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What Works for You

Q&A: ‘Mike, sometimes I pick up a script and feel overwhelmed with the 1000’s of things I’ve learnt I COULD do with it… I want to keep growing my toolkit and explore new things, but how can I find which specific ‘tools’ are strongest for my process, to use as my foundation?’ - C

Hey C 

Love this

Thank you for clicking “send” 

Something I have noticed 

In working with both graduates and non-graduates

Is a sense of

“I’m not doing enough”

I see this manifesting in unsustainable behaviour 

Trying to do twenty things

But not actually being able to do any of them at a desired level

Which keeps them in a plateau-like state

Never actually improving 

Again

Amateurs do lots. Professionals do less, and do it better.

As someone who finished NIDA with an actual process list of approximately 200 things I believed I had to do in order to give work that I believed was acceptable

(Which of course, was unsustainable, and led to me constantly feeling like I was never doing enough = burnout)

My approach now tends to be the opposite

Do less & do it better

Go look in the mirror (figuratively or literally)

And think about a few things

What kind of career do you really want to have?

What do you actually want to contribute to this industry?

No good, bad, right, wrong

Just see what pops up

Now ask yourself the question

Is what I’m currently doing actually getting me the results I want?

Back in 2016

I sat down and explored when acting was actually meaningful to me

When did it feel like I was at my most generous?

When did It feel like I was actually contributing something meaningful?

When was it worth doing for me?

For me, at that time

It boiled down to the concept of having “honest conversations”

Which led to a very sobering moment 

I had to ask myself the question

Why am a trying to become some fancy character actor

When I can’t even be honest on screen yet? 

I realised the most beneficial thing I could do

Was give up

Start again

But this time

Play the long game

Slow down in order to progress further

Build a strong, simple base

A base that would carry me for the years and decades to come

So

Step one

What are the best experiences you’ve had acting?

The most energising, meaningful, fun, alive experiences

When did you feel most at home?

Step Two

What are the patterns behind those experiences?

What did you do that influenced those experiences?

Keep it simple

Were you honest?

Did you focus on what you could control?

Did you get help from a coach or great rehearsal buddy?

Did you take your time?

Did you listen to music?

Did you have a great sleep the night before?

Did you exercise the morning of?

Did you drink lots of water?

Did you warm up?

Did you have a clear objective?

Did you learn your lines?

Did you focus on your breath?

Did you build your character’s relationships?

Did you build your character’s environment?

Did you have a clear moment before? 

Did you have a little ritual?

Did you understand the purpose of the scene?

Did you understand your characters purpose within the script?

Did you have a Chekovian Psychologiuc Gesture?

Bla bla bla

Etc, etc

Find the patterns

Step Three

Take those patterns, principles, rituals

And distill them

Which ones actually work best for you?

And build off them

Focus on practicing those few things

And focus on practicing them well

If you notice that you’ve had wonderful experiences when you were honest, knew your lines, and had a clear objective

Then practice doing those 3 things well

Do them so well it becomes second nature

Once they are in the body (unconscious competence)

Then think about what simple skill would advance your growth next

One skill at a time

Build that base baby! 

Something I love about non-graduates

Or even non-actors moving into acting

Is that they don’t necessarily know what they should be doing

So their mind isn’t overwhelmed with options 

(like graduates can sometimes be after 3 years of learning hundreds of techniques) 

I have watched professional athletes, Victoria’s Secret models, ARIA award winning musicians

Advance faster in acting because we focussed on only doing a few things well

We focussed on what actually worked for them

(Quality over quantity)

Everyone has patterns and principles behind meaningful & energising moments in their life

The key is to allocate the time and space to discovering and distilling them

Building a foundation which will help you perform well, and your way

No matter the arena!

A strong foundation acts like a tree trunk

It supports all the wonderfully detailed branches and leaves to come

But the priority 

Was giving a tiny seed of intention

All the room to grow well slowly

Some people might think a tree trunk is boring

I think it is the most wonderful, sexy thing in the world

I think it is what influences one’s longevity and quality of work.

Wanting to stay curious, grow and explore is bloody honourable

But if everything you learn stays at a shallow level

What value has this actually brought to your process?

If you were to spend an entire year practicing what actually works best for you

I guarantee

You would progress further than someone who wants to try get good at twenty techniques in 12 months

C

I see myself at 26

Having all the passionate intentions in the world

Having all the willingness to work hard 

But feeling all the frustrations of not actually advancing

Which brings up the question

What is the most generous thing you could do?

Slow down, get better, give more?

Or keep trying to cram 20 shallow techniques in at a time?

My point…

Do what actually works best for you

Sending hugs

x Sheasby

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Something I’m Pondering

Output of a perfectionist: 

Get it?

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Podcast: The Actor’s Blueprint

Latest Episode

#18. Practice Better

Found on both Apple & Spotify

x Sheasby 

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