On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her book, 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do, psychotherapist Amy Morin shares the following inspiring anecdote:

In 2008, Barbara Corcoran landed one of the highly coveted spots as a shark on the ABC series Shark Tank. But shortly after she signed the contract accepting the position, she received a call from producers saying they had changed their minds. They had decided to cast another woman in the role.

Rather than walk away with her head down, Barbara fought back. She wrote an email to the show’s producer, Mark Burnett. She didn’t demand the job, though. Instead, she asked for a chance to prove herself. She also didn’t complain or play the role of a victim. She painted herself as someone who was able to bounce back and beat the odds. And she outlined the reasons why she was the best person for the job.

In the message, she gave him three reasons why he should consider inviting her and the other woman to audition:

1. I do my best when my back is against the wall.

2. If you have both ladies in L.A., you can mix it up a bit and see which personalities make the best combination for your show.

3. Last, I’ve known from the get-go the shark role is a perfect fit for me.
Barbara went on to say she’d booked her ticket to L.A. already, and she hoped to be headed to an audition.

Her email worked. She was given an opportunity to prove herself, and she landed the job. She’s gone on to become a fan favorite.

While begging for an opportunity will make you come across as desperate, telling someone you would like a chance to prove yourself shows you feel confident. Of course, you might want to think twice about calling someone who rejected you for a job or someone who rejected you for a date. But there may be times in life where it’s worth saying, “Even though you don’t believe in me now, I’d like a chance to show you I’m up for the job.”

Source: 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do by Amy Morin,
pp. 211-212

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Award-winning author Terri Trespicio shares this inspiring story in her recent release, Unfollow Your Passion:

In 2013, voice teacher Sarah Horn was called up out of an audience of several thousand at the Hollywood Bowl to sing “For Good” from the show Wicked, with the woman who originated the role of Glinda on Broadway, the one and only Kristin Chenoweth. Horn did not plan for this to happen, which would have been impossible.

When Chenoweth asked who knew the song, Horn simply raised her hand. She got up onstage and proceeded to sing the song, blowing away not just her friends and thousands of people but Chenoweth herself, who was visibly taken aback by Horn’s performance. Her friend caught it all on his phone in the last few seconds of memory he had, and that video went viral overnight, racking up more than a million views in twenty-four hours.

Not only was that an incredibly exciting and lucky moment, but it opened doors for Horn, who was invited back by the Hollywood Bowl two weeks later to emcee an event, and it continues to draw all kinds of opportunities to her. Horn said it’s as if she had saved up all the luck in her whole life for that moment.

She didn’t plan it, no—but she was prepared. When you watch that performance, you see a woman crushing onstage with a major star—but what you don’t see, says Horn, is what allowed her to turn a lucky moment into a life-changing one. What you don’t see, she says in her TEDx talk, are the weekly voice lessons she’d had since she was eight; the times she sang when she was sick, so that she could make sure she could sing without sounding sick; the hours spent singing “For Good” on repeat in her bedroom, memorizing the harmonies on both parts.

What happened was a chance thing, for which she had no warning, no plan, but when the planets lined up for one miraculous moment, she was ready. And all that discipline, that preparedness, she said, led to what she calls her “moment of freedom.” Because that’s what you’re seeing there: a woman who committed to her craft and had planned on nosebleed seats that day—not on being “discovered.” Planning for any of that would have been crazy, but if she hadn’t been prepared it wouldn’t have happened.

Source: Unfollow Your Passion, pp. 189-190

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

I highly recommend reading When You’re Ready, This is How You Heal by Brianna Wiest. Here’s an inspiring and thought-provoking excerpt:

If you wait for perfect circumstances to take the leap, start the business, build up what you already have, make a life change, move, course-correct, go on an inner journey, travel, start investing, find peace, be grateful, enjoy what you have or begin your new adventure—you will be waiting forever.

Perfect circumstances do not exist.

There are certainly cases where some times may be more advantageous than others, and timing itself is important, but it’s also out of your control.

You can’t exist in a perma-state of waiting for something outside of you to shift before you feel like you have the green light to shift something within.

You have to start now. You have to adapt here. You have to do what you can with what you have.

Even if some circumstances are less than ideal than others, if you’re subconsciously looking for a reason to play it safe, you’ll always find one. You’re never going to wake up one day and feel completely ready, completely fearless, completely assured.

You arrive there by beginning, and then continuing, despite every reason why you shouldn’t, or thought you couldn’t, or previously wouldn’t.

You have to stop waiting for perfect circumstances.

You have to create them.

Source:When You’re Ready, This is How You Feel, pp. 105-106

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent email:

Eventually you will end up where you need to be, doing the right things, alongside the right people. Patience is the key. But remember that patience is not about waiting, it’s the ability to maintain a positive outlook while working hard for what you believe in…

Today, I want you to realize that there are literally thousands of people in the world who live their entire lives on default settings, never realizing they can customize everything. Don’t be one of them. Don’t settle for the default settings in life.

Dare to make edits and improvements. Dare to make your growth a priority.

The truth is, you won’t always be a priority to others, and that’s why you need to be a priority to yourself. Learn to respect yourself, take care of yourself, and become a reliable part of your own support system. Your needs matter. It’s time to start meeting them.

Don’t wait on others to choose you. Choose yourself today!

Seriously, it’s not your job to curb or contain yourself in order to become someone else’s idea of a worthwhile human being. You are amazingly worthwhile and capable right now. Not because other people think you are, but because you are in full control of the next step you take.

If you feel differently, or if you’ve been holding yourself back recently, realize that the real battle is in your mind. And your mind is under your control, not the other way around.

You may have been broken down by adversity or rejection or stress, but YOU are not broken. You are not stuck! So don’t let your mind, or anyone else, try to convince you otherwise.

Heal yourself, and grow beyond the default settings in life, by refusing to settle for the way things have been.

Choose to take up a lot of positive space in your own life starting today. Choose to give yourself permission to meet your own needs. Choose to honor your feelings and emotions. Choose to make self-care and personal growth top priorities!

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.