0084: “You Are One Of The Variables!”
Video:
Audio:
Show notes:
Hey there, hero!
My buddy Bob just called me, and on occasion, he says something brilliant.
This was one of those times.
He said “When you’re looking at how successful you might be at something, don’t forget: you yourself are one of the variables.”
Brilliant. And worth remembering when you start looking at how long it will take you to make the money back that you spend on training. Want to know how long? Wouldn’t that be great to know…but who can say given all the variables in the process, including…
…you.
Here’s the link I talk about in the video (that I’ll be removing after Wednesday night at midnight) for the payment plan offer for VOHeroes Pro – a 4 month payment plan that goes easy on your cash flow:
How do you handle the personal responsibility you have for your own success? Let me know in the comments below.
Raw transcript:
Raw transcript:
i just got off the phone with one of my
best friends been my friend for life was
the reason i got into radio was a
childhood hero of mine the real bob
james dr bob pondillo
and he occasionally says things that are
brilliant not often but occasionally
he said something
today
that
i just wanted to share with you
he said
you are one of the variables
now what did he mean by that i will tell
you in this episode of the vo heroes
podcast
[Music]
i actually was in the middle of putting
together packages welcome kits
for
the new uh vo heroes pros that have
signed up
uh in the past week or so and in fact
today and tomorrow as i’m shooting this
video uh monday tuesday and wednesday uh
in september of 2022
uh the 12th 13th and 14th just to get
really specific
um
is the last chance you have to be
a member then we’re closing down for the
next year
and we’re offering payment plans
and i was mentioning this to him he
called me while i was putting together
these packages i love sending out gifts
uh the equipment the gear
some of it i send myself some of it i
have amazon send and he called while i
was putting these packages together and
there’s something very satisfying about
that process for me but it’s okay that
he interrupted it because it’s it’s you
know it’s
it’s work but it’s okay and i love
talking to him
and we were talking about
a question that came up many many times
during the two or three weeks
that i was quote unquote launching
the new fall curriculum i was taking
registration and doing free work and
support and all that
one of the questions that came up over
and over and over again from
people who were trying to decide whether
or not they wanted to even attempt
doing voiceover and noting the price
of
what my curriculum costs which is not
insignificant
one of the questions that came up time
and again was
uh hey yeah
this is really expensive how long is it
going to take me to earn my money back
how long before i get a return on my
investment
and
you know i was kind of talking with bob
about the idea he used to be a college
professor
and
he’s retired now and he used to teach a
course on mass communications
in a huge
i was a guest speaker i saw how big this
room was in a huge lab that held like
300 students
and
i was saying that when i get questions
like that
it makes me
[Music]
a little bit sad for the person asking
the question not that it’s not a kind of
an obvious question to ask it’s like
this is a lot of money how am i going to
make it back how long will it take i get
that people want that information
but i don’t think anybody is capable
of actually answering that question
with veracity with truthfulness with
with accuracy
because there are so many things that
are beyond your control when it comes to
being successful in any business
let alone performance and he said yeah
that’s absolutely true you have no idea
whether anybody’s going to even come to
class
and so they are one of those things
those people themselves are one of those
things
that are beyond their own control in
many ways because you can’t predict how
life is going to be
they are one of the many variables that
you have in success
he said you are one of the variables
when you’re a student
so and i hear them because you go in
with all the best intentions yes i can’t
wait to get started i’ve had people who
are already working on the curriculum
and i haven’t even gotten in their gear
yet they’ve already started working on
classes they’ve only been a member for a
couple of days and over the weekend they
decided to jump in i get that that kind
of bias for action is awesome and then
there are people like this guy andy
andy joined my curriculum a few years
ago
and
never
took a single
class actually
i’m overstating it
he did take one lesson in one class in
the middle of the curriculum and then he
took two more lessons in the class on
getting an agent and that was it
that was it
and my fear and i was talking about this
with bob and he said yeah yeah you can’t
do anything about this but my fear is
andy goes off into his world
his life
and when somebody says weren’t you
working on being a voice over person
weren’t you working on becoming a voice
