Women In Film

Welcome to the third and final piece on navigating a changing media industry and a changing world.

We began in part one by observing the degrees and speed with which the media industry and worlds it serves are changing, along with some initial thoughts on the power and necessity of finding your own compass and voice in finding your way through and succeeding in this changing landscape.

We moved on in part two with brief but specific considerations of the first four of the Seven C’s of success (Confidence, Commitment, Contribution, and Craft) and some of their implications for suiting up and showing up as unstoppable, irresistible, and competent in the eyes of those you seek to work with, have guide you, and hire you.

We will add a similar consideration of the final three of the Seven C’s here (Courage, Community, and Collaboration), and wrap up with a few final thoughts on the cumulative power of everything thus far in helping you find your most fulfilling success and, relatedly, in making a difference that makes a difference.

What is a difference that makes a difference? In the big picture, it is leaving this world (and this industry) a little changed by and perhaps a little better for your having been a part of it and having moved through. On a more personal level, it is whatever best fulfills whatever brought you to the table to begin with and gives satisfaction and some kind of completion regardless of the twists and turns along the way.

As with the characters in any great story, however, this generally is not what you think it is at the beginning and something you only discover along the way in the unfolding of your personal story. It is this journey along with a changing industry and world you must find your way through.

Much like the first four ‘C’s’ of success  these final three form something of a loop of their own which, as before, you can enter at whichever point seems most accessible or resonant for you. As with the first four, one in particular stands out as the first that other people may notice even if it is not the one that intuitively seems most likely to be where you are equipped to begin, and that would be Courage.

If there is a particular bit of insight in all of these many words, it is bringing home that the courage that counts most is not so much in facing challenges or hardships that will come along – but being open to, in touch with, and constantly guided by what it is that matters most to you. This means feeling all the feelings that come up with that, knowing that you might not get what it is you hope for and/or may discover it was not the bit of magic you hoped for al along if you do. This is big.

The most paralyzing if unspoken fear in this industry and elsewhere is not just the fear of failure, looking bad for the moment, of even fear of putting in significant to huge effort and sacrifice that will not turn out as planned. It is not even just the fear (and thus avoidance) of really being honest about what it is that really matters to us, how much we want, care about it and fear of disappointment. It is only partly the secret dread that making the real effort without holding back brings with it the possibility of bringing home we will not or cannot do it. What we really fear is the loss of the dream or of ever having one.

It is alright. Take a breath. Have a little courage. As it turns out, the most fundamental solutions to this are paying as much attention or more to what you give as what you get, getting outside of yourself, and engaging what is among the most extraordinary things in and about this industry; Community.

Aside from all the things it provides in obvious practical terms, community is the thing that will lift you when needed, keep you going when you think you cannot take another step, and remind you to savor each and every moment because you are out there doing it.

Community is the how and where of you having a mirror to reflect back to you what it is you are actually creating, doing, and moving though when you cannot see it yourself. Community is the how and where of collectively influencing the industry and world on a large to a grand and unprecedented scale.

This, combined with all else thus far, enables as well as demands Collaboration as never before, which as we have alluded to earlier requires that you to both learn and care about what others do to even understand what it is you aim to do in itself and as part of a larger ever changing whole. This requires whole new sets of skills above and beyond whatever specific role you want to play that we will explore when next we meet – whether in seminar, conversation, or print.

For now, know your commitment, willingness, and practical ability to collaborate are fundamental to everything about your future and the very journey to it which may be our greatest enduring light on the horizon. It is both an end point and beginning to the whole circle again.

Know that these seven ‘C’s’ taken together or one by one are your keys in playground of your greatest success. They offer and require a serious revamping of our understanding of ourselves, our industry, and the world. They offer and require serious revamping and mastery of story.

Most of all, know and hold dear that what they also both offer and require is that we remember and practice with our each and every step, our each and every audition, our each and every word written, that we can and should do it all as an act of Celebration. And yes, you can count. That made eight.

(Be sure to visit thestorycoach.com for more information and events, follow thestorycoach blog at wordpress, and take a peek at the posted working excerpt for book version of the seminars of the same name, “Mastering The Power Of Story” projected for release this coming fall, click here for more information.