Today I want to invite you in to my audition preparation process and to talk about what I do to prepare to get in the right head-space and to be my best, most confident, most “sparkly” self.

Why am I writing this post? Well I actually had an audition, or rather a “callback” earlier this week, (in the performance world, you typically will do an audition, and then if the production team wants to see more of you and advance you to the next round, you’ll get what’s called a “callback” and you’ll be “called back” to do more).

I had one earlier this week with a local professional theater company in the southern California region. I have been dying to work for them for years, and this was the first year that I actually got multiple callbacks for them and their season.

I learned a lot throughout the process, especially in mentally and physically preparing, and just really bringing your best self to auditions to do the best you can.

The Power of Mindset

Your mind is your MOST powerful tool in preparing yourself for auditions and other high pressure situations. If you are mentally strong, positive, and focused, you will succeed. If you are unfocused and mentally weak, your chances of success become slimmer and slimmer.

In the three callbacks I did with this professional theatre, I went through quite a mental journey, and I want to share what I learned that will hopefully help you too!

The first callback of the season that I went to was for a show called “The Producers,” which if you’ve ever seen it, you know it’s hysterical. I was excited to go into the callback and dance because I knew it was going to be probably tap or jazz, which are two of my favorite styles of dance. And so I prepared those dance styles.

It should be noted that, just the way I am, I went into this callback being like, “I’m booking the show. I’m going to get it. I’m so excited. I can’t wait. I’ve been waiting to work at this theater and it’s going to happen in this callback. I’m stoked!” Which, for the record is a great attitude to have!

You should go into every scenario, every interview, every audition, every EVERYTHING with the mindset and the expectation that you’re going to nail it. 

So that was my mindset… and then I walked in the door of this callback and I looked around at all the people that were around me, and I let that monster of doubt, fear and anxiety creep into my mindset. And as a result, I did not do my best. Because as soon as you doubt yourself, your personal power starts to slip, and this lack of belief in yourself is visible to those around you, too!

Anyways, I learned a lot from that first callback, specifically that you need to go into every scenario incredibly confident and mentally strong and focused. And so before the second callback, I actually had some help from a fellow coaching friend of mine who specializes in breaking down limiting beliefs and taking back control of your life, and she’s awesome. Her name is Janie Sterling. I was on a Skype call the morning of the second callback of the season and she did this exercise with me that was incredible.

I’m going to share some of it now, it’s fully attributed to Janie, and she said:

“Okay Alyssa, when you show up for this callback, of all the different versions of Alyssa that there are, who is the version that needs to show up in this callback? What does she look like? How would you describe her? Tell me the details.” 

And so I said, “Well, that version of Alyssa is very confident and incredibly prepared. She knows that she’s been here before and that she can do this.” (One of the things I tell myself a lot before auditions is to, “Act like you’ve been there before,” because you have in most cases, you have, and you just need to remind yourself of that!)

So I shared that with her. I also said that this version of me “needs to perform not just well, but above and beyond.” She needs to shine, to be her most sparkly self because it’s not enough to just be good – you have to be great and you have to stand out and you have to show the casting team or whoever it is that you have that special something. That’s always been my mindset.

And I said, “And when I finish, I want to walk away knowing that I nailed it.” I don’t want to have any doubt that I didn’t do my best because I learned that from the first one. And I don’t want to repeat that feeling. I want to grow from my experiences.

And so she said, “Okay, so here’s what I heard. Let me repeat it back to you.” She basically came up with a mini mantra for me that touched on all the things that I wanted to emulate in my callback to be my best, most confident version of myself. And so I took that mantra and I repeated it over and over and over again. As I was getting ready, on my drive up to the callback, and in my head as I was learning the dance routine – I repeated it to myself. And it really worked!

Get Focused on Your Goals

This idea of mentally priming yourself and getting incredibly, incredibly specific about what you want to achieve is so important. Because if you go into any endeavor with an unfocused mind, you’re going to get unfocused results, and results that are not what you want.

So I used that technique and it worked great. And I walked out of that callback, literally thinking, “I nailed it, I nailed that. I did exactly what I wanted to do.” So regardless of the outcome, I felt like I had succeeded, which is really one of the biggest, I think, discoveries that you can make in life for yourself.

If you set a goal and you hit that goal, nothing else matters. That was what happened during the second callback. It was – in my mind and in my experience – a smashing success because I did EXACTLY what I wanted to, even though I didn’t get cast in the show.

So I knew that going into the third callback of the season that I had to repeat what I had learned from callback 2 and then some. So that was my goal for callback 3, and there was really this sense of calmness going into that callback because I had been here before. I had gone through this process.

