Blog Post #120: How someone who canceled their membership is proof of our integrity

Hey Everyone.

Sometimes success can be disguised as failure. You know our specialty at Hack Hollywood is turning confused and struggling actors into self-confident and successful “hacktorpreneurs” but sometimes my advice actually helps people and even me in unimagined ways. Recently I was speaking to a lovely young hacktress who had moved from London to New York. She was somewhat flummoxed about whether she should concentrate on acting or music, in which she also was dabbling. After a fairly brief conversation and asking some pointed questions, I recommended she stop doing everything and get clear on what she really wanted. This is often one of the most terrifying things I can say to someone. Missing out on opportunities is a huge fear of what I like to call the ‘unconscious’ actor. Of course a hacktor sees it as an opportunity to find clarity and make decisions based on what they want out of their lives. It is a chance to replace fear and ego with joy and passion.

I suggested she take some time and try to envision what she really wanted most because we only have a limited amount of energy because energy focused in one area is not available to others. Of course, I was expecting to hear back from her telling me she was devoting herself fully to acting. Well she actually surprised me and decided to go in an opposite direction and decided to dedicate herself fully to music. Of course, we will lose her as a client but I gained her as a supporter for life.

Here is her response after taking some time off.

I hope this email finds you well.

Thank you so much for all your help and advice in furthering my career..

The advice you gave has helped me decide what I really want to do and how I want to portray myself as an artist and performer. I left my acting agency to focus on my music and have been writing lots, meeting with the music producer we talked about who is going to produce my record, I go in to lay down the first track next week…again thank you so much…when my record goes platinum I’ll be thanking you in my speech lol…

The main difference between what we do and what most of the acting industry does is that we want you to figure out what you really want to do, whether that benefits us or not. I have seen actors who studied for years with an obvious lack of interest in acting. They think that by attending classes, they will get better but you don’t get better with class. You get better because you want to get better and you try to get better. That has to come from a burning desire attached to a vision, exactly the same way a doctor knows it will take years and years to begin practicing their profession.

Passion can’t exist in a vacuum. It requires a source. Every dream requires a lot of unglamorous hard work. It’s unavoidable. If you really don’t want to be an actor deep down, it’s not going to happen. If this isn’t a major passion for you, just stop and find something that is. I would be far happier helping decide you don’t want to be an actor than helping you pretend you do and getting nowhere, leading to extreme unhappiness and disappointment.

Find your passion and get to work. At Hack Hollywood, we are happy to help you with both of those things, whether it’s acting or something else that lights your fire, even if it means you leave us.

If you are confused about your life, Hack Hollywood can help. Our radically simple approach works for anything. All you have to do is bring a willingness to help us help you. It’s really quite simple to do anything you want in life. You just have to be trust your instincts and use your common sense.

Click here to choose your membership & join Hack Hollywood.

Regards,
David