I know I promised another article that was inspired from my recent trip, but I had to pass on something I just read that will help you move forward in your voice-over career. It’s a new year, and many people have spent part of the day setting goals and reflecting on events of the past year. Every New Year’s Eve, I write in a special journal about my plans and hopes for the coming year. I have goals for all areas of my life, especially in my voice-over profession.

However, I have learned that I don’t want to spend too much time looking back over the past year. It’s easy to fall in the trap of forgetting my many accomplishments for the year. My mind instead wants to dwell on things that didn’t happen the way I envisioned or at all. I want to stay focused on my current plans and keep marching ahead!

I just read Wayne Dyer’s new book Being In Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires. He makes a strong point in chapter six that made me realize yet again the detrimental effect one’s thoughts can have on one’s voice-over career.

Dyer and others have said You become what you think about all day long. He writes:

Thinking that the past is responsible for your continuing insufficiency is a major source of resistance. You’ve probably been taught that if you don’t pay attention to the mistakes of the past, you’re bound to repeat them. Here’s my take on that advice: Keeping your thoughts on the mistakes of the past guarantees that you’ll continue manifesting them in the present!…
Refuse to think about what’s failed to materialize unless you’re hoping for more of the same….
Be grateful for all that failed to show up. Then shift from resistance to the direction of manifesting your desires, and rebalance your thinking so that it matches up with those desires. 

Maybe you:

• didn’t land an agent last year
• didn’t book the amount of work you wanted to last year
• didn’t get your web site on-line last year
• didn’t connect with any new clients last year
• didn’t attend any networking events last year
• didn’t install or upgrade your studio last year
• didn’t take any classes last year
• didn’t send out any marketing materials last year
• didn’t read any blogs last year (except this one!)
• didn’t perform any auditions last year

Right. I could continue on with a long list of things that maybe you didn’t do, but that would be negative thinking. Why don’t you write down a list of everything — big and small — that you DID to move forward on your voice-over goals? When I look at my list, I feel fantastic! I see that I took advantage of unexpected opportunities, and I have momentum carrying me into the coming year.

I re-write my goals and plans on an on-going basis. Magical things happen when you write down your goals….but that’s another subject for another day.

I wanted to write today to encourage you to start your new year by looking forward in your voice-over career, not back. Looking back tends to crystallize your thinking and can cause you to get stuck. It’s a new year, so it’s time to move ahead! Decide what you want, and then decide that you have the power to attain it. Once you start thinking those types of thoughts, you will start taking the actions necessary to make your dreams a reality.