I was over at Stu Gray’s blog yesterday catching up on his latest writings when I noticed my name mentioned. Specifically, Stu “tagged” me along with a few others to respond to a particular short survey he presented about success in voiceover.

So here goes:

1. What habits have enabled you to become successful?

Waking up late, buying as much gear as I can and voicing in my PJ’s.  Ok, seriously…  consistency, commitment and determination (sometimes mistaken as bullheadedness).

2. What habits have blocked you from success?

As Stu mentioned in his blog, success is different for everybody. I think of success in terms of a healthy, happy, well- balanced life. If I’m able to pay our bills and maintain our standard of living with voiceover, I feel I’m successful. Everything else is bonus. To find success in those terms though, everything in your life needs to be in it’s proper order. I’m finding more and more that when things are neglected (like workout time, family time, spiritual renewal time, etc) and replaced with work, work and more work, the balance gets out of wack and you actually end up doing more harm than good.

All that being said, for me, one of the obstacles to my success seems to be the internet believe it or not. I get sidetracked too easily with news, voiceover boards, and the king of all distractions, YouTube. All fun, but again, they need to be put in the proper order. Time management is so important to success.

3. What advice would you give a young VO professional?

Be sure you want it… then go after it with all you’ve got. At various points in your VO career, you’ll have your heart ripped out, your ego destroyed and trampled on, and feel like the world is conspiring against you. You’ll also have moments when you feel on top of the world, unstoppable and completely in control of your career and finances. There are some serious high highs and low lows and if you’re shooting for the top, which you should be, prepare to invest a lot of time and a considerable amount of money getting where you want to go. And be aware that it won’t happen overnight. Even when you hear a new voice suddenly pop up everywhere (network, cable, maybe trailers) and they seem like an overnight success story, what you aren’t seeing are the years of sweat, tears and low budget clients leading up to that moment in the spotlight.

It’s funny, everybody who isn’t in voiceover thinks this job is cake. Ok, so we’re not exactly rescuing babies from burning buildings or anything. But there is a unique set of challenges that only exist in VO. Learn what they are and how you’ll need to sacrifice to overcome them, then attack.

4. Whats the best book(s) you have read to help you become successful at what you do?

I’m not a huge reader of career type books. I have a few on my bookshelf but I don’t feel they have played a large role in my success. Not to say they can’t. I’m sure I’ve gleaned a thing or three from reading them and I know quite a few people that have had epiphanies from reading voiceover books, so they are highly recommended.

And it the words of Forrest Gump, that’s all I got to say about that.