VAM 106 | Q & A Session 20 – How to Overcome Envy and Self-Doubt as a Voice Actor
Welcome to episode 106 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
In this episode, I continue answering questions from my podcast audience! For those who may not be as familiar with the podcast, in past episodes, I’ve given out a phone number where you can call in and leave me a question about voice acting as a voicemail. From time to time, I’ll pick the most relevant questions I receive and answer them here on the podcast.
For this round of Q & A, I answer questions from Eric from Nashville, TN .
Eric has a very personal question to ask. He’s been helping a friend of his learn more about voice acting and he’s even gone so far as to help her set up her home studio and give her some acting coaching. It turns out that Eric’s efforts were very effective because his friend is now booking voice acting work. Unfortunately, Eric now feels a bit of jealousy because he is not booking as much work as his friend is. His frustration is compounded by the fact that his friend is new to the world of voice acting whereas he has been studying acting for quite some time. Her success has made him doubt his own abilities and has made him feel inadequate.
A situation like this happens to almost every artist and I’m glad that Eric has given me the opportunity to address it. Learning how to defuse envy and self-doubt is an incredibly important ability and I’m happy to share the most useful techniques I have found to help both Eric and my listeners get back on track!
I hope you find the answers to his question useful in your own voice acting endeavors!
If any of my listeners would like to call in with your own thoughts, thank you’s or questions, the number is:
323-696-2655.
Please don’t forget to include your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #106 Here (MP3)
Hey Crispin,
It would be great to hear more from some of the VA’s out there with theatre backgrounds like as Steve Cassling, John Snyder, Douglas Rye, etc. who are all from back East such as yourself.
If you could get one of them on the podcast that would be really terrific, IMO.
Best
I’m not familiar with those voice actors. What would you like to learn from them? Is there a reason you’re curious about hearing from them specifically?
Thank you for addressing this topic, especially for going into the difference between jealousy and envy. I always learn something insightful and interesting every time I listen to an episode. Looking forward to the next one.
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the episode.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much for this podcast. Jealousy and envy are the worst character traits I have as a human being. I get those feelings A LOT.
Thank you so much for teaching me how to convert feelings of jealousy into something I can use to get ahead. Even if it’s going to be some time before I get to that point. Real life gets in the way sometimes.
Anyways, lovely podcast as always. Can’t wait for the next!
~ Kalyn
Thank you Kalyn! So glad you found this episode useful!
Thank you for sharing the important difference between envy and jealously, Crispin- Its really one of the most helpful topic so far 😉 I know I’m different than others. I’ve never been in Theater community/class as a child, because I don’t get along along very well with others and wont stop crying while I have autism (a social stigma) and also a body shame when I was young girl because I’m not very attractive enough to be in public (been bullied). During that, I’ve also compared myself about why I’m not normal like others or why I can’t be beautiful like others are.. It was really hard- I thought I can share and inspire with others who have struggled with this. I hope it helps. Thank you as always for your help, Crispin. I’m really looking forward to the next one.
Thank you. I’m glad you found the episode helpful.
Hi Crispin,
Another great episode!
This was a great question, beat me to it on the voicemail. However, I have a slight add on that I think might be useful to others reading.
There is some advice I was given from an industry elite like yourself, they said the following to me that sticks with me:
“Take the stars out of your eyes”
I think this is most true within the realm of budding voice actors that seems to be the first huge mental hurdle in getting you into the business mindset of being a voice actor.
You wouldn’t go bench press 300lbs without ever picking up a weight in the gym, so why would you be surprised when you didn’t land a high profile voice gig when you haven’t been vocally ‘working out’ with the results to show for your hard work so far.
So far in my limited experiences, I’ve encountered such a mixture of content, which surprised me.
I can’t afford to turn things down – don’t be afraid to try voice over areas you never considered. If you’re looking to pay the bills, being picky gets dropped rather quickly. You can still pursue those passionate projects even if what you are currently working isn’t your ideal ‘gig’.
To echo what you said, I think people come into voice acting thinking that anime/animation is the ‘only’ niche. Which just isn’t true. It’s the dream area for a lot of people and I think they put the blinders on as it’s ‘all they want to do’.
