How to start thinking like a successful artiste: Part 6 & goodbye Henry

Before today’s installment of the blog series which is further down the page, I can’t but help but talk about my friend Henry Besant whose memorial I went to this morning. He was a lovely, generous, compassionate man who died from a heart attack suddenly at 40. His memorial today was filled with hundreds, possibly over a thousand people, some of whom had flown to England to say goodbye.He set up bars which became the hottest places in London to go, won many best bar awards, then set up drinks and cocktail companies, became a ‘drinks guru” and then co created an award winning Olmeca Tequila tequila brand. He travelled, taught and was always laughing and full of kindness. When Henry was in a coma for the four weeks before he died, there were hundreds of messages across the world on Facebook willing him on, he was loved, always generous and kind hearted, a true bon viveur full of life and love for everyone.

His memorial today was probably the most glamorous one I will ever go to, the theme was Reservoir D,ogs with ladies in black lace and red lipstick. Those pictures I saw of the models going to Alexander McQueen’s funeral was exactly what I saw in every packed row of the church, the men looked super sharp, the women looked damn fine, I had managed to dig out matching shoes (I am still unpacking from my move) and realised I was dressed head to toe in a way I haven’t bothered in years unless I am on set, YSL Bag, Pierce Fionda outfit, Manolo shoes, it would have been ridiculous but for the occasion. He would have loved it, full of super social talented people with charm and wit to match, it was the kind of glamorous, open hearted event he helped create most nights in every bar across the world he was in, but I am sure he had no idea just how much he was loved by everyone. Today I saw old friends I hadn’t seen in years and was in tears although I can’t think the last time I saw him, possibly over a year ago at least. Tonight we will celebrate his life, short but hugely lived full of passion, food, wine, friends and sunsets across the world, not just in London but there are celebrations from Sweden, Mexico to Sydney as well.

So how does this relate to art and making it? Well Henry Besant made his mark on the world, the food and drinks industry and thousands of people all by coming from his heart. I think that we each have to fully be ourselves and let our lives, lights, passions and art shine out. This is how we change the world and make every room a better place when we walk in. When Henry walked in the room everyone was happier because he was so good at making you feel wonderful, his art of being a host nonpareil, ensuring your comfort, happiness and served with great food and alcohol was always dished up from his heart.

So I want you to go forth and smile at random strangers, give extra big hugs to all around you and really vow to come from the mindset that your art and your life is a precious thing and you have a duty to your very soul and the world around you to struggle against obstacles and win, create our art and get it seen, allow it to inspire, uplift and engage others whether it’s just a handful or thousands.

Back to the Series -Part 6 of Dream, create and make money in the arts
Ok so we have looked at events from festivals to ideas for making your own, online competitions to local open mic nights in the last four posts in this series. Now you have to pick one. Just one, yes you may be want to do three, or argue that if your film does not get accepted in one festival it may work in another. But we have to start with one.
Focus is all

Before we move on to the next stage of building and dreaming our dream this is the perfect stage to start talking about mindset.

I have done 2 podcast interviews yesterday, both with old friends of mine. The first podcast with Ken Collard who is a hugely successful working actor, he may not have ‘fame’, but he earns a good living from acting, rarely stops working and has a CV longer than both my arms and I have seriously long arms.
He argued magnificently that….

“The starting point is that it’s absolutely possible, there is no reason why, if you are half decent as an ….actor/artist/painter/musician, there is no reason why you cant get consistent work.”

His favourite quote is by Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President,  the lay organisation of Nichern Buddhists
“Press on, nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not, the world is full of educated derelicts. Perserverance and determination alone are omnipotent”

Then on to Podcast interview number two that I did today  with Ryan Lock the publicist, he also emphasises that you have to get your mindset right, that you have to make selling your art a priority and schedule it in like a day job, even if it is 3 hours a night 3 nights a week after work.
The first half section of his programme is all about mindset and tools to get your mindset so you can  successfully position and sell yourself as a brand
to quote from a recent blog of his http://beingyourownpublicist.com/home/8-ways-to-think-like-an-entrepreneur/

“Let go of limiting beliefs
“The way you think about yourself will affect everything that you do. The best strategies in the world are useless if your thinking is holding you back. Make a conscious decision to over come your limiting beliefs by identifying them and then choosing to tell yourself a different story. “It won’t work for me” becomes “I’m stepping into infinite possibilites and unlimited potential!”
Your mind is the most important think you can invest in”

So I want you today to look at the event possibilities that I know are swimming around in your creative brain after all the last few posts in this series and decide. Decide this is your time to step up to the plate and give your creativity the gift it deserves, your time and your focus Somehow you will move the obstacles out of the way and get this project moving forward inch by inch if necessary.
So pick one event and start to dream about what you may bring to the world and create for this event.

Note I am not asking you to create the work first, why? We will get onto that later, just follow me for a while (after seeing myself as the Pied Piper of Song at the weekend at the Southbank, now I feel I am leaving breadcrumbs of creativity in a trail.. guess I am using conflicting fairytale metaphors, apologies to the Grimm Brothers.  I did find this fantastic article on the history behind the Pied Piper story of Hamelin.