"Making it" is tough..quitting is MUCH tougher

Hello All,

As always, I hope life is treating you and your loved ones well. I'm finished with my 11 days of Ramadan so I am feeling pretty darned cleansed. As a result, I'm gonna keep it short and sweet today :)

Sometimes, people call summer the "dog days". Usually its one of the fun times of the year, especially when we are in our school age phase. As a rising (read: not established) actor, the summer time can be the dog days because it is probably the slowest time in the business. Actors spend more of their time looking for work than actually working year around. In the summer that time spent looking for work can get more agonizing because there are less auditions and less opportunities to work. The dog days indeed are a part of our reality. All careers and industries have slower than usual periods. There are times when you just are NOT seeing the forward career momentum that we all want. What should you do? There are a few things that we can do for our respective careers when the primary thing is going slower. That comes later. The first thing is actually something you can NOT do..

You just CANT QUIT!! PERIOD...END OF STORY

First and foremost you have to burn that belief into your mind. If you have made the decision that "this" (whatever it may be for you) is what you want to do with your life and put your energy towards, you have to see it through all the way to the end. You cannot give up! You have to keep going forward no matter how slow your forward progress may be in that given moment. You can never let yourself be defeated by the short term obstacles that life has put in your path. Those things come and go..they will reappear later on in your journey towards your personal gold medal. You can't let yourself be beaten by things that you can overcome with a little bit of persistence, desire and hard work.

Ive been on hundreds of auditions since becoming an actor. In the coming years that number will be in the thousands. As you can guess more often than not people say no. That is absolutely no reason to tapout on the career and life that I am willing to walk through the fire for. Some of you have been rejected by grad schools, some of you have seen your business slow to a crawl because of the tough economy we came out of, some of you got knocked out by an opponent that you thought you could best. Fine..it happens to us all. What is most important is to look at your current situation and look past it to where you can be IF YOU DON'T GIVE UP AND KEEP GOING FORWARD! I can be a series regular on a network TV show in a couple years. Does it change the fact that I am dead broke with a dead end job right now...No. It doesn't. The point is that my current situation DOES NOT prohibit me from becoming that series regular. People who get frustrated and give up often do not make that connection. They often let the current rough times dictate that there will be nothing but rough times going forward. This is not the case guys. You can always turn it around..you just have to stay in the game

So what kinds of things can you do when you hit those career valleys? Of course specifics vary from career to career..but there are a few general things that can help save your sanity

1. Hone your craft: What kind of skills do you have for your career? What skills can you improve upon to give you a competitive advantage?

2. Clear your mind: What hobby, pursuit or thing can you do that takes your mind totally off your career?

3. Realize whats good: It could always be worse. What things are going on in your life that you are thankful for? Sometimes we ignore these when works not going well. don't!

4. Connect and Re-Connect: You should be there for your friends..and they for you. Call one..especially one you haven't talked to in a while. I promise you will feel better after catching up

Its tough out there guys no matter what you do. I don't promise much to anyone...but I do promise that quitting will hurt you far more than anything going on right now. Keep fighting guys...and don't give up

Inspirational quote of the day

"It's always too early to quit."

Thanks for reading.. and hit me up on twitter

Ahmad

@MoviestarAhmad 

AVOID emotionally transmitted infections

Greetings Summer Stars,


As always I hope that everything is going well in your world! For those who observe the fast, Ramadan Mubarak and make sure to drink plenty of water at night. Also...don't be afraid to train a little during the day. As an Olympian once told me "training during Ramadan makes you tough".

Over the years, I have cut plenty of people out of my life out of what I believed to be necessity. Most times they were completely unaware and they certainly weren't consulted on this change in our friendship status. I just stopped calling and hanging out with them among other things. Seems cold but I don't lose a bit of sleep over it. Why? Cutting those people keeps me emotionally healthy. The logic is summed up like this....

AVOID the unhappy and unlucky



 There are people who are no longer in my life because they are always unhappy and/or unlucky. There..I said it. You can die from someone else's misery. You may feel you are helping a drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. People who are unfortunate and unhappy can draw misfortune on themselves...they can also draw it onto YOU! Fitness and health are important things to me. The reality is that emotional states are as infections as diseases. This is a way to protect your emotional health so that you can be the absolute best YOU that you can.

Fundamentally, at the core, people are either positive or negative. The reality is what it is in a given situation. The positive person will look for the upside no matter how the bad the reality may be and the negative person will always find the tragedy no matter how good the reality is. I am a positive person and continue to represent that philosophy throughout my life. When its a one on one situation, my positive super-powers can easily vanquish 1 captain negativo. What about when its 1 vs 3..4 or more? Positivity can keep you healthy but if your constantly hanging with 3 negative people, you are bound to be the fourth. All the complaining they do..all the woe is me talk..they will eventually infect you with that unhappy disease and before you know it, you are just as negative as them. Seeing that as the path of the negative-ites, I choose to stay positive and to stay away from those people I deem too negative to stand. AKA people who are radioactive with their negativity. Those people are gonna be unhappy

Those misfortunate people among us who have been hurt by situations beyond their control deserve our help and sympathy. There are others who are not born to misfortune or unhappiness, but who draw it upon themselves by their destructive actions. It would be great to raise them up but more than likely you will be the one brought down. Humans are extremely susceptible to the moods, emotions and thoughts of those we spend time with. Which is why you must be so very mindful of who you hang with. Understand that in the game of life, the people you associate with are critical. The risk of associating with these infectors is that you will waste valuable time and energy getting free from them. These toxic people are tricky. They don't always introduce themselves properly and honestly. Nobody says "Hi, my name is Bruce and I am an energy drainer and constant complainer." Since I like to be solutions oriented lets answer the question you're about to ask... How do I protect myself from these emotional infections and the people that transmit them?

Its not simple but if you look critically you can protect yourself. First, judge people by the affect they have on the world and people around them...NOT by the reasons they give for their problems. Beware of victimism. We have all been victimized in situations in life. If someone is ALWAYS telling you about being a victim over and over again, you should be concerned. Turbulence in their relationships and career can be a give away. I'm not saying that every ones life should be perfect with no rough times. Those people who are intent on success go through those rough times and correct their actions with the idea of moving forward. The other people don't change and constantly want to wallow in their rough times never moving past them. The constant complainer is also a big red flag. Being critical isn't the problem. Its that the constant complainer is never happy. Very soon they will spread their unhappiness on you.

Time for good news...The infection can go for the positive!! There are people who attract happiness by their good cheer, positivity and intelligence. Those folks who believe that difficult things can be done as opposed to can't. Be one of those people and hang with more to bring success to your whole circle. BE gracious, charming, witty, and courageous. Be the type of person that others want to be around. So long as they come in peace and positivity, the more the merrier. 

I realize that this is something similar to what your parents told you many years ago. You are judged by the company you keep. This isn't about the outward appearance. This is about your INNER appearance and hanging with people that match either where you are and where you want to be. Protect your emotional health guys! If its in a bad place..IMPROVE IT. If you are a negative person 1. Congrats for reading my blog. You will be more positive if you keep reading 2. Go find a group of 5-6 people where you are the only negative person. After a few times you will find yourself looking forward to seeing them. You wont know why..you will just be happy :)

Inspirational quote of the post

"Only generous souls attain greatness"

Thanks for reading guys!

Ahmad

Twitter: @MoviestarAhmad