They Are Eight-Fold
You Want My Secrets
Here is what I wish to know:
- I wish to know what sorcery they are putting into Red Robin seasoning to make me so addicted.
- I desire to know what they are putting into the BBQ Chicken Pizza at Claim Jumper that makes me feel with every bite as though the power of a thousand unicorns is coming to rest on me.
- I must know how to complete Rubix Cube.
- I have to solve the mystery of watching an entire season of 24 in only 18 hours.
- I wish to know if this dancing bird finally was able to convince the other bird to give him her number.
We are captivated by magic, and by those individuals who can somehow attain the supernatural and accomplish great feats. I am of course referring to my two boys who prelude every colossal stunt with "Watch this, Dada!" I utterly enjoy watching them accomplish supreme feats from the comfort of my recliner with my beer.
Secret sauce.
What goes into it? Everyone has some secret that empowers them to overachieve; to produce stellar results. Some have not tapped their secrets yet. Others are tight lipped and play their cards close. Some long to keep it to themselves, natch. And in so doing, they have dazzled, befuddled, and preserved mystery while fueling stalkers ready to raid their home, break into their safe, and make off with their 3x5 index card of secrets for themselves. I am not saying this is what I have done. Yet. That you know of.
Until that time, I will share you with my own secret sauce. I just hosted a workshop and provided this information anyway, so now it is free for all finders.
Brace thyself, for I am about to speak in King James lingo. Too late, already did. *rewinds* Brace thyself, because I am about to spill the beans. To let the cat out of the bag. To open the barn doors. And other euphemisms that stretch this blog's word count out in order to achieve a suitable SEO word count for Google.
Here goes. The following is my eight-fold secret to success. Write it down. Take a picture. CTRL-C it from this page and CTRL-V it into your career.
1. Incredulity
I wake up laughing. I cannot believe that I get to do what I get to do. Sometimes I come away from a brief recording session laughing all the way to the bank, incredulous that I just made what I made for the marginal amount of time I invested. High-paying clients, please do not read that. Skip to the next one please.
Incredulity keeps me in a suspension of belief, and in that mystery I find a great sense of wonder and awe that I get to do what I get to do every day. I find this to be a critical ingredient to constantly being amazed and privileged. And being amazed and privileged is a springboard to fundamental fulfillment. Look for bumper stickers to follow.
2. Gratitude
I am not crying; YOU are crying.
Perhaps this should have been listed last, so it would be "saving the best for last." Gratitude permeates my entire career, and it is absolutely indispensable. Eckhart Tolle said “acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” I agree. I find myself constantly dialing up God (collect) and expressing my thanks for even the fact that I still have all my limbs. It’s remembering to cherish even the little things. Especially Taco Bell mild sauce. To whom much is given, much is required.
The other night I had four lobster tails and grilled asparagus on my plate, celebrating surpassing my entire 2020 voiceover revenue by the end of September, with three months to go. Allow me to say this: gratitude is succulent. It is delicious. It is savory.
Gratitude is lobster.
Looks like I have another bumper sticker.
3. Nonconformist / Not Afraid To Risk
Granted, I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane here, so this one only goes so far. I am not a sheep. I do not follow blindly. I have discernment that equips me to make decisions based on the trajectory that I am myself following, not someone else. In this, I truly want to run a lot of ideas up the flagpole of life and see who salutes. It’s imperative for me to choose "the road less travelled by", like Robert Frost penned. Because sometimes, as he said, “that has made all the difference.” Unless it leads to the pit under Jabba's palace with the Rancor. Then I will follow everyone else instead.
4. Consistency
I get up early. Every single day. I audition frequently and quickly. Every single day. I market to between 100 and 150 people. Every single day. I spend time ideating about new ventures, and what else I can bring to the voiceover community. Every single day. I take time out to encourage and guide. Every single day. I track my goals. Every single day.
I do all of this. Every single day. In case you missed any of that:
Every. Single. Day.
5. Goal-Tracking
Note that I did not just say “goal setting.” I mean goal tracking. I mean not just setting goals but being absolutely intentional about making sure my forward momentum toward them is monitored. Unseen goals are no goals at all. I love the line, "Someday we'll look back on all of this...and plow into a parked car." You must see where you are going. You cannot steer your life by the rearview mirror. Unless you're congenitally insane and irretrievably stupid. Then go nuts.
6. Prayer
Call me a religious zealot. Call me a Bible-thumping fundamentalist. Call me a right-wing crazy-head. But I believe in the power of prayer. Whoever your God, whether He is Lord of the Universe or Carrot Top, pray. There is something powerful that happens when we commit our needs upwards and trust that they will be met. At this point it behooves me to inform you that Scott Thompson is actually a human. And The Easter Bunny is a lie. And Santa burned up on re-entry into earth's atmosphere long ago. #themoreyouknow
7. A genuine fear of returning to wedding videography
Voiceovers may tank. They may be outlawed in the future. AI voices may take over everything and eat the world. Let the chips fall where they may, I say. But it will be a cold day in hell before I pick up a camera again and film a pair of narcissists. You have not seen a dead man walking until you have seen me back in the wedding videographer saddle. I never want to go back. You cannot make me go back. PLEASE do not make me go back.
8. Finally, Coffee.
Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee coffee. With sugar-free hazelnut creamer, one pack of Stevia, and five mini-marshmallows. With this, I am all-powerful. Without this I will die.
