How to Use Your Actor Mindset to Improve Your Finances
If you feel frustrated and pessimistic about your finances as an actor, you’re not alone. In the life of a freelance creative, it can be hard to imagine a life where money comes easily, or when big checks are coming in, and believing that you yourself can be a financial badass.
BUT…
That doesn’t mean you can’t create an income that supports you in doing what you love. Nor does that mean you can’t feel like a financial badass or be destined for a life of financial hardship.
We can be collectively frustrated at the hand we have been dealt as artists (and fight to change it), while simultaneously deciding that our personal experience with money gets to be one of excitement, expansion, and ease.
As an actor, your entire job is imagination. It’s about putting your mind into a place it’s never been before. It’s about preparing for the job (auditioning) before you get the job (booked and blessed).
You are already primed to do this because of the career path you chose, so why not use this imagination to improve your finances?
Using delusional thinking to your advantage is the first step.
We are all delusional to have the thought “I could get this” when going out for an audition or submitting a self-tape with thousands of others. It’s delusional to think, “I’m going to make it in this industry” with all the odds stacked against you.
It’s delusional because it’s not likely. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
Holding onto that possibility is what causes you to show up and take action. You submit the self-tape. You trek to the subway in the snow to go to the audition. You take time to construct an email to a potential agent. You invest in an acting coach to better your craft.
When you have the realistic thought of, “I’m probably not going to get this” or “It’s unlikely I’ll be able to make a career out of this,” you stop showing up. When you do, it’s half-assed.
Your thoughts precede your actions. Actions determine your results.
Having those delusional thoughts is the exact thing that ends up making those thoughts not delusional after all. They’re the reason you do eventually end up getting the role; they’re the reason you will end up a working actor.
Let’s apply this to your money to help you use this actor mindset to improve your finances.
Financial Wellness has 3 pillars:
1. Managing the money you currently have
2. Bringing in more money
3. Your money mindset
I want you to apply your actor imagination to what you desire in each of these categories. We’re going to start with the delusional thought, and then let that thought determine your action. Here are examples of how to do this with each of the three pillars:
1. Managing the Money You Currently Have
If you currently feel out of control with your money and avoid looking at your bank balances, a thought you could choose is, “I am an expert in my own finances, and managing my money feels effortless.”
With that thought in mind, what kind of action does that person take?
What are the education gaps you have that prevent you from feeling like an expert with your money? What resources can you search out to help fill those gaps? (Reading this article is a great start.)
What makes managing money feel hard? How can you remove any roadblocks? How can you make money feel fun? If budgeting isn’t working for you, what else can you try? (Here’s how to create a money plan with fluctuating income.)
What are the routines a person like this has? Start taking steps in this direction, and you’ll start to build tangible evidence for why this delusional money thought is actually true.
Soon enough, you will have a solid financial knowledge foundation, a habit of checking your accounts, and a system setup that lets you handle your money with ease.
2. Bringing in More Money
If you’re someone who feels like the only options for sustainable income alongside your acting career are restaurant work or going full-throttle entrepreneur, try a thought like, “There are so many jobs out there that I’m qualified for, pay well, and give me the flexibility I need. There’s something else out there for me.”
At first, your brain may fight your new delusional thought, which is normal. Use your brain’s objections to ask more questions.
What kinds of jobs could you be qualified for? What are all the ways you could find job openings (not just through LinkedIn)? Can you find other examples of actors who have or created jobs alongside their acting career that are flexible and pay well?
If you’re going to be an actor who gets an incredible new job, what does that person need to have? Brush up your résumé? Write out a dream job description? Have a dedicated amount of time set aside each week to work on this transition?
This one may feel the most similar to what you already do in auditions—you have your system for searching for opportunities, and you also have the thought, “I’m really good, and I could get this.”
3. Your Money Mindset
One of the most common money mindsets I’ve worked with actors on is, “I’ve just always been bad at money.” Or “I was never good at math, that’s why I’m an actor!” Or “I hate spreadsheets and I’m so disorganized, the money management thing will just always be hard for me.”
What if instead you had the delusional thought, “I’m a financial badass” or “I have a delicious relationship with money” or even “I am capable of figuring out this money stuff in a way that feels good to me.”
One of my favorites is, “I don’t have to become a different person to be good at money,” meaning you don’t have to love spreadsheets and budgeting to manage your money well.
Instead of resigning to the idea that you will always be bad at money, use your actor mindset to imagine a different reality where you’re actually super financially savvy. Live in that world. How does that person act? How do they think? Put that persona on for a while and see what you’re led to.
As an actor, you’ve already developed the imagination necessary to catapult you into a different world, and now you get to use that skill to improve your finances.
Your imagination is an asset in your financial wellness—use it.
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- Casting Director Sarah Alekna Talks Auditions, the Yin and Yang of Art and Commerce
Brooke Tyler Benson, Money Coach + AEA Actor, is the founder of Not Starving Artists. She is bringing financial education and empowerment to creatives to create a new generation of wealthy artists living lives of luxury and purpose (no budgeting or bi-weekly paycheck required). After graduating with a BFA in Acting, it became her mission to destroy the “starving artist” trope once and for all. She is your financial cheerleader, bringing you accessible money education and coaching specifically for creative freelancers and small business owners.
