Ah! The downside of extreme success!

When most of us dream of a successful career and life, we often dream about our accomplishments and some thought of how much we’ll enjoy our life when it “gets here.” But, in truth, sometimes when our success “gets here,” it can keep us so remarkably busy that while the rest of the world (and us!) may be reading about it in the papers, we’re definitely not FEELING it at home…

So, what happened?

In the case of many of my clients, they’re striking while the iron is hot—riding the wave to make the most of what may be a relatively short run of success. This seems like a great idea at first—milk that puppy dry! And it IS a good idea in the land of fame and forgetfulness, where one is “It” today and “Who?” tomorrow.

The thing is, some people DON’T thrive on incessant working, crazy hours, lack of contact with those they love, no sleep, and not a second to enjoy what’s actually happening. And, truth be told, even the extroverted workaholics still enjoy a minute to relish what’s happening to them.

So, what do you do when your life suddenly seems to have taken on a life of it’s own that doesn’t really include you and what you need in the equation?

You MUST take a few minutes out of your day (yes, I know, you think you don’t have any to take. You MUST take them anyway) and STOP what you’re doing. Take a deep breath. In fact, take three to five of them. Then ask yourself what you’d envisioned this time in your life to be like. Did you think you’d have time to see your friends and family? Did you think you’d get a little time off to enjoy the ride? What did you envision yourself having that you don’t currently have?

And then, the crucial question: if you CONTINUE not getting what you expected, how long will it be until you BURN OUT?

One of the things about any business going crazy (especially in entertainment!) is that it doesn’t care ONE IOTA whether you can physically or emotionally handle it or not. The studio doesn’t care, your agent or manager may not care. Though, they should. If you burn out, their product will be gone.

So, much like folks having to take on the role of their own advocate while at the hospital, YOU must be your own advocate now.

It’s time for you to focus on what the top three things are that you MUST have right now in order to do your best work. And then (here’s the creative part!) it’s time to figure out HOW to make that work WITH the schedule you’re keeping.

This is a critical time in every successful career—social lives and home lives can deteriorate, support systems can break down, you can blink and not only realize that everything you loved about your life is gone, but also that the success you’re supposedly having has passed you by too!

So what do you need? More time to sleep? More time to talk to or see your loved ones? More time to veg out? More time to just look around and acknowledge yourself for how far you’ve come? More exercise? Better food to eat?

How can you add those things—even a little bit? Are there ways you can add them WITH the schedule you’re keeping now?

My clients find that breaking these areas down and brainstorming ways to fit these things in make an IMMEASURABLE difference in how much they enjoy their success while it’s happening. My wish for you is that YOU enjoy yours too!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 at 8:07 am and is filed under Balance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.