One of my mentors told me really early on that “most people overestimate what they can do In 1 year and underestimate what they can do in 3 or 5 years.”

This has been true for just about every actor I have ever met. Even when we modestly trim our goals to make them more “realistic” when telling someone else about them, we still tend to do this.

If you feel like you have been trying to get ahead in the industry and feel like you are not making the progress you should be making, you could be coming right up to the edge of accomplishing everything you have ever wanted to accomplish in the industry and more.

What will determine whether you stay stuck in your acting career and continue to spin your wheels or whether your career will take off like a rocket, is not what you may think.

Here’s why...

Let’s face it, in order to make the leap and even try to become a professional actor, one has to be a big thinker and incredibly optimistic.

Just about every actor, I’ve ever met has had incredibly ambitious goals for years 1, 2, and 3. I want to be extremely clear: there is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking big and having gigantic goals.

In fact, I encourage it.
What derails us from achieving those big goals is not having detailed plan of action to accomplish them.

Not having this is kind of like getting in your car with the goal in mind of going to the grocery store, stepping on the gas and sitting back hoping that you eventually arrive at the grocery store.

In reality, you probably wouldn’t even make it down a few blocks in one piece.

If you instead used your GPS to get there, and actually steered the car of course, you would have step by step directions along with an anticipated time of arrival and the vehicle to get there. Pun intended.

So, if you want to make real and meaningful career progress you need to build a GPS for your acting career.

That way you know when you are on track and how to get back on track when you are not.

You will know that as long as you don’t deviate from your career GPS, you will be on the right path and making progress towards your end goal of being a fulltime, professional actor.

Most actors stop progressing in their careers because they never took the time to put a plan together.

They just kind of mindlessly go from one audition to the next, and look for a better agent every now and then. Even though some of them book a few jobs every year, the work is typically mundane and they never progress beyond one or two liners.

Studies have shown that what causes people to quit just about anything, is not a lack of achievement.

Rather, they quit because of a lack of progress.

Even actors who are working steadily, but are not getting to the next level will often leave the industry, not because they weren’t able to find work but because they weren’t able to secure meaningful work.

If you want to avoid falling into that trap, start by getting clear on what you truly want to accomplish in the industry.

Sit down for a few minutes and really think on it on a deep and personal level. Meditate on the question, if it helps.

Be sure that what you want to achieve in the industry is not guided by what others may think your goals should be or what would make someone else happy.

Then be honest with yourself about where you are in your career at this moment.

If you are still on the ground floor and haven’t yet spoken even a single word on a project that had any kind of distribution, then be honest with yourself about that. No ifs, no and, no buts and no excuses.

You don’t have to share this with anyone, but if you are going to get to your career destination, you have to know where you are starting from.

Write those 2 points down on a sheet of paper, or wherever you keep permanent notes.

Start by writing your goal at the top of the page and work backwards to fill in the steps you need to take to get from where you are now, to where you want to be.

Some of those steps may require you to get out of your comfort zone or to do things you may not be happy about.

For example, you may have an agent right now that you really like and that may be doing well in terms of getting you into auditions.

However, if your agent is playing too small themselves, then there will likely come a point when you have to part ways.

If you are virtually unknown in the industry, then at sooner or later, you will have to get out and meet industry decision makers.

Actually, you should be doing this daily, no matter where you are in your career because there is simply no better way to go from zero to 100, than to have an industry decision maker in your career.

This doesn’t have to be the head of major studio. It can be a primetime Casting Director, or even a mid level studio executive that believes in you and your talent.

Here’s how to make it easier for CDs and industry decision makers to believe in you and take you seriously as a professional actor, rather than someone who does this as a hobby.

If you are not able to finish your list right now, set aside 30 minutes over the next day or two to get it done.

It may just be the most important time you spend on your career.

To make the planning a bit easier, there are a few milestones that every actor will have to hit, so you can start by writing those down and then fill in the space between those points.

For example, social media is becoming a major factor in casting decisions, so actively building your presence on social media should be a focal point for you.

It’s such an important factor, that I created a way to help you get the ball rolling. Here are the details.

Another point might be to get on a first name basis with Casting Directors in charge of productions you want to be a part of.

There are a few things that would make this possible.

You would need to have a body of work that would leave a lasting impression, so things like making sure your reel is fantastic and having multiple stand-out headshots available would be important points.

Also, you would want to submit to their projects at every opportunity and leave an impression when you read for them.

Ensuring that your industry reputation is in tip top shape and that you are highly visible to industry decision makers are also important points for every actor and the time to start focus on those is right now.

Here’s how I can help with that too.

It doesn’t matter what you want to achieve in the industry. Whether you want to win more Oscars than anyone else in the academy’s history, or if you just want to be a series regular on a show that ultimately ends up in syndication, you need a plan of action to get there.

Your plans or even your goals may change along the way and the industry will most definitely throw you curveballs, so remember I’m always here even if you just need someone to bounce ideas off of.

I’m only a comment or an email away, so get in touch anytime. I’m happy to help in any way I can because, personally, my goal is to...

See you at the top,
Scott