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work with what you've got


Happy Wednesday! On Monday, I wrote a post called “watch game tape” that focused on watching those who are further along in their careers than you are in order to better yourself. For today’s post, I want to write about the idea of working with what you’ve got. We do it all the time in the entertainment world, but we also do it often in life without thinking about it.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you didn’t necessarily have all the tools you needed to succeed but were still going to give it your best shot? Doing your best - and by that I mean the absolute best work you are capable of at any given moment - is what working with what you’ve got is all about.

Too often people find ways to put up roadblocks for themselves that prohibit them from giving their best to something. It’s human to mess up or to feel like you might be lacking a certain skill set that would help you do a job in a much better way, but the most important thing is that you do the best with what you have at any given time.

I’m a huge fan of Shirley Temples. There are few beverages that taste as good to me as that cherry goodness. I, however, prefer them to be made with Ginger Ale instead of Sprite. I often get flack from bartenders because it’s “so east coast” to sub Ginger Ale for Sprite, but it tastes better, so I’ll take my Shirley Temple with a side of flack. While working the box office at iO West recently, a friend of mine told me that there is actually a sneaky way to make “Bartender’s Ginger Ale” with Sprite if the tap runs out of Ginger Ale.

Apparently by pouring a glass mostly filled with Sprite and then adding a splash of Coca Cola, the soda becomes a concoction tasting very similarly to Ginger Ale. I don’t fully buy it because I like to think I’d be able to taste the difference, but I appreciate the improvisation behind it and feel like it applies to the greater idea of this post. Bartenders improvise all the time and work with what they’ve got, in this case combining two different sodas so that they transform into a separate kind of soda altogether.

As long as you’re bringing your best effort and making the most of what you have in the moment, things tend to work out in your favor the majority of the time. Nothing will ever work out 100% perfectly in any situation, so it’s best to let go of what you can’t control, to do your best, and to work with what you’ve got.

Thank you so much for reading, and, as always, if you have any pressing questions or if you want to discuss something further with me, please subscribe below, follow me on Instagram or Twitter, or reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so grateful you're here and that I’ve been getting a lot of really challenging questions and even better feedback from a community all over the world. I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! I’m here for you, and I love hearing from you, too! You’re the best, and you have everything you need inside of you! Please believe it! Starve your ego, feed your soul - and follow your heart!!

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