So Now You Know
Knowledge is power, they say. You are now powerful. Now go succeed. Go find your own secret sauce. Out with you. Git.
Ultimately, the greatest "secret" is not giving up. #4 wins the prize here. My eight secrets for success can all be wrapped up in my indominable, indefatigable and unflappable desire to keep going.
Oh...and by the way? I will let you in on another little secret: there is absolutely no charge for my sharing all of my secrets and fantastic all-time best GIF's with you. Scroll down...
keep scrolling...
wait for it.....
almost there.......
You are welcome.
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YOU HAVE MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE END, AND I SALUTE YOU.
- Like this blog? My children are counting on you to put bread on our table through the purchase of one of my books. By the way, low-guilt-trip sales pushes are my specialty
- NOTE: This blog is purely for commentary / educational / entertainment purposes. I am looking at YOU, PicRights & Higbee. I make no money from these blogs; though I do not refuse large cash gifts if it means I can pretend I am a church
- Check out my whole UNIVERSE of blogs right HERE!
- This is a fourth bullet point.
AND HEY! WAIT JUST A S.E.C.!
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- E-NCOURAGE: Go encourage someone else today with a single, simple sentence of affirmation. Tell them, “I like your earrings”, unless of course they are manly men, in which case you should compliment them on the size of their chainsaw.
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Joshua Alexander
Seattle Voice Actor & Voiceover Artist for hire
josh@asupervoice.com
206.557.6690
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Butter toffee coffee?? Where. Has. This. Been my whole life?? I am positively devastated that I haven’t experienced this in my 42 years and 11 days of existence on this planet. Also, that might help me out with the getting up early part. I’m a “wolf” chronotype with insomniac “dolphin” tendencies. Since I’m reading this at almost 3am when I should be sleeping. Sigh. Now I want coffee. At 3am. And if you have ever read up on the whole chronotype stuff, you’re clearly an early rising “lion” type. I figure you’ll be waking up any minute now as I’m finally crashing. 🤣
Thoughts on today’s blog post.
1.) You have confused my simple little mind buy posting this on the wrong day. Your day is Monday. This is Friday (I double checked).
2.) “Unless you’re congenitally insane and irretrievably stupid” is disparaging to those of us who resemble this remark. But I am sure you meant it kindly.
3.) You have very specific coffee needs.
3.) “Ultimately, the greatest “secret” is not giving up.” This has been my secret, if I have one. I do need to follow your example and apply it more aggressively to the day-to-day tasks that I am so terrible at doing.
4.) “And Santa burned up on re-entry into earth’s atmosphere long ago.” We are going to have to disagree on this one, just like the chunky/creamy peanut butter thing.
Have a great day!
Haha my apologies! I was flying through my website customizing and testing my new audio demo player on desktop and mobile and didn’t realize what tab I was in – the blog draft tab! Eeek! I am congenitally insane and irretrievably stupid I’m afraid. Better get some coffee. After all, that is my secret. That, and telling people the truth about Santa, who is now burnt to a smoking crisp.
Great day = CHECK!
I’m a really big fan of #2.
I’ve lived a really great life. I have the freedom and ability to grow and learn in the fantastic world of voiceover, and met some really, REALLY cool people along the way (yeah, YOU!!). To me, that’s good fortune that merits gratitude. Even when times are hard, I still feel that I owe it to be thankful for the overwhelming amount of good I still get to have in my life.
And on that note, THANK YOU for being a part of that good!!
T.A.P. That’s what this was. Total Accidental Publishing. I published 3 days too early! That’s what I get for staying up too late. Anyway. Looking forward to seeing you and your good fortune and gratitude tomorrow, man!
Yeah, I’m with you about not ending up under Jabba… I do try to follow what works, but I know other countries don’t always function the same or have the same needs, so I can’t really do the same things, unless I move there, lol. For example, I joined the biggest local directory, that shortly after closed – I must take this moment to declare my involvement had nothing to do with it, I think, LOL. Be that as it may – no Jabba. I will say this, the trip back to wedding videography would not be the worst thing for me (no one’s forcing you to go back, lol, Narnia is always an option) – the worst would be to fail at what I’m given to do.
Thanx for sharing these thoughts! The biggest one is goal tracking. I track mine by DOING things, hehe. I’m exquisitely and painfully aware if I’m not progressing, hehe. I often joke that I am extremely slow, because I’m not a natural leader – told a friend the other day that I need to go work at Coke as a bottle neck, LOL. Alas, speed will come, just like it did in gr1 (I was always last to finish until 1 day – still don’t know what happened…).
Have a SUUUPER day mister! 😀
SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER day…check! Sorry…it has been busy. And I was up WAY too late programming my new audio player for my website. So I woke up way too late. And had NO idea I had accidentally published my blog. D’oh! Thank you for enjoying it anyway. 🙂
Lol, no problem! (^^,)
Great blog post, Josh! Number 7 made me laugh out loud! Well, so did a bunch of other things that you wrote, including number 1, but the fear of wedding videography was a true LOL! Great tips and inspiration!
I mean it. I will surely die. Thank God for such a rescue and a deliverance, because that’s exactly what it is, and nothing less. Thanks for reading!
Josh, I have exciting news. There’s a Taco Bell being built in a city only an hour from me, where my grandad lives.
Almost entirely irrelevant to this blog post, but that’s the way I roll. 😎
*looks up Sumara’s grandad’s address immediately*