Adversity Can Make Life More Interesting

Nicholas PollakOP-ED

[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak|remove link|no_popup[/img]If some days are hard and some easy, which is your favorite? Of course you would pick the easy ones.

Me? I would choose the difficult ones because they are the days when you learn something, how to deal with challenges, how to deal with yourself.

I worked in the television industry for quite a few years. It was a requirement to keep up with and understand the constantly changing new technologies.

You had to know how to use the equipment.

Most importantly, you needed to know what to do when the equipment broke down. That was the challenge. It was great that you knew what to do when everything was working as it should. Your skill was how to handle malfunctions. Speed is critical. Studio shoots may cost $5,000 a minute. You will have angry people when a technical glitch shuts down production to correct a problem.

It always concerned me when I was learning new equipment that you studied the basics of the equipment while everything was working. I wanted everything that could go wrong to do so during training. That way I could be 100 percent sure I knew how to fix everything.

With television equipment as with life, when everything is going well, it is easy to be complacent. For those who have experienced difficulties in life, you know overcoming those difficulties in the end made you a stronger person.

Living a life that is routine with everything running as it is supposed to is not really living. Merely existing. What makes our lives interesting are the times when things are not going according to plan and you have to think about what actions to take.

You Decide

I have an uncomplicated philosophy. I am looking to create success, happiness and prosperity in my life. You, dear readers, will want to decide your goals for yourselves. If my thoughts are not aimed in the directions of success, prosperity and happiness, I put them aside. When they are thoughts that contribute to my goals, I act on them. I have always had a clear idea of what constitutes my happiness, success and prosperity. For that reason, I have been able to accomplish what I wanted.

Each of us is where we are as a result of our decisions. Have they taken you where you want to be? If not, blame yourself. If they did, congratulate yourself.

What Was Your Strategy?

What created your success? How did you get there? All of you have gained the measure of success, happiness and prosperity you think you deserve. It is tied directly into your self-confidence and self-esteem.

When we believe in ourselves and visualize strongly what we want, when we know what work is required to gain what we want, when we make a plan and work it, success is guaranteed. The road is not easy. The way you deal with ups and downs and keep your eye on your objective will determine whether you get what you want.

Remember those who are the most successful go out of their way to help others — and they remain humble while doing so. I have an actor client who suffers panic attacks before auditions and every time the director calls “action.” After just two sessions, his panic and anxiety became a thing of the past. A good actor with many credits, he is humble and also has a great interest in people he meets.

He makes perfect eye contact. He talks in a way that makes you believe you are the most important person to him. He makes you want to help him. He knows he wants to help you, and he will. This is a rarity.

His strategy, from the book “The One-Minute Salesperson,” by Spencer Johnson, is:

“I have more financial success, more fun when I think less of what I want and more of how to give others what they want.”

He has discovered that before any audition or take, he spends one minute thinking what the person auditioning or directing wants. Then he gives them that, putting aside his own concerns.

To make this clearer: If you are a car salesman $500 short on making this month’s rent payment, chances are when you try to make a sale you would be thinking more of how to get the client to buy something that will give you the $500 you need to live.

You are not doing your client a service, and he will notice. Chances of your sale may vanish. If, however, you approach the customer from the standpoint of his needs, what he can afford, the likelihood of a sale will zoom.

Each of us is able to attain success, happiness and prosperity. To work for it we must know what it is we want and follow the steps.

It is crucial to visualize yourself as having gained what you want. Live it and breathe it. Act as if you already have it. And soon you will.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net