talent yeah yeah i tried it it didn’t
work
how do you know
and if andy had asked me the question
and i’m pretty sure he did
how long will it take me to make my
money back how long before i see a
return on my investment the answer that
i gave him
is the answer that i’ve been giving for
years and years and years and that is i
have no idea
i have no idea because i don’t know how
well you’ll engage with the
uh with the curriculum i don’t know how
much time you’ll have
i don’t know how adaptive you’ll be to
what i’m
giving you counsel on versus what you
think you should do
i’m not sure how much time you’ll have
to practice with your gear with the
materials
i don’t know how open to what i’m saying
you’ll be all these things going on and
then there’s you
you are one of the variables and that
kind of
you know uh took me to where i looked at
at that record and said wow so out of
the nearly 40 courses in the course
and the anywhere between three
and 50
lessons in each one of the courses
you know you do the math on that it’s
hundreds and hundreds of lessons in
dozens of courses
you took a grand total of three lessons
in
two courses
and my system only knows when you start
playing the video so it doesn’t know
whether you watch the whole thing or not
um but the point is it was such an
illustration
of this notion that bob shared with me
and that is you are one of the variables
so i want you to keep that in mind as
maybe you’re one of my new pros and
you’re watching this video and you’re
like oh i can’t wait or maybe you’re one
of my new pros and you’re like i have
some things that i have to do in my life
to make room for what i’m about to do
with you or maybe you’re one of those
people
who have a bucket list
and on that bucket list is become
a voice talent do voice over whatever
something very generic and
you’ve decided that i’m the path
to take my curriculum is the path for
you
i just want you to bear in mind
the responsibility
and the variability that you have
in your success
and i want to help you i’ll do
everything i can me and my coaching team
will do everything we can
but i want you to remember
that the answer to the question of how
quickly can i make my money back listen
if anybody wants to answer that question
for you
that’s not me you know another coach or
another teacher or another you know some
company that wants to sell you a ten
thousand dollar package that includes
demos the first weekend please run from
those people because if they give you
any answer to that question oh yeah
three four months or a year or two or
five or whatever the answer is
i have no idea of knowing and neither do
you we don’t know what’s coming down the
pike
and that one big variable among many
variables is you
so my question for you is
how are you planning
on managing your variability how are you
planning on assuming the role
as one of the variables in your future
success
do you understand that you have
a responsibility here that it’s a
partnership between whoever you’re
learning from like maybe me or my
curriculum
and you as a student
right
answer me that
let’s discuss it in the comments below
okay
especially on voheros.com because on the
site where you may be watching or
listening to this
that’s where the conversation is nice
and sane and safe and polite and
productive i’d love for you to make a
comment below about this does this make
sense to you have you experienced this
in life before where you had all the
best intentions but you never quite got
around to it or you did and you really
dove deep and you loved it and you
realize that your engagement is what
matters listen it’s a big subject but
when bob said that i had to just stop
what i was doing
and now i’m going to go back to it i’ve
got adhesive and tape and microphones
and all kinds of stuff and thank you
cards and mic socks and i’m sending them
out to everybody once again we’re gonna
close down uh the the payment plan
registration this is the last
opportunity that you have if you’re
watching this video on the day that it
comes out which is september 13th i
think
uh tomorrow night midnight that’s when
we close it all down and we get on with
the notion
of helping people with their journey in
voice over so if you want to head over i
put a link in the show notes i’ll
probably take it out after wednesday
night though so if it’s not there it’s
because we’re closed up anyway
uh
hit the subscribe button
uh maybe the notification bell if you
want to hit the like button just smash
it until it’s broken
because that’s how much you like this if
that’s what you want
i’m david h lawrence the 17th i thank
you so much for watching and for
listening and i will see you in the next
episode of the vo heroes podcast
[Music]
you
from YouTube
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Great pod cast David. I don’t think I can afford $3,000 right now, but I do wan to eventually. There’s so much info to learn. But your videos are great.
That’s exactly why the payment plan is $775/month for 4 months. Hope to work with you someday! And I’m so glad you’re finding these videos helpful.
Hi, David!
