watch game tape
Happy Monday! Welcome back. I hope you had a fantastic weekend! Highlights of mine included Kiss a Ginger Day, an Eagles victory and a trip to the movies to see Paddington 2, so all in all, a great weekend! Prior to Friday’s video blog, I wrote two posts called “surround yourself with good” and “play between the notes.” I overheard a conversation recently while I was working the box office at iO West that struck a chord with me, and I knew right away I’d have to write about it.
I’ve written before about supporting your friends, but it’s also important to learn from those who are better than you. The conversation I’d overheard was between two people who were talking about whether or not it’s important to go see improv shows. Their verdict was that the only reason it was required was because it encouraged conversation in class so the teacher could burn time.
Have you ever encountered people who feel this way about an area of study or a certain career path? I like to think of them as “too good-ers” because they think they’re too good for something. In most cases, these people are covering up some sort of insecurity or feel as though they have everything figured out.
There’s something in every experience you have that adds to your foundation of knowledge and also your potential for growth. Is it just a requirement to go see shows or go see speakers in a corporate setting in order for your teacher or boss to kill time? No. There’s a reason for those types of requirements in both personal and professional settings.
When I was in high school, our varsity basketball team used to watch game tape of other teams’ games, especially other Mid-Atlantic Prep League schools (MAPL), which were our more difficult games. We would make a point of watching film of the teams that were our biggest competition in order to study their strengths and weaknesses so that our team could grow and hopefully win. By studying other teams, we were able to maximize our strengths to achieve our goals (most of the time).
Not everything in life is a competitive game with winners and losers, but seeing shows or presentations from people who are further along in their career paths than you are is a good way to learn and grow so that you can reach whatever point you want to reach and achieve whatever goals you’ve set for yourself.
So, of course, support your friends, but also seek growth in other ways. I love conducting research in order to learn, and if you can find a way to make it fun, the growth you’ll experience will be incredible! Luckily for writing and acting, it involves a lot of research of various forms of entertainment. And it doesn't get much better than that!
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!