This is my own personal mantra with regards to the notes of adequacy.
“No one is as unique as you. ”
I don’t try to sound like Crispin, or Steve Blum or any other of the industry giants as they will always book that work.
I try to sound like me. To me, it’s the hardest thing to do. Make your own voices – make your own sound. Emulate to a point for practice but find your own voice.
Love all the advice you give Crispin, truly a fantastic podcast.
Sincerely,
Chris
That’s an interesting piece of advice, “Take the stars out of your eyes”. While I would never want to dampen one’s enthusiasm, I can understand how if someone has overly romanticized voice acting to the point of it becoming akin to a romance novel, then yes, it’s probably important to look at the practical realities of achieving one’s dream rather than projecting a fantasy on reality. By looking at the practical realities, it actually makes the chances of achieving one’s dream more likely.
I often use the metaphor of playing baseball in the major leagues which is similar to your bench pressing metaphor. It takes practice and dedication to achieve a high level of artistry.
I’m glad that you’re realizing that you need to sound like you. That’s wonderful. Then you can find what unique spin you can bring to a character rather than constantly feeling like you have to ape others.
So glad you liked the episode and thank you for your thoughtful comments.
Thanks for responding Crispin, it means a lot!
I think it might be a bit of a blunt piece of advice but I think I prefer your version truth be told!
I think it was more advice to stay grounded mentally so the wheels will keep turning so you don’t give up after the first few hurdles.
I think it’s more so the reality of training, being open to heavy/constructive critique and the rejection side of things, which you mention frequently in other episodes. I honestly think a lot of people including myself, the minute they get rejected they knee jerk to the mentality ‘Why should I bother, I can’t land anything’ – which isn’t true at all but again, you covered that topic in this podcast.
I’m learning so much still but I still have my own personal issues with rejection or dealing with a client that isn’t quite as happy as they could be. It’s tough but I
Don’t get me wrong Crispin, I’d love to sound like you haha!
On a side question – please forgive me if you’ve said this before but I’m on the East coast and It seems each time I go to check on the group classes, they’re booked almost instantly, which is no surprise but..
I’m subscribed to your blog but is there something else I need to subscribe to so I can get alerts on the classes? If so, please let me know as I’d love to get in on an online class.
Thanks again, these podcasts are wonderful!
Hey there Chris. I’m sorry that my classes book up so quickly. I don’t really have any control over that. I always inform people on my classes mailing list before I announce classes to the general public. If you are on my Online Classes Mailing List, you’ll be the first to know about the date of an upcoming class. I suggest you purchase your space in class as soon as you receive that e-mail. That’s your best bet to get a spot in class. Hope that helps.
Great podcast. I’ve had those feels. I don’t have too many problems with my friends going on to bigger and better things, though having more than a few longtime close people succeed in varying fields as creatives in the entertainment industry has admittedly taken its toll. What hurts is when people who either disrespect or don’t give me the time of day go on to get that success. It’s a really high school way of looking at it, I know.
Hope I didn’t sound too negative. Just sharing my angle.
Actors can sometimes be an emotionally insecure bunch. It would be nice if only psychologically well adjusted people succeeded at acting. Unfortunately, such is not the case. I’m sorry if there are some rude people out there who end up being successful as voice actors. But, I guess one could say that can be the case in many fields. I’m sure there are people who are considered rude who succeed in many endeavors.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what they’re doing or what success they may achieve. If you are able to achieve what you want in life, then what anyone else does won’t matter so much.
That was a joke on the Simpsons. Lisa is telling Homer not to be jealous of Apu, but Homer says he’s not jealous, he’s envious. Jealousy is when you are afraid someone will take what you have. Envy is when you want what someone else has. What he feels is envy.
I doubt myself all the time. Depression is something I have to deal with every other week. I’m broke all the time and I always feel like I’m going nowhere slowly. I can’t talk to anyone about it either. When I do, they just say something like “It’ll happen,” or “You’ll get your shot someday.” It’s nice to say. It does nothing, but it’s nice to say.
