Have you ever been told you have potential? Yeah. That’s just rude. Sure, it means you show promise. You have the seed of talent planted there. But the overarching message is that you’re not doing what you could do with it.

Ouch. You’re being told you’re not living your fullest life. Not sharing your gift with the audience who craves it. Or, if you are reaching your widest audience, you’re not doing it to the best of your ability.

Ick.

Let’s fix that. Unlike last week’s column, this one is not about the other person giving you the wrong kind of love or support. This week, it’s about you. Now, if someone (like the folks we talked about last week) is trying to talk you out of being an actor by saying, “Oh, but you were so good at math in high school. You have such potential for being a great accountant,” that is more along the lines of last week’s topic. Don’t sweat that. That’s not about you.

But if you’re hearing that you have such potential for being a really great actor… uh-oh. That could mean you’re not doing everything that’s within your control to live your dreams.

Now, of course, there are tons of things that are outside of your control, as you pursue a creative career. No doubt! All the more reason to take those few things that are within your control — your training, your marketing, your self-awareness, your networking, your research and understanding of the players and the trends in your beloved industry, your attitude — stay at their peak.

There are just a few weeks left to this delicious year. It’s time to start making that list of all the wondrous things you want to invite into your life for 2012. Don’t wait ’til the end of December to get busy with that. Take stock now and anything that’s within your control that you could put into a better state in 2012, let’s make a list. Share yours with me! I’d love to feature a December filled with Your Turn emails about how you’re going to build toward a dream-come-true year ahead.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001429.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.