N.Y.P.

Not to be confused with P.Y.T. or O.P.P.

Back in 2009 I attended an amazing free seminar given by career coach Dallas Travers. Check out her website - the woman is a genius! Since going to that seminar I've read her book, listened to a bunch of the free teleseminars she does every so often, did a one day workshop with her in 2010, and up until about two months ago was a member of her Thriving Artist Circle but the recent change in my financial situation forced me to take a break.

One of the things I've heard her talk about numerous times is Not Your People. N.Y.P. for short. Dallas explains it so much better than I can but the basic idea is that these people are not your fans, don't care for you or your work, or flat out don't like you. That's their job. And once you realize if someone is a N.Y.P. it makes it so much easier.

I really wish I had been told about this concept years ago.

Several years ago I took acting class at a theater company/acting school which I believe is no longer around, or at least in the same way it was when I took class there. There was an upper level class which I'll call the advanced class even though I think it went by a different name. Once you were in that class there were performance opportunities. I sooooo wanted to be in that class. Everyone who took class there did.

I never got into the class.

Oh I tried...again and again. After taking class there for awhile I left because there was no rhyme or reason to who got into that elusive advanced class. To this day I have no idea what the critera was for getting into that class. I felt like I wasn't learning anything. Something wasn't working for me. I even started to think that certain teachers didn't like my work.

Then I made a huge mistake...I went back to class.

There was no reason for me to go back. There were plenty of other places I could take class. But I so wanted those teachers to like my work, to put me in the advanced class. I knew most of the people in that class, I got to know a lot of people in the theater company. But it felt like no matter how hard I tried I just could not get into that class. I even remember telling a friend about something that happened in class and their response was like, wow, that teacher does not like you! But I persisted. I was determined to make these people like me and put me in that class. Meanwhile, I was getting cast in stuff, etc. so I know I wasn't a bad actress, plenty of people liked my work, but it was like I wanted the one group of people who didn't like my work to like my work. But I wasn't learning anything, wasn't growing, something wasn't working for me. So many times I wanted to scream "help me get better!" But I think by that point it had become more about getting into the advanced class than growing as an actor. Which is interesting because now that I look back most people were more concerned about getting into the class than improving as actors.

Eventually I came to my senses and left. I was devastated, but knew I was not learning anything there. It wasn't the right place for me. There were plenty of other places I could take class.

The bottom line is most of those people were my N.Y.P.s. Wish I had seen it then instead of trying so hard to get them to like my work. (And I've been saying "like my work" because it wasn't anything personal against me or them - they actually liked me as a person) I would've saved myself months of frustration. What a waste of time and energy. I did find out that not too long after I stopped taking class there things started to go downhill and I believe the theater company disbanded for awhile. I think they may have re-structured and came back under a different name.

Now here's the flip side - not getting into that class was probably the best thing that could've happened to me. Not too long after that I got the opportunity to perform with a wonderful and supportive group of amazing and talented actors. I think I performed in various things with them for over 2 years until the group pretty much ran it's course and we all moved on to other things. It was one of the most fun and enjoyable periods of my life. I'm still in touch with most of them. I NEVER would've had this opportunity if I had gotten into that other class. In fact there were so many opportunities I wouldn't have taken if I was in that class. And I probably would've been miserable in that class, lol.

The other good thing that came out of that it really made me re-focus and concentrate on being a better actor than obsessing about what level class I'm in. Of course we all want to feel like we're good enough to be in the best class, but my #1 priority is being a better actor. Which is why I'm in the class I'm in now. :)

Anyway...that long-winded explanation gets me to this. I recently met another N.Y.P. But I'll save it for the next post!