I am well accomplished at comparing myself to others, both as the inferior and the superior one. Most often, I come out as the inferior, especially when it comes to voiceover.
It’s easy to forget that famous and successful voiceover actors didn’t start that way. Instead, it’s very easy to focus on how Other voiceover actors have years and years of real experience, and I’ve only been dabbling since I was a kid. Other voiceover actors live in California, New York, or Fort Worth, and I live in the midwest. Other voiceover actors have agents! Other voiceover actors studied acting at a University and have a degree in TV/Radio-not so for me! Other voiceover actors have been working in VO since the 80s, when I was BORN! OTHER people have been to dozens of VO workshops, and I’ve only ever taken acting and voice lessons, and learned VO by doing. Other voiceover actors have hundreds of Twitter and Facebook followers, and I barely have any. Sometimes, I can’t even give away the audiobooks I’ve narrated because nobody knows who I am!
When I look at it that way, I might as well sell off my recording equipment, reclaim my recording space as a craft room, and forget all about it!
Instead, if I’m going to compare, I try to compare myself now to the me of before.
Before, I hadn’t ever recorded a single audiobook. Now I have several to my credit, and more in the works. Before, I’d never taken an acting class, but now I’ve taken many. Before, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and voiceover was just a hobby I did because my dad owned an advertising business, but now I’ve realized that it makes me happy, and I want it to be my career. Before, I didn’t even own a microphone, but now I can record and master entire projects by myself.
I recommend the same comparison method to everyone. Even if all you have is a newly kindled spark of interest in the world of Voiceover, that’s more than you had before, when it wasn’t even on your radar! Doing the right kind of comparing takes effort, but it’s a skill worth mastering so that you don’t end up chucking in the towel before you’ve even had a proper try. Get out there and be better than yourself!