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Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

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The Secret to getting up the hill

11 May 2007

I’ve been working and traveling so much lately that I have neglected to update my blog. Happy anniversary to me! I’ve been writing blog entries for a year and hope that you have found some useful tidbits in them to help you live the life of your dreams, especially your dreams of a thriving voice-over career.

I recently bought the DVD and book of the best-selling work The Secret. I do believe in the Law of Attraction and attempt to live my life according to its principles. I have read many books on the topic and find something meaningful in each one. Since some of my writing on this blog relates to ideas and processes described in The Secret, I decided to add a category for The Secret to make those types of posts more readily identifiable.

My knowledge and application of the Law of Attraction are sort of like learning to use your microphone and editing program. At first, you don’t know how to do it. Once you get comfortable with the principles, you practice and continue to learn. Even when you’re competent or even at authority level, you still want to learn and apply more so that you will always improve.

I was on a cruise recently and had an epiphany. Drew and I were seated around some loud, obnoxious people. We looked at each other and said, as we have said in many similar past circumstances, “We must be magnets for this type of behavior.” I realized at that moment that we were indeed MAGNETS! By constantly saying and reinforcing the idea that we would be seated next to rude, noisy people, it’s like raising our hands to the Universe and saying “bring ’em on!” I now say that I am a magnet for peace and quiet, with respectful people around me. 🙂

Hurricane-ravaged Grenada was one of the islands we visited. While the country has rebuilt much destroyed in hurricanes of recent years, nature’s damage was still very evident. Roofs were missing from the 3 churches that we saw. Some building still looked ramshackle and uninhabitable. Looking around and seeing the people scrambling for every dollar made me once again feel extreme gratitude for the bountiful blessings in my life.

However, my spriritual side was not the only part of me that had a boost in knowledge during the trip. I also noticed something that could apply to my voice-over career. Drew and I were about to cross a street in a narrow intersection at the top of the steep hill near the old fort. He started to walk, but I stopped him. A car was zooming up the hill, and the driver wasn’t going to stop.

Our house sits on a hill. Prior to building my gorgeous, soundproof recording studio, I was constantly interrupted in my voice-over work by the cars that were zooming up the hill. At a certain point — in fact, just as they are at my house — the drivers in my neighborhood hit the gas to give them an extra push to get up the hill.

As we stood on that street corner in Grenada, we commented that the car had too much momentum going up the hill to stop for the wayward tourists in the intersection. If the driver stopped the car, it might roll back to bottom or even past its starting point. It could careen into a building and crash, or, in a worst-case scenario, swerve and hit us.

Momentum can be defined as the tendency of an object to continue to move in its direction of travel.

I immediately thought how this priniciple applies in my voice-over career.

I always intend to move my voice-over career in a forward direction. I know what the top of the hill looks like, and I am eager to see it in all its glory. I constantly think about being where I want to be and gratitude for all the material things that I have and and all that I have accomplished. I take action every day to ensure that I maintain my momentum. Sometimes I step on the gas by doing things like sending mail-outs and attending conferences where my prospects gather.

Even while completely relaxing with a long-awaited vacation, I still am taking action to maintain momentum in my voice-over career. For instance, during my recent cruise, I continued a postcard campaign that I started before I left home. I also loaded my iPod with Pat Fraley’s latest offering 56 Slick Tricks for Voice Over . Pat is one of my favorite teachers, and every product and class from him has proven valuable for my career. I already have made changes to my auditions as a result of tips from his book.

My iPod also contained my copy of Hillary Huber’s outstanding audiobook Field of Darkness, which has been nominated for an Audie Award. As I listen to audiobooks, I listen not only for entertainment but for learning purposes. Hillary’s voice is a perfect match for the main character, and her voices for the other characters are distinct and believable. Like Pat Fraley, Hillary is another favorite and excellent teacher, both in leading workshops and in her own work.

On other trips with more stable — and faster! — Internet connections than those found via satellite on cruise ships, I might take my portable studio so that I could create auditions and recordings. I also always take books that I may want to pitch to an audiobook producer.

The drivers in Grenada and the ones in my neighborhood have taught me how to face a hill in my voice-over career. First, you see the top of the hill in your mind and picture yourself there. You make sure you have the appropriate equipment and are prepared for the journey. You pack whatever you need to help you get to the top. Once you start the climb, your concentrate on reaching the top of the hill. You step on the gas if you need an extra boost. Throughout all of these actions, you achieve a continuous, forward motion.

Looks like a road map to success!

 

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Related posts:

  1. Do you perform in your underwear?
  2. Filing scripts under “P” for prosperity
  3. Volunteering as a LibriVox narrator
  4. Reasons to Create Your Own Stuff — Part 2

Filed Under: Law of Attraction, Narrators, Voice-Over

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bob Souer says

    13 May 2007 at 10:04 am

    Karen,

    Happy blogiversary to you. Thank you for always providing us things to think about. I love how you draw lessons from so many life experiences.

    Be well,
    Bob

    Reply
  2. Karen says

    4 July 2008 at 8:12 pm

    I changed the category name to Law of Attraction to better reflect the topic.

    Karen

    Reply

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