationship with money, empowering her to help others do the same.

Rose Marie's history with money and how she came to the Money Mastery Budgeting program.

I just felt hopeless. I didn't know what to do.

Money was coming in very irregularly because I was working many different jobs.

And I really didn't know how to manage my money at all.

This system has completely transformed the way I look at money. I have like a 795 credit score; I'm able to save. I have zero debt. I paid it all off. ...

Free Masterclass

Today, I will read you something that a listener sent me, so thank you, Margaret.

I absolutely love this, and I'm going to read it just as it was presented to me because I think it's so inspirational about not giving up and also just it's about tenacity.

"Hi, Peter. I ran across this post on Twitter and had to share some good points. Didn't know any of this about the film Rocky. In 1975, Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for Rocky. He shopped the script to every producer and studio in Hollywood but was repeatedly rejected.

Eventually, one production company, Chartoff-Winkler Productions, expressed interest, but there was one condition…

They didn't want Stallone to play Rocky. They wanted a "more marketable actor" for the leading role.

In fact, they were so desperate for Stallone to *not* play Rocky that they kept offering him increasing large sums of money to go away.

"It went up to $360,000," Stallone said, "to go away to get off my lawn, boy."

Stallo...

Today we're going to talk about a humbling subject: feelings and surrender.

It encourages us to suppress our egos just enough. If you can, think of that game of limbo to get under the bar.

Can you suppress your ego enough to get to the lesson that the universe is trying to teach you on the other side?

And I think that that is so interesting as an actor because I always feel like a character is teaching me, but for the character to teach me, I need to suppress who I am a little bit. See what they are saying, and so allowing that character to come to me instead of putting myself on that character.

The idea of that character allowing and suppressing that ego just enough so that that character can speak through you so that you can truly be a vessel for the character.

The Language Of Letting Go

"Surrendering is a highly personal and spiritual experience."

And I just mentioned that because I think that surrendering to the universe is, is a very personal thing.

Some people get on t...

Improv Class

I have a choice. I can get involved with the turmoil and, you know, continue to make it more miserable for others and for myself. Or I can stand for peace and reason and strength within myself.

It's really about keeping the focus on yourself during the chaotic times, especially when there's so much chaos around us right now.

The Language of Letting Go

"Letting go of chaos. No good work comes from unrest. Unrest, fear, anger, or sadness may motivate us. These feelings are sometimes intended to compel action. But our best work emerges after these feelings have been replaced by peace."

When I am too hot in my response or my reaction, I'm just getting into the problem and trying to control it.

A response is a reaction with a pause and a thought behind it. And really, what I'm talking about there is when I have given myself a cushion of peace.

Because I don't do my best thinking, I don't make my best choices when deeply embroiled in fear, anger, sadness, or some other...

Broaden your improv skills with Peggy Etra

I take pride in this podcast that I just let you see me for who I am, a flawed human being.

Cause that's what artists and characters are.

I try to use these little mistakes I make as teaching tools on how to be kinder to ourselves.

"I confess that I had a burning desire to be excellent but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me very quietly, there is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action.

And because there is only you. And because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urg...