Anything that’s new is always a little scary until you DO it, and until you’re familiar with it, then it gets less scary. Going into callback 3, that was my mindset. I was thinking, “Cool, I’ve done this before. I’m going to do the same thing again. I’m going to nail it.” So I came up with a slightly different mental mantra for myself going into callback 3 that was more applicable to that show and the requirements of the role that I was going for, and I did the same thing.

I came up with my mantra and I repeated it mentally and out loud to myself as I was preparing and as I was driving up there. And again, I felt totally, totally ready. I went in knowing that the other two callback experiences I had prepared me for this and I was ready to just totally rock it. And I did.

More so, not only did it go well and I did what I wanted to do, but I had the best time. It was just such a wonderful experience. And that was what I realized what was different going into that callback experience was: I was excited to just do what I love, which is to perform. Whether it’s in a show, at a callback, at an audition, in any sort of performance, that’s what I love to do.

And so I had a different mindset approach to callback 3 that was more focused on: just do what you love. Just have fun and know how lucky you are that you get to do this. Know how lucky you are that you get to do the thing that you’re passionate about as a career, as something that you can get paid for and make a part of your life because not everybody gets to do that.

So that was how I went into callback 3. Again, I didn’t get cast, but I learned so much and I am more excited than ever to go back and repeat the whole process next year for their next year season! And I feel so grateful for the whole experience.

The Law of Attraction – In Action

Now, that I’ve had some time to think about that whole process, I realized that basically what I was doing as I was preparing for these callbacks was enacting the power of a positive mindset – the power of the Law of Attraction.

You have probably heard of the Law of Attraction. Maybe you know what it is, or maybe you’ve heard of it and you’re like, “I have no idea what it is. It’s just fluffy thing. Meditation and mindfulness, whatever. The Secret. I don’t know.” (That’s certainly how I used to be!)

The principles of the Law of Attraction are very simple, but they are very effective. And just to relay in broad strokes what the Law of Attraction is: it’s that you will become, you will manifest, you will make your reality whatever you think about and feel and focus on the majority of the time.

If you’re constantly thinking about negative things and if you’re living your life in fear of all that could go wrong … then that’s what will happen. We have a tendency (as women) to envision the worst thing that could happen so that we can be prepared for it. And while this may be helpful, it’s honestly more damaging than we realize because it’s putting even the thought and the expectation of a negative outcome in our mind.

And so this is something that the Law of Attraction teaches. If you want something to happen, something positive in your life, think about that thing. Do NOT think about the thing that you DON’T want to happen, because whatever you think about is what will become your reality.

Your thoughts are so powerful. Your thoughts inform your feelings, inform your actions, inform your mood, inform literally everything! If you find that you are consistently filling your head with negative thoughts, you’re going to have a negative life. And maybe not negative in the sense that everything is terrible, but if you’re not taking that step to make sure that your thoughts are consistently positive, then you can’t expect for your life to be this beautiful, magical, wonderful thing.

And maybe you haven’t even let yourself imagine that beautiful, magical, wonderful life for yourself and what that looks like! That’s step one. Know that it matters what you think about all the time and the thoughts that you choose to place in your head. If you tell yourself, “I am confident, I’m sparkly, I’m ready, I’m above and beyond, I nailed this,” (which was my mantra for audition number two or callback 2!), that’s what’s going to happen.

Conversely, if you allow any seed of doubt to creep into your head, and you think, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be here…” then you’re not. Because you just talked yourself out of it. Game over! And that’s what happened to me at callback 1. So you see how this is all coming full circle!

How to Use the Law of Attraction Regularly

To start enacting the Law of Attraction in your life, the first step is just to start to tune into the things that you think on a daily basis. Take note of your daily mental dialogue. Start to become aware of the thoughts that consistently live in your head and how you talk to yourself throughout the day.

Because once you realize the thoughts that are usually in your mind, you’ll start to make connections as to maybe why things in your life aren’t happening the way that you want them to, or why a goal that you have is just not happening for you.  Because you’re not fully believing in yourself and expecting it to happen, talking about it all the time!

And I have seen this firsthand so much in the last several weeks. If you approach your days with positivity, from the very beginning when you get out of bed – if you make your gratitude list, you write down your goals, you come from a place of service and think, “How can I serve others today? What can I do to make other people happier, more fulfilled, just better people?” If you start your day that way, and you create that positive energy inside yourself, and you put it out there – it will come back to you in spades. Whether that’s before an audition or callback or an interview or just in daily life, I encourage you to start thinking about that and to start tuning into the power of your thoughts. Be positive, and put that positive energy out into the universe because it will do nothing, but good things for you. And that is a promise!