What is the secret to success and why is it such a big secret? It's been thousands of years since it was first tasted; you would think that it's in the public domain by now. Volumes have been written about it, you can buy DVDs, attend seminars, and find a variety of materials purporting to reveal it, yet the true formula can't be bought, sold, or traded. You have a better chance of stealing Mr. Krab's secret formula for the Krabby Patty than getting your fins on the secret formula for success. But fear not. We at PLSN have been feverishly working to uncover the secret to success. We asked the members of ProLight ingSpace.com to reveal the secret to success in the industry. They were surprisingly forthcoming with such top secret information. Here's what they had to say:
Kenneth Clute – "Show up early, check your ego, close the hole in the front of your face, open your ears and learn. Lather, rinse, repeat."
Dan Mellitz – "Love what you're doing. If you don't, it shows."
Jim Fitzpatrick – "Believe in yourself and your work. Learn from (your) mistakes. Successful people do not give up."
Monty Kirk Bishop – "Don't sweat the small stuff. Learn what K.I.S.S. means."
Kevin Cloud Brechner – "The key to success is good pre-production, rehearsals, and a good filing system."
Tim Mortimer – "Networking and a passion for the job."
Richie Mickan – "If in doubt, ask. Then listen to the answer. If you can master this you can do anything. When I employ people I look more at the attitude and less at the skills. You can teach skills but a bad attitude is hard to fix."
William Strawn – "Listen to those who have come before you; they've been there and done that. Be early and ready to work. Read lots."
KC Wilkerson – "Let your passion fuel you. There will always be someone who knows more than you do. That's okay. Learn from them."
Chris Lose – "Put your ego away and make sure that your client gets what they want."
J – "The seven Ps of production: Prior proper planning prevents piss poor production."
Whittier Davis – "Never lose sight of the final product. Keep on striving to make it better. Make order from chaos and assist others. Observe, listen, and seize new business opportunities. Provide creative expertise to enable effective communication. Keep focused. Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. Success is not about wealth; it's about the journey. Be safe and look toward the stars."
Dara Guiney – "Get a decent, affordable accountant and file your taxes on time."
Pat Smith – "See everything from the smallest show to the largest as a learning experience. I've learned a lot from working small shows that at first, I didn't want to work because they were too small."
To sum up, love, listen, read, believe, plan, focus and learn.
Sounds easy, doesn't it? It really is – at least in the here and now. The challenge is to maintain a high level of loving, listening, reading, believing, planning, focusing, and learning over an extended period of time.
Even the most talented among us have difficulty from time to time believing in themselves. I remember reading a Beatles biography and I was very surprised to learn that after the Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney retreated to his Scottish farm loaded with self-doubt about his ability to be successful on his own.
In retrospect it seems ridiculous to think that he would ever doubt himself, especially in light of the fact that, according to Wikipedia, he is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most popular songwriter in the history of popular music."
I think one of the major ingredients of the formula for success is to fight through all the self-doubt and do what you love to do without judging yourself or self editing. I'm sure some of your work will suck – mine does, probably more than I think – but so what? If you stick with it long enough you'll get better at it. Just don't give up.
To hear Richard St. John's very interesting take on this subject, visit www.prolightingspace.com/video/richardst-1 .
