You are different

Two seasons ago on American Idols a contestant sang her version of a famous pop song.

I can’t remember the song or original singer but I do remember what the one judge, Jennifer Lopez, had to say about the performance.

She acknowledged the contestant’s talent and went on to say that there are certain notes she needs to stay away from because she cannot reach them; or it will hurt her.

She is a professional and she has a choice. She can choose what will work and stay away from what will not. Not every note or style will work for her. She is unique.

 

This then got me to thinking about acting and reacting/ responding. I realized that everyone can act. We can all act out the same script, go through the same lines.

However the test comes when it is time to react. Let me paint a picture. I started my career at the 2^nd best outsourced call center in South Africa as a telesales consultant new to telesales.

I knew about sales. I was in sales before. Face to face sales. But not telesales.

After the first few weeks I started to emulate a successful consultant. I did and said everything he did and said.

However I was not even half as successful as him.

I only found the reason later on in life.

First and foremost-we were not the same people. We both are affected by nuture and nature-his success may boil down to better time management, mature sense of empathy. We both react and respond differently. We come from different environments, cultures , backgrounds; have different years of experience. Different things shape us differently.

Also, nothing is set in concrete. What works for him may definitely not work for me.

 

Acting is similar to hearing while listening is to responding. Everyone ,who is able to, can hear. But not everyone can listen. Like how listening has got to do with attitude, perhaps responding also has to do with attitude. Perhaps responding and reaction has to do with passion. Pursuit of an act without passion or “want to” leads to being easily distracted, unfocused and distracted.

 

Be different. Start to innovate. Be creative because you are created by  the creator.