The Actor's Success
the online eZine for Actors
who want thriving careers
from Robin Jones
Volume I, issue 2
September 2004
A couple of months ago on a roadtrip with some childhood buddies,
I went
to a casino and lost a lot of money at the BlackJack table. I was
bummed,
especially because I really wanted to win handfuls of cash and impress
my
friends. I had an image of me as Scrooge McDuck, swimming in piles
of
bills and coins. Instead, while they were winning or breaking even,
I was
dropping like a stone in water.
A few days after the trip my "failure" still stuck in
my craw, so I downloaded
a BlackJack program off the internet that not only simulates real
casino
play, but also tells you your odds of winning and losing each hand,
and how
to play to maximize your chances of winning. I played it. A lot.
OK, maybe
too much. And I kept losing--but not as fast as a stone drops in
water.
Secret #1: Consider the likelihood, i.e., the odds
of a "win" as
you go after it. That's how you know when
to wager and how much.
So as I played this silly game hour after hour, I started to see
patterns
emerging: I would lose three hands in a row, and then win one. It
wasn't a
strict pattern, but close enough to realize that I had more control
than I had
originally thought. I started to bet $5.00 for three hands in a
row, generally
losing them, and then I would bet $60.00, often--but not always--winning.
Because the pattern didn't always hold true, I kept losing overall,
but far
more slowly than I had been before. The $200.00 that lasted me twenty
minutes was now running out over the course of two or three hours.
Secret #2: Stay flexible and adapt to the conditions.
Vary what you
commit (bet). Keep your intensity and focus dynamic. Be willing
to put all your attention on your goal for a while, then pull it
back,
sometimes way back. Adjust as needed.
As I kept playing, a strange thing happened. As I got comfortable
playing,
I started to feel the game, more than thought about when to hit,
how much
to bet, etc. There was a natural flow guiding me. It's not like
I was Michael
Jordan in the zone or anything. It's that I had more of a sense
about how to
play than I did a conceptual knowledge. There was no pattern to
my
actions, no figuring it out, but my awareness was fully engaged
in the game.
And this is when I started winning, again not always, but overall
I was winning.
Secret #3: Trust yourself and your intuiton - its'
your life that's in
your hands and you are the expert on your own life. It's only when
you trust yourself that you can also trust the world to give you
what
you want.
All right, so now I was winning--sometimes a lot. I could go for
an hour and
walk away from my virtual table with $1500.00. Cool, huh? Actually,
not
really. It was fun to learn how to win at BlackJack and all. I loved
the
challenge of it, and while I'm certainly not ready to go to Vegas
and break
Harrah's, I got much better at the game.
But I started to get bored. Yes, $1500.00 actual would have been
a lot more
useful than $1500.00 digital, but I believe I would have gotten
bored even at
a real casino winning real money. Why? Because there are much better
ways to spend my time. Don't get me wrong: I value making money
and
financia1 freedom as much as the next gambler, but the way I make
my
money is more important to me than how much I make.
In fact, as I was just writing that line, a new subscriber to this
eZine just
e-mailed, letting me know how much she got from the last issue.
That gives
me a better feeling than any amount of money. I love the work I
do almost
as much as I love my daughter--it's my life's purpose and passion,
and I can't
think of any better way to spend my time.
Secret #4: Want it. I mean really want it so much
you can taste it. And
want it because it feeds your soul, not because it strokes your
ego.
And if spending your time in a casino (or playing cards with friends),
taking
all their money at BlackJack totally feeds your soul, do it - I'm
never one to
argue with what excites different people.
So here's the number one reason I started winning: I didn't mind
losing.
When I was originally in the casino losing, my mindset was such
that I
was waiting to lose it all, betting $5.00 chip after $5.00 chip.
I was betting
out of fear and disgust. When the self-fulfilling prophesy came
true, I felt
lousy in an "I told you so" kind of way.
Ever had that experience where you knew you were about to lose
a lover,
or a role you were up for, and all you could focus on was defeat?
And then
when it happened you were somehow satisfied with yourself because
the
defeat sucked as much as you knew it would?
Secret #5: I can't stress this one enough: Be willing
to lose everything.
Be cheerful about it, even.
You've heard all the cliches saying that nothing is
gained without risking something, and that courage isn't the absence
of fear,
but being fearful and doing it anyway? Well, they're all true. That
way lies a
successful mindset (refer to the last issue) and success itself.
Simply being
willing to lose provides room for winning.
There's a lot more about this last point to be explored, so I'll
be following up
on it next month.
So what does all this have to do with the actor who never plans
on getting
rich on gambling at BlackJack? Everything.
Every moment of your life, every audition you go to, every casting
director
you talk to, every rehearsal or shoot you're in, you're gambling.
You're either
going to win this hand or you're not, and all those individual hands
add up to
a life of being left with nothing, breaking even, or walking away
with treasure.
So here's my challenge to you for this month, my
friends: decide
if you're willing to lose everything for the sake of success. Consider
the odds of a
win, stay flexible and adjust as needed, trust your intuition and
the world to
provide for you, want the win deep in your heart, and most importantly,
be
willing to give it all up. As always, the choice is yours. Play
to win.
Oh, and nothing in this article is intended to teach you how to
gamble and
I take no responsibility for any money you might lose.
(c) 2004 The Actor's Success & Robin Jones
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