Tag Archive for: rejection

5 Tips to take the Risk OUT of Marketing

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Marketing IS risky.  Why?  It might not work.  That alone is what has most actors not market themselves at all.  Oh well, sure…you go online and submit for gigs, send some follow up postcards out every once in a while to build your contacts…is that really marketing?  It is, but BARELY.

To really clear through the clutter, you have to be BOLD, courageous and sometimes outrageous.  You have to THINK like they think, not like you think.  And after you figure out what, how, and who to market too, you actually have to take ACTion and DO it.

So here are my 5 Tips to take the risk OUT of marketing…FOREVER! Read more

I Rescued a Human Today

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Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.  I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.  I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage.  I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about my past.  I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone’s life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me.  I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her. Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.  Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.  I would promise to keep her safe.  I would promise to always be by her side. I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.  I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven’t walked the corridors.  So many more to be saved.  At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

Author – Janine Allen

6 Ways to Conquer the Fear of Rejection

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The going price for any worthwhile win is 10 setbacks. If you can handle that failure rate, you have what it takes to succeed.

Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Burton never won an Oscar.  Babe Ruth was never named Most Valuable Player.  Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson all lost elections for the presidency before they won one.  Losers?  No. Legends.

Early in my career, when I was struggling actress, I made a list of all the roles in musical theater I wanted to perform.  Some, I admit, were far out of my reach, (to young, too old, not enough dance skills, wrong color, not the right chops, ugh!), and I wasted tons of time wishing and hoping it weren’t so.

If you’re in the acting game you better get used to hearing the word “no.” If thinking that becoming a successful, heck (really?), even wealthy and famous actor was easy, everyone would want in (ooops…sooooo many do! ). Rejection helps knock out the weak. In my case, those early rejections forced me to really listen to my potential in the marketplace and find out what I needed to do and change in order to transform the “no, thanks” to “where do I sign?”

You can’t escape rejection.  You can only let it go.  Here are some exercises that paid off for me big time:

  • Dissect thoughts under the microscope. When faced with a challenge, what do you tell yourself?  “I’m no good . . . this is too hard . . . I’ll never make it . . .?”  Don’t let negative self-talk sabotage your attitude.
  • Identify realistic fears. Whom do you fear?  What might go wrong?  Who has the power to reject you?  Why would that person say no?  The answers will help you prepare your best, and facing them will help you keep your composure.
  • Focus on the moment. Keep your perspective.  Rejection lasts only a moment, and once it’s over, you’ll be able to move on to the next opportunity.
  • Be more assertive. Most fears of rejection rest on the desire for approval from other people.  Don’t base your self-esteem on their opinions.  Learn to express your own needs (appropriately), and say no when you genuinely can’t be of value or when you know you can’t fulfill.
  • Analyze every failure, but never wallow in one. Harry Truman once said, “As soon as I realize I’ve made one damned fool mistake, I rush out and make another one.”  Failure is a condition all of us experience.  It’s our reaction to our failures that distinguishes winners from losers.
  • Don’t rationalize away the hurt. Turned down for the gig? Didn’t get the contract?  No call back, or even a call period?  Lost out to your biggest competition?  Don’t let your worth be defined by others.  Get back in the game.  It’s not a permanent condition; it’s a short-term setback.

Ten setbacks are the going price for any worthwhile win. I LOVE statistics so look at the major league baseball standings at the end of any season: Out of 30 teams, only eight make the playoffs, and only one winds up winning the World Series. Out of all of the guys on the team (by the way, no women!) how many can you name?  There are the players in the Major Leagues and then there are the STARS.  In the end, the annual standings show that there are 29 losing teams and thusly hundreds/thousands of losers?  Hardly.  Really?  Come on!  Are you in the GAME or not?  In my book the only way you’re not is quitting, and YOU’RE not a quitter, are you?

Lisa’s Moral of the Story:  Don’t get dejected if you’ve been rejected. Just get your skills perfected!