This business certainly has its way of toying with your emotions, messing with your schedule and playing with your mind. You can be on Cloud 9 one minute and have your balloon popped the next. Crazy busy one week and couch potato-ing the next. Employed one month and…‘un’ the next. The constant need to re-group and get charged up can be exhausting, and after enough cycles of ups and downs, it can be downright deflating. When you’re in a slump and having a tough time finding your spark, here are some ideas to warm up, strike the flint and get glowing. Remember that you can’t always control your career, but you can control how it affects you.
Fuel Thyself
Dad’s backyard BBQ didn’t heat up until he pulled out the lighter fluid. If you want to get things cookin’, you’ve gotta fuel up.
- Hydrate. (And not that chemically, caffeinated kind of liquid refreshment). Water, water again, fresh-pressed juices, herbal tea…you get my drift.
- Eat to live. (Yeah, it should taste good, too, but remember what food is really for.) Food should lift you up, give you what you need and bring out the best in you, not make you sluggish, crash-y, or crave-y. The less processed the better. The more organic the better. The more plant-based the better.
- Rest. (Yes, a good night’s sleep, but also meditation and naps!)
- Breathe. Deep, cleansing, purposeful breaths to feed your cells and clear the mind.
Inspire Thyself
This is another kind of fuel. Heart fuel is the life-blood of creativity. Getting caught up with ‘booking tunnel vision’ or in ‘career advancement mode’ can make you forget that it’s actually not about getting jobs. You became an actor/writer/producer/director/etc. because story-telling means something to you. It’s something deep-down important and you need to remember that, otherwise your fire will forever remain unstoked.
- Watch. Watch something outside of your favorite genre or with actors you’re unfamiliar with. Sure, catch up on your DVR, but check out a new show or go to a short film festival screening or really go for it and see a play.
- Read. For pleasure, for research, for education, for language, for story structure. Just read.
- See. There are so many things you can look at to get inspired. Art, nature, faces. Really really look, study and SEE the world you live in.
- Surround Yourself. With the people in your life that inspire, uplift and challenge you. Sometimes making a fire is way more fun with friends. Did someone say ‘smores’?
- Feel. Don’t forget to allow yourself to be affected. Yes, you should develop a thick skin for your career, but don’t let that affect how much you let into your heart.
Move Thyself
Yup, that means exercise.
- Good ol’ cardio and strength training.
- Stay flexible. Yoga, pilates, stretch class. Pliable body = pliable mind.
- Posture. Your body informs your mind. If you’re felling low, pop your chest up, breathe deep and stick a smile on your face.
- Flip your frown. Make yourself smile and the glow just starts creeping through your body.
- Dance. Yeah, full “Risky Business” style at home in your underwear. Or grab your girls for a night out. Make time to let loose and light it up.
Check Thyself (Before You Wreck Thyself)
Ok, so you’re taking better care of your body with what you’re putting in it and how you’re using it and you’ve been inspired by the awesomeness of the world and art around you. Check in with yourself. Is whatever got you down in the first place still lingering? Sometimes you will discover that it wasn’t the thing itself that was getting you down, but your perception of it from where you were once standing. Maybe you’ve given yourself a better vantage point from which to evaluate the situation.
However, if you’re in a better place physically and emotionally, but still can’t shake that icky feeling, it’s time to do some serious soul-searching. Is what you’re pursuing really truly your heart’s calling? Have you been trudging down a path chasing the “idea” of something or are you crystal clear on what it is your heart is calling you to pursue? What more can you do to make your dreams your inevitable future? Big questions will give you big (sometimes scary) answers, but better to ask before the embers glow too dim. Gather your kindling, strike a match, and get ready to light it up!