You were born this way Grasshopper. Lady Gaga said so and it must be true…right? 

In all seriousness, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and to have some incredible people in my life. From industry A listers, to the movers and shakers of this town, and even high performing entrepreneurs. 

Over the years I’ve surrounded myself with mentors that are much wiser than I am and I’ve noticed something. 

The effects that simply knowing what you’re about to learn, can have on your acting career could be monumental. 

See, every high performing person that I’ve ever met has resonated with versions of the same ideals. 

I have distilled them down into the Actor’s Success Miniquiz, which I have included for you here in this release. 

Before you take it, you need to have a little background on what it’s all about. 

Simply stated: Success leaves clues. I have designed this miniquiz to be a tool that will help you recognize the most common career roadblocks that most actors face. 

The actors that we look up to are the ones that have recognized these things and have gotten past them. 

The ones that we’ve never heard of, are the ones that may have had the best intentions but never could get past them. 

Sadly, most of them never even knew about them and will retire with a career that never did match their potential. 

We are constantly told that if we work hard enough, we’ll eventually succeed. Though, we quickly realize that this is not the case, little information (outside of Boost My Star) exists for actors about what actually works to get ahead in our careers. 

So, we tend to just kind of go with the flow of what everyone else is doing and end up going where everyone else goes: nowhere fast. 

When I first started my career, I spent 6 months just going with the flow and I realized that there had to be a better way. I looked at actors like Leo and Meryl Streep and knew that it wasn’t simply about the struggle and “paying your dues.” 

That’s when I started compliling the clues of success that the most successful people in our industry were leaving. 

This miniquiz is about seeing if you have what it takes to make it in this business or whether you should hang up your “acting shoes.” 

So without further ado, here’s the actor’s success miniquiz. Keep track of your answers (how many As, Bs, or Cs) and no peeking below at the answer key. Be cool! 

1. Do you have a structured marketing plan in place, to make yourself more visible to the industry? 

a. Yes, it’s written down and I implement it everyday 

b. No, I have an agent for that 

c. Actors don’t need marketing 

 

2. How many times per week do you meet someone that can make a difference in your career? 

a. All day Err’day 

b. 3 times a week 

c. Uhhh…Next question please 

 

3. Of the people you are around most often, how many of them have achieved the career success you want to achieve. 

a. 2+ 

b. 1 

c. I’m the most successful in our bunch 

 

4. Close your eyes and imagine your life in 35 years. What do you see 

a. It’s hard to even explain, because it’s beyond my wildest imagination 

b. I’m content and satisfied with what I achieved, even though I fell short of my goals 

c. HELP! Get me out of here! 

 

5. What are you willing to trade in order to be successful? 

a. Comfort, pride, and security 

b. I don’t understand the question 

c. No trades necessary. I’m all set! 

 

If you noticed the trend, give yourself a Gold star. 

Here’s the deal. While successful actors have a degree of innate talent, it usually starts as raw and unrefined and gets better and better over the years, but that’s not the part of success that you’re born with. 

The part of success that cannot be taught is the drive. That part comes from deep within. More on this in a sec. 

See, virtually anyone with enough drive can learn to act good enough to get by. It’s not about how many dialects you can convincingly perform, how much experience you have with stage combat, or that you can go from stage cry to stage laugh in a single beat, without a problem. 

The part of success that has to come from you, is the will to do it. 

So here’s the answer key. 

Questions 1-5 A. 

If you answered A) 5 times, your success is virtually guaranteed. 

If you answered B) or C) one or two times. There’s still hope! You now know what areas to focus on. 

If you answered B) or C) 3 or more times…acting is a great hobby to have! 

Because you’re still reading this, I’m assuming you’re part of the bunch for which there is still hope. 

Being successful in the industry is going to require that you get out of your comfort zone and do something differently. 

You also need to have a structured marketing plan in place and work on it daily. Expecting to get results by sheer chance, is not how you build the career you’re ultimately after. 

Do that and surround yourself with people that think big and that have already gotten to where you want to go. You will see that your thinking will start to expand and match theirs and then you will be unstoppable. 

The universe will start to bend to your will. 

That’s the recipe for success. It’s not flashy, and there’s certainly not an easy button but there is an easier way.

We are coming into the greatest time to be in the industry, ever! It is quickly turning into a meritocracy where success comes to those that are willing to work for it and have the talent to match the opportunities presented. 

With the right plan in place, you can force the industry to take notice of you. Most actors either can’t get their head around how to do this, or overcomplicate it by a long shot! 

So start here.

As your career continues to unfold, the strategy for continuing success will stay the same. The scale at which you do things will be different but you must never lose sight of the foundation. 

So make sure you build your career on an unshakeable foundation.

Keep at it and before long we’ll: 

See you at the top, 
Scott 

P.S. Though theirs is not an easy button, that doesn’t mean you have to make things hard on yourself. Here’s a way to fast track your success.