It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting.
That goes for life and for acting.
Why is this? Because the more we sit around thinking about something, the less likely we are to take action as the thinking process red flags us to all the reasons why (we believe) something won’t work.
Or maybe Yoda said it better: “Try not! Do or do not. There is no try.”
Just. Take. Action. So simple, isn’t it?
That’s the basic premise of acting that’s been taught for years. The art of doing. (It’s actually the art of being first before we do, because we must first be in something before we can experience it.)
But once those physics are taken care of, we simply must do.
We get in our own way because we have expectations of how we think something should look first before we attempt it. And that hesitation is what keeps us from committing. It’s never going to look how we think it’s going to look, and if we could just allow ourselves to surrender to that premise, we would be more likely to act.
Things often don’t work out. You have to get over that fact. Things don’t work out! (Or rather, the truth is: Things always work out, but not the way we plan, control, or prepare. So for most of us, that means things don’t work out.)
But as soon as you understand that those are the real tangible principles of creating, then you stop letting that worry you and keep you from getting started.
Things come together and things fall apart-sometimes simultaneously, but the only way things ever have a chance of coming together (ever!) is by taking the step.
Stop sitting on the sidelines. I had a student (in the attached video) say, “It’s scary.”
Of course it’s scary. It’s designed to be that way. We don’t realize our potential staying in stasis. Security, comfort, and the illusion of control aren’t our friends. In fact, these qualities human beings seek out actually run counter to the true essence of who we are. We want to lean into the challenge of it all until our heads tell us not to.
So risk. It’s designed to work out just by taking the risk. But that means it works out in ways that are too complex and multi-faceted for us to understand from our limited left-brain’s mechanics.
So go for something in life. You ask the girl out. You take an acting class. You audition for a job. Maybe none of what you wanted happens. Or maybe some of it does. But by committing to the thing, there are all these other ancillary victories and discoveries and blessings that simply wouldn’t have come had you tried to think your way (out of) doing them.
Think less. Turn off the phone. Play more. Do more. Create.
It’s simple, though not always easy. But Yoda would be proud.