I listened to an interview this week with Hugh Jackman (actor who played PT Barnum and Wolverine, AND has had an unbelievably successful career) and he tells a story of when he was working on a project he wasn’t sure about. He was talking with his friend or agent (I can’t remember which) about it.
He was telling her, “The budget isn’t great, and they didn’t hire the writer I wanted.” And on and on.
At one point, she stopped him mid-sentence, “Wait a minute. You’re not preparing for this role. You’re preparing to choke.”
He was making all the excuses why the project would fail ahead of time. That way when it did his ego would be intact. He’d have already set up everyone else as the reason why it didn’t succeed. He had his vision of the world firmly in place.
The problem is, with that vision, he could dog it. He could put in half the effort because it was going to fail anyway.
Do you know the one part of any project that you have complete control over? Your part. That’s the part that counts. You don’t play defense out of the gate. You play offense. What can I do to make this thing succeed? What does my best look like?
Loads of people email me after they fail the PANCE or after a bad semester with all of the “reasons.” I’m not saying those aren’t real. I’m not saying they aren’t important. What I am saying is don’t prepare to choke. Give it all you’ve got even if all you’ve got is only 10% because your brother’s in the hospital and your niece just got into a car accident and your dog needs to be put down.
Don’t build those up as excuses BEFORE your exam. Work with what you have. If all you can give is 10%, then at least give the whole 10% and be proud of that effort.
Now I’d like to make it easier for you. I’d like to make it so that maybe, just maybe, you’d have a chance to pass a test like the PANCE even with only giving 10%. My not-so-secret weapon is The Final Step. The 1,200-question book that will have you spitting out key terms like they’re sunflower seeds.
Take a look here:
Brian Wallace
P.S. I was supposed to be showing you what I’ve been working on today, but alas there were a few snafus. I had to push it back one week until next Wed. I’ll explain a little more tomorrow…