Consistency Always Beats Doubt

I am an optimist by nature. I will always believe that things will turn out well no matter how bad things get. That applies to my voiceover business as well. I’ve heard how difficult it can be to “break into” the business, but I don’t care. Most people doubt themselves when something seems difficult, but my optimism won’t let me do that to myself. I hate to sound like a self help writer, but doubt serves zero purpose in life except leading to failure. Optimism can never be a negative. There is too much good that can happen, if you put in the work, for optimism to not be a good thing. Even when things go wrong, because they will, the optimist will assume things will turn around eventually if the effort remains high.

Here’s the thing - even though optimism is crucial to success it is useless without consistency. Consistency always beats doubt. If you doubt yourself, you will fail. That is a fact in my mind. Another fact is: If you are consistent over a long period of time you will succeed. So, my optimism is based on the fact that I know I will be consistent longer than anyone else is willing to. I’ve made a deal with myself to stay consistent with my voiceover business even when things go wrong....especially when things go wrong.

This is all great to say, but it means nothing without a system in place to achieve a set goal. This is something I’ve thought about a lot because I know I’m an optimistic and I know I’ll be consistent. But to create a successful career as a voice actor I must have a plan. So, I’ve mapped out a clear plan of action and a system which I follow to achieve my goals every 12 weeks. I talked in detail about my 12 week plan here.

I know this article risks sounding cliche, but in my mind there are two things that lead to success above all else: optimism and consistency.

There is no room for doubt in any type of business. Even without doubt, success is difficult. With doubt it’s impossible.

This type of thinking applies to every aspect of my business. Even the things that seem small and unimportant. It’s hard to continue making 5 cold calls a day to multi media production agencies consistently when a month has gone by and not one call has turned into a paying job. But, because I’m thinking long term with my business I know that one months is insignificant in the long run.

It would be easy to think that it’s not worth cold calling anymore because they’re simply not converting. That’s short term thinking. The thing to do is to continue making 5 cold calls a day...or bump it up to 10 cold calls a day. Over time, every small effort that seems meaningless at the time will become crucial - and in terms of business, profitable.

What are your thoughts on optimism and different approaches to building a business? Are you an optimist? Comment below to share your thoughts.