Thank you for your time and wisdom.
I’m glad you found the episode useful. I hope it helps you find a way to doubt yourself less in the future.
Hi there Crispin!
This Podcast was a Godsend!
I learned from this episode that it’s my own self doubt and envy that is holding me back; that when is all said and done I don’t truly believe that I can have what I want.
There’s a question I have though.
Being 100% honest, I haven’t truly found my passion; I haven’t ever really experienced much despite my 28 years. I’ve seen many things that have fascinated me, and I’ve been inspired to pursue them but I’ve always fallen short of getting into it properly.
Such things include being a chef, psychologist, behavioral analyst, voice actor, etc, and although they all fascinate and I’d really like to become more deeply involved in them I never have because I simply can’t afford to go further.
The trouble here is an apparent vicious cycle caused by the decision to drop out of school when I was 16 and it looks like this:
I need money to go further, but I can’t get a job because I don’t have an education, but I can’t get an education because I can’t afford it, because I can’t get a job.
That’s the way it seems anyway and it’s left me in a space where I don’t really try much anymore because I doubt my chances of success because I don’t really believe that it will succeed and, on some level, I’m afraid that it will.
So in this situation, I doubt myself because I lack self confidence in almost every area of life and, from my point of view, I have little to be confident about which is a major factor in why I am where I am.
I’d appreciate any thoughts you might have, as I feel like at 28 I really should know where I’m going and what I want to be doing; at the very least I should have a job, a car, and not be living with mom and dad still xD
This podcast was a lot to process and I’ll be listening to it a few more time for things I might have missed, but it helped me realize what my troubles stem from even if I’m not 100% sure on how to deal with them.
Thanks again for an amazing podcast episode; 106… can’t believe it 😀 it remains a source of inspiration to me as does many of the characters you play; Itachi Uchiha being one of them… would be amazing to be so capable!
Sincerely,
Hi there Brendan. I’m sorry that you feel so stymied when it comes to pursuing things you care about. The level of advice you are asking for is quite a bit beyond the purview of voice acting. It sounds more like you’re asking for a life coach or a therapist. That’s not really my expertise and I’m not completely comfortable offering that sort of advice on a website about voice acting.
However, I will say that if you look around, there are people who had very little education who were still able to achieve great things. If you’re judging yourself and holding yourself back because you believe you made a terrible mistake in the past, that’s never going to be productive. You can’t really go back and change the past, but you can learn from it. Every experience we have helps shape who we are today, whether we interpret that event as good or bad. There have been experiences in my life that I was convinced were negative experiences and I have thought it would be so much better for me if I had not made that “mistake”. As I did my best to pursue what mattered to me, I often discovered that what I initially interpreted as a mistake was in fact an important learning experience for me and helped galvanize my commitment and in the end helped me achieve what I wanted.
Just pursue what is the most inspiring option for you in your life to the best of your ability with no expectations about the eventual outcome. That is wisdom that has been passed down through the ages through different mythological and spiritual traditions. It has served me well and I hope it serves you well too.
Hey Crispin,
I applaud Eric for being open about their personal issues as a learning experience for all of us. Thank you, Eric!
Envy is definitely a “darker” topic of the arts that I don’t see being touched quite as often. I’ve definitely heard more of the comparison game though.
I was dealing with a similar issue today where a mutual friend I am not quite fond of was able to take voice classes. His mentor wants him to go to LA and start competing. Last time I heard his acting; to me, it was mediocre at best. Hopefully, the classes did in fact help him improve and I wish the best of luck to his path.
I’ve learned that it’s natural to get down and insecure about my work once in a while. Comparing myself to others has made me better so quickly (or at least, from when I compare to my older clips) that I know I can get where I want to be! It’s hard work and stressful, but nothing can satiate my own passion to improve my craft. I wish everyone else who are aspiring voice actors the same confidence and motivation! Especially since there is a certain point where most people give up. 🙁
Thanks as always! Cheers,
Sage
I’m glad you found this episode helpful! Dealing with our “darker” emotions is an important part of surviving as a professional artist. I’m glad you’re discovering your own way to manage any feelings of envy.