There are hundreds of thousands of wonderfully gifted actors, musicians, models, and athletes, chasing their dreams every day, yet only a handful ever get anywhere close to their goal. 

Why is it so difficult to achieve success in your talent career?

In the past, one of the biggest challenges to success was location. You often had to move to a major city like New York City or Los Angeles or Chicago just to be discovered. That major hurdle has been cleared. We are living in an era where it never has been easier to share your talents and skills to the world. Inexpensive cameras, smartphones, and social media platforms have forever altered the way talent is discovered and promoted.  Despite the abundance of these technological resources, one thing remains constant:

When things start to get really difficult, most people stop trying way too early, and give up way too soon.

All too often we see the same story. You got your career off to a great start, boosted by a few large early wins. As your career grew, you faced significant challenges, such as increased competition, and budget and time constraints. Gradually those same wins became less frequent, causing your initial success to plateau.  It wasn’t long before you considered giving up because you were unable to overcome those roadblocks to success.

Are you experiencing something similar?

The problem is simple.  Most people are actually able to get started on and achieve early wins on their own with minimal help or guidance. After seeing early success in their career, they continue to try what they think works. 

Those initial results were not based on strategy and therefore highly unlikely to repeat the same level of results.

Short-term success typically results from guessing, luck, unique one-time opportunities, or serendipitous timing. 

For example, social media has made it extremely easy for you to observe what appears to be popular, and copy them in an attempt to gain success. 

Unfortunately, videos and posts do not show you the most important background details of how that success was achieved. You wind up comparing yourself, and copying an incomplete picture of what it takes to be successful analogous.

This is likely to work for you .. for a while.. and then as trends change (as they always do) you are likely to try to change as well, but it is very difficult to do mid-stream because you have already created an image and a brand.  In music for instance, it is hard to, “cross-over” into a new genre and develop a new style and sound just because it is popular and not alienating your existing fan bases.

Long-term success is built on a solid foundation of strategic planning, discipline, coaching, and a continuous commitment to improving and refining one’s set of skills, while retaining enough emotional resolve not to give up when faced with significant obstacles. 

Many of you are at this crossroads right now. Many of you are ready to quit. Many of you are ready to give up on your dreams. Many of you are looking for answers. Many of you are not sure what to do next.

This post can help you get back on track. We provide you with five key things you can do to jumpstart your career and get back on the path to success!

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