How to succeed even if you're not the best, part 5

5 I know comedians who have flown into the town that they were performing in, didn't like the hotel or apartment that they were put up in, so they left. The club was stuck without a comedian for the night. The comic left because he could. He had another income – his wife.

My tips this week are on how to succeed even if you're not the top player in your profession, and today my tip is. . . if you want to succeed, even though you aren't the best, do not rely on anyone else. I think much of my success has come from being the only one to pay my mortgage and other bills. I didn't have the luxury of leaving if I didn't like something. . . instead I had to figure out how to work with it. Many times, this pushed me – I didn't like living in comedy condos with other comics, I didn't like doing bar gigs in front of drunk people. And while I absolutely loved comedy clubs, I didn't like working all my weekends and being gone all the time.

I had to find another way to do stand up comedy AND pay my bills. This pushed me to get better with my act and to find other places to do it. . . like the corporate market. If you are going to get good at something, anything, do not rely on someone else's help along the way, even for a little while. It's easy to say "I will only use my wife's income for 3 months while I get on my feet," but it's easy for 3 months to turn into 6 months, and then into a year. And before you know it, you're not finding ways to work around the things you don't like – you're just quitting on the hard stuff. And you'll never get better or get ahead by doing that. There are comics who are funnier than me but not farther than me because they didn't have to push themselves.

ACTION:  Check out my website www.TheWorkLady.com and see my comedy shows and keynotes for corporate clients.

That's it for today. Take care and enjoy your journey.