I was just about to head out on my workday, but thought I would listen to your podcast beforehand. Glad I did. 🙂 This is a topic to which I think I can genuinely contribute. Even though I’ve spent a large amount of time with audio production, performance, technology, etc., in my lifetime, the little I’ve learned from, and about, you makes me feel very much like a neophyte. You’ve had a career, success, and continual work that I deeply admire and envy. But, for my own part, the worldly experience that I have “cultivated” over my lifetime is BUYING training–live classes, webinars, books, audio recordings…more content than I care to remember; more “investment” than I care to admit to myself. Not just voice and live acting classes, but training that promised a cool, new skill that would assuredly enhance or completely change my life (massage therapy, a FOREX computer trading system, and online-help authoring software are a few things that come to mind).
We are all “variables,” indeed. I’ve been at all ends of the spectrum regarding the variability of COMMITMENT, which I think you were really getting at. With some courses, I behaved very much like the student you referenced in your story, who only took three lessons in your whole lesson plan. Note that, when I dropped MY purchased courses, I did NOT bad-mouth the course in question, after giving up; I simply gave up. Sometimes I soon realized that information–or the goal, itself–was useless and I walked away, cursing myself for the impulsiveness of the purchase. However, there were a number of times that I dove in with gusto, worked diligently to learn what was taught, but then gave up when the going got tough.
Out of all these trainings and courses, there were many who did propose a timeline for mastery and success. I recall, for example, the owner of my first voiceover school telling me of my potential, and promising (several times over several years) that I was “just about six months away.”
I’m sharing all this, because I want to tell you (and so that you’d know I’m not fresh off the turnip truck) that you your program offer something truly precious and unique. Talking with a dear actor friend last night, I was touting the tip of the DH Lawrence/VOHeroes iceberg I’d gotten to experience thus far. I’ve been SO impressed with the detailed instruction in just the introductory courses I’ve completed thus far; the breadth of voiceover avenues that await me in your advanced modules; the real-world “commerce” training (that is absent, by the way, from just about every “career prep” course I’ve ever taken); and the oh-so-wonderful gift of the “mindset” component, because it’s clear that you understand the fragile psychology of the performer and that helps immeasurably with the self-doubts and other struggles that will inevitably come.
One of the life lessons I seem to be continually working through these days is battling the “Why couldn’t I have learned/started/encountered this many years earlier?” thoughts. When I can avoid that thinking and simply focus on gratitude and the present moment, I’m simply glad that I encountered you, joined your program, and started (again) down this path.
Thank you, again, for creating this.
Wow…great insight, and I’m so glad you picked up what I was laying down regarding commitment, engagement etc. And welcome!
An example of how I have been a variable in something would be my martial arts career. I went 6 days a week for 9 months and went up in the ranks very quickly. The variables of my life, and my own motivation, could have made that happen differently. I am now a 5th degree black belt, the rank of Master. I could have not stuck with it for 28 years, but I did. Thankfully my variables have been conducive to my martial arts journey.
Hi David,
Yes! It totally makes perfect sense.
I understand I am (we all are) part of this important variable in becoming a successful voice talent.
I have another variable…is having the right mentor support. There’s a huge responsibility & variability in which my engagement in doing my part to do the challenging work, to plan, execute, and finish. Making sure I am accountable in scheduling time for my future in this great endeavor. Watching, reviewing, taking notes, rewatching to get it right, if needed. Sharing what I know.
Need help with a checklist to make sure I’m progressing and completing tasks. Writing & calculating how much money I’m spending on gear, equipment, classes, etc., compared to the ratio of time and effort in preparing actual recording time, marketing myself (big one), producing a quality professional Vocal product and landing gigs, getting hired, getting paid.
I am in your hands…
Always with 🙏🏼 gratitude,
Gerry
Wow! So good! I completely agree that I am definitely responsible for my part in this. I have taken on things in the past that were too difficult and gave up before giving it a chance. But then I have also persevered and pushed through (i.e., self-taping auditions) and reaped a good return on my efforts. I am ready to commit and do my best in this journey with you! Thank you!