“Manifestation” is overrated.

Does anyone else remember when “The Secret” was a thing? Maybe my perspective is skewed because I’m in the performing arts, but that was IT 10 years ago ago and it’s still referenced far too often.

Let’s be specific here: there’s nothing wrong with vision boards. They help clarify things for many people and keep the long-term goal in mind.

But – Mary Shenendoa summed this point up perfectly on her Instagram recently:

You don’t manifest your opportunities. You just start seeing them once you’ve given your mind full permission to believe it can accomplish what you want.

I can’t think of a better way to put it.

As much as it feels like you might be “causing” something to happen simply by willing it, that’s probably not what’s going on.

The mind wants to be right, and by telling yourself wholeheartedly that you WILL do something, the mind seeks ways to make that a reality so it can continue telling itself you’re right.

It will seek out (& find) opportunities that you didn’t know about before this permission was granted and that is what makes it seem like you “made” it happen.

But first: Stop fearing your passion.

Fear takes root in many ways, but one of the oddest self-preservation techniques I’ve ever seen is that of apathy.

When someone decides to take the difficult path of chasing after a dream of theirs, many things are undecided.

Income.

Location.

Will this even be worth it in the end?

And it’s easy to get bogged down in those things.

One of the brain’s go-to defenses is to shut down any true emotional attachment to something that brings them pain.

When you’re an artist, the thing you’re passionate about most probably also brings you a lot of pain.

You hear “no” a lot.

Your work isn’t purchased.

Shows are cancelled due to lack of attendance.

You’re told by people you love that what you’re doing is all a pipe dream.

So you try to take the emotion out of it.

But those feelings are precisely why humans love art so much. Many people never get to feel that deeply about something, or they attach those feelings to stuff they know isn’t worthy of such deep emotions (no offense to major sports fans… but really?)

I’m in the worlds of standup comedy and acting, but for this article’s sake we’ll talk standup.

There are far too many comics that have settled into the “safe zone” of telling jokes as if they’re too good to be saying them.

As if the audience doesn’t deserve to hear their genius insights.

It’s like they’re trying to have dry humor onstage, which almost never works unless that truly is how you are… and even then, it doesn’t always work.

As my friend Mike Eaton put it:

Could you imagine a CEO presenting on behalf of their company in this way and getting away with it? The board would slaughter him.

I see no difference in these scenarios. Why would you want someone heading your company if they don’t care deeply about the product?

Why would you want someone pointing out the deeply-rooted bullshit of our society if they didn’t care deeply about pointing it out?

Photo by Holly Beaupre at This Week Sucks Tonight in Phoenix, Arizona. October 18th, 2018.

Once you put something out there as a goal – really dig in & allow yourself to go for it.

There are plenty of dreamers out there. Which is fine.

But only about 8% of people achieve their goals. And those are the “overnight success” stories you hear about… after they’ve been grinding for 10+ years.

Those are the people who seem to have all the luck in the world. And sure, luck can help.

But goal-reachers are doing. Which, when you start to observe those around you, isn’t very common. There’s a lot of wasted time and energy on things that aren’t productive.

Keep doing that extra work. Keep connecting with those who are already successful where you want to be. Allow yourself to have hope.

If you decide moving will help you get where you need to go, don’t listen to anyone who’s trying to talk you out of it.

Listen to your gut, find people you can trust that will help you along the way, and promote the shit out of what you’re doing.

It’s not sales-y. It’s getting the word out there. People need things right in their face for them to remember what you want them to.

Passion is not selfish.

Similarly, those “shameless self promotions!” are seen as self-indulgent.

It’s the shtick of people who aren’t going after something they’re passionate about to tell those who are they they’re wrong.

They’re wasting time.

They’re selfish.

“Why don’t you get a steady income and provide for yourself the ‘right’ way?”

You do realize that if Steve Jobs hadn’t decided to share his creative eye with the world, I wouldn’t be typing this on my Macbook, right?

Add that to the landscape of employment changing the way it is… even people with steady 401k plans and salaries aren’t guaranteed anything.

Passion is often aligned with things we’re inherently good at, or at least have the seed to be good at.

If you’re good at something, that’s the easiest path to making a true impact in the world.

And if your passion is the desire to raise a family and be the best parent you can be, that’s making a true impact in the world.

If your passion is creating modern healing techniques to make medication more effective, that’s making a true impact in the world.

If your passion is talking about goofy things no one wants to say outside of their private spaces onstage, that’s making a true impact in the world.

You can’t compare these things to one another in levels of “importance” because they’re all different. But they’re all making a difference here.

It just so happens that those in the entertainment world are viewed a little differently.

Maybe it’s because we need to be watched by others as a part of our job.

But if art isn’t seen, it can’t make that impact on others. If the goal is personal change and growth from it, cool. But if you feel your art has something to give to others, it’s selfish not to share it.

We’re selfish for wanting to be seen until we’re celebrated for what we present. And then it’s revealed that we weren’t actually selfish at all.

Photo is a still taken from a workout video shot by Abilgail Bontempo in San Francisco, California. August 2018.

Show your passion or someone else will.

This should be pretty self-explanatory.

While this whole article has been preaching hard work and connections, you’ve got to take those emotional chances that are so devastating when they go wrong.

You’ve got to admit to yourself that you really want this thing. Take that scary audition. Try that weird new performance concept. Submit that tape.

The last thing you want to do is get on stage, half-ass something as if you don’t care about it, and expect people to sign or book you.

Show your passion. Let everyone know about it. Get good at it. Get great at it.

And never let someone who’s more willing to show how much they care get booked over you.

You don’t manifest your reality – you discover it.