Please Don't Give Up

Shut up, and sit down. Welcome to Being On Stage, the only podcast that gives you motivation, inspiration, and confidence to be better on stage. No matter how you entertain, sing, dance, band, comedian, public speaking, MC, drag, burlesque, performance art, or street performer, this is the show for you. Hey Rockstars, Reggie Dawson, your host of the Being On Stage podcast. Welcome to the show, thanks for tuning in. You know that little voice in your head that creeps up on you once in a while and kind of just tells you how wrong it is that you're pursuing this? Your dreams, your performance career, tell you how you're not fit for it? You ever get that voice? I get that voice, I do. It happens to me too. You know, that voice. It seems to come around when things start to look pretty low. You know, maybe you're in between gigs. You know, it's been a while since you've gotten that phone call or that email or even that response. You know, if you're, hopefully you're actively seeking work, but maybe you just haven't gotten a response in a while. You know, if you keep track of this sort of thing, maybe your video likes and watches have gone down. And that can really start to hit you. And it gets that voice going, that voice telling you like, oh man, maybe, you know, maybe people don't like me as much as I thought they would. Maybe I need to change what I'm doing. Maybe I'm not, maybe I'm not, you know, maybe I'm not right for this. I'm not cut out for this. I'm not doing it right. There's something wrong with me. All those, all those thoughts come to our minds. And hey, listen, you are not alone. Every performer on the face of this planet has gone through that exact thought process. Yours truly. You're truly included. And what I've noticed, and this is in personal experience, I've noticed it observing other artists and other performers. I've noticed it observing celebrities. When, when it seems like that voice and that, that those moments when you start to question what you're doing, if you're talented enough, if you've got what it takes to make it, when you, when you start to question that about yourself and that voice comes at you and comes out in your head. 99.999999999999% of the time. That was a lot. It was many more nines than I intended, but almost damn near a hundred percent of the time that voice comes out when you are getting close to things going up, to things taking off, to things you just hit in the ground and just going, exploding, if you will. That voice is going to come to you. And listen, you can, you can call it what you will. If you're a religious person, you call it the enemy. You call it the devil. If you're, you know, more of a, a nature spirit, you know, more spiritual person, you could just call it your inner voice. So the devil on your shoulder, whatever, but either way, you're subconscious, whatever you want to call it. But there are those questions that come to your mind when things seem to slow down or just not going, not shooting off the way that you dream of them going. You know, our dreams can be very, very powerful things, but they can also be very, very dangerous things because when we start to question them, when, when we, when we start to feel that way and we're getting down on ourselves, your, your moment, your, that, that moment when things are going to turn around and things are going to just take off and start to get, and it may not take off quickly. Listen, momentum can come very, very slowly, but it is still momentum moving forward is still moving forward. But, you know, when you're starting to question yourself and you, when you decide I'm going to stop sending out these emails asking for bookings, I'm going to stop posting videos on social media. I'm going to, I'm going to take down this website. I'm going to take down this. I'm going to stop what I'm doing. I'm going to stop. I'm going to cancel my gate. When you start thinking like that, that, that, that comes at the worst time. And I'm going to, I'm going to call it the enemy, honestly, because negative thoughts when you're a performer is the enemy, no matter whether you're spiritual or not. But that's, that's the enemy. And you know what? Sometimes you may hear it as a certain voice. You know, when it happens to me, oh, God, this is, this is kind of embarrassing. So there was this, there was this other performer and we will call her Sherry. I don't know a Sherry. I mean, I know a Sherry in personal life, not her, but never knew a Sherry as a performer. So we'll call her Sherry. And she just had this way of talking to you that made you feel insignificant. But at the same time. Needed. So there was this thing that was, she could draw you in and then just make you feel like absolute crap without her. And thank God you have me. And thank God there's me. And me, me, like can completely just, I don't, I couldn't even explain it. And every time I would talk to this, it would be, it would be little backhanded compliments, if you will, about like, wow, you know, you, you really did that out, out there on stage. That was unexpected. All things considered. Like what, what backhanded compliments bringing you in, just kind of making you feel insignificant and, and is dangerous. You know, it's, it's a dangerous thing to be around. And that's, that's honestly, sometimes I hear that voice in my head, you know, that, that person that's telling me, well, why are you trying to do stuff like that? You have no business coaching performers. You have no business being out on that stage, you know, after so long, you have no, you know, you don't, you don't come out here and do this. You don't come out like I hear it. All the time. I, that's the voice that I hear. We all have that voice and it's dangerous. And sometimes I just want to stomp that fricking voice right into the ground. And Hey, sometimes I do most of the time I do, but you, you got to push past that voice. And I guess the message here and the message today is when that's happening, you were literally, literally so close to things starting to happen. You were so close to your dreams, beginning to take shape and beginning to take mold when, when you were at your darkest. That's when you have the capability to shine the brightest and the S that is kind of a, I guess, I don't know if it's a saying already, but when you're in your darkest moment, you have the ability to shine the brightest, pick yourself up, think positive, continue to think positive thoughts. So what if you have no money in your bank account and you don't know where you're sleeping tonight and that, yes, I recognize it happens when you're sleeping in your car, maybe you're sleeping under a bridge. You know, Hey, this happens for performers. Sometimes you sleep in, in the back of the club. If they're nice, you know, this happens, this is a real thing. This is real for some performers, you know, maybe you're struggling to go through some family stuff, things like that. Um, lost a loved one recently, God forbid my condolences. If so, these things are going to happen in life. And then this is not like a put on your big boy pants type of speech, but these things are going to happen in your life and you're going to have dark moments and you're going to have times when you want to have a good time. You want to give up. And a lot of times those things happening in our life is what makes us question our ability to turn this around and our ability to make a living and become successful as a performer. Maybe you're, maybe it's as simple as you just don't have a lot of people showing up for your gigs. So why keep trying? You don't have anyone showing up for your gig. So I keep trying, but if you stop trying, if you stop, if you give up, if you take the website down, if you stop reaching out to people, you will never move forward. This is, this is something that was passed on to me. Okay, if you continue taking action, it is impossible to not find success. It is impossible to not find some level of success. If you keep trying, if you never give up, you will find success. It is, it's impossible not to, but if you give up, if you step back, if you take it down, if you know, you, oh man, giving up completely. Is the absolute worst. It's heart wrenching because it breaks your heart and then you live the next few years wondering why, why did I give it up? You don't want to live with that. Trust, trust me. You don't want to live with that, but you, you wonder why you give it up and you, you, there's always that. What if you see it in television shows and movies and about all the artists and things like that, that have the has been, they all, what if, what if you don't want to wonder what if. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.