I Can Do This!
I was recently watching a rerun of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian because who didn't like that movie? Plus, can we all agree on the cuteness of Peter, Edmund, AND Caspian (hi Ben Barnes)?!
ANYWHO, the whole first half, maybe even first three fourths of the movie, Peter goes through the prissy "I can do this" phase. Literally, all the time people like Susan, Edmund, the dwarfs, even signs from Aslan are there saying "hey Peter, why don't you try this", and the response is always a curt (not even curt, more like super angry) "No, I can do this". Subsequently, Peter does his own thing that ends up costing him half his army. Yeah, you got this Pete.
Now, of course, this is a movie, and it's supposed to be dramatic; but, I can't help wonder how many times I do that. Especially with my career.
My father-in-law always states "every billionaire asked for help and took it" Steve Jobs had help from mentors; Mark Zuckerberg, the McDonald brothers (btw: go see The Founder), even the kid who starts a lemonade stand asks his mom and dad for help. So why are we actors, or better yet, we millennials so bad at asking for help?
To be real-I'm terrible at asking for help. Example: I wanted to find a dance class. I googled high and low, read reviews, called places and more. My husband kept saying "Laura, just ask people online". No way! In the end, I did. And of course, it worked and I now have three dances a week I can go to. All it took was on simple post on social media. So why was I so scared? Why was it was my last resort, and why even then did I phrased the question in a cute Instagram post instead of just asking it?
I think we are engrained that we have to do everything ourselves. We see so many stories about the Mark Zuckerberg's, or the Terrence Mann's, or Emma Stone's and how they didn't stop trying, auditioning, or giving up. All of their interviews talk about they failed, kept going, and then they got that lucky break, or how they kept building their repertoire and followed all the steps. But those interviews don't talk about how their friends referred them to that one casting director, or how they sent an email to this advisor who helped them start their business. We don't see that because it's not deemed as "entertaining".
So in the end, by saying "I can do this" we keep putting our dreams on hold. By not asking for help we are hurting ourselves! We are literaly wasting time!
I am just as to blame as everyone. I always say no to offers of help. I literally tell myself "I HAVE to do this on my own, because if I don't, then I'm not as good".
Starting now, I'm gonna try to change that. Join me?
P.S. Revisit this movie. Look at those cuties!