One of the biggest battles you face as an actor is your post audition mindset. 

You invest so much time, money and energy into preparing and executing the audition, but once it’s over you walk away without any answer, closure or clarity. 

That is hard, there’s no doubt about it. It triggers all kinds of emotions and beliefs; you would have to be a Jedi or a saint to be able to walk away in a state of contentment.

You can’t change the process, but you can change the way you see it and how you deal with it. A positive post-audition mindset practice will help you stay healthy and happy.

Put all, some or even just one of these exercises into practice after your next audition and see if it helps you keep perspective, retain your focus and feel good.

Don’t Reflect

One of the first things you probably do once you leave the room is think back over every detail, re-running it through your mind like a little mind-movie, right? 

Reflecting only feeds your anxiety and your ego. You can’t change anything that happened in the room, that’s how it was always meant to be, even if it didn’t go well. 

[easy-tweet tweet=””You can’t change it; what happened in the room was how it was always meant to be, even if it didn’t go well.” ” user=”JessopAmy” hashtags=”acting, mindset, auditions”]

What you need to do instead is ask yourself; did you achieve your intention? 

You should actually set this intention before you enter the room; it gives your mind something attainable to focus on and takes the pressure off. 

We’ll cover how to do that in another post, but maybe your intention was simply to meet a new Casting Director, or be heard by a certain Musical Director. 

The minute you start to feel that mind-movie roll, stop and ask yourself; 

“Did I achieve my intention?” 

If the answer is yes, then you did your job and everything else that happened in the room is irrelevant. 

Breathe in the feeling of fulfillment and let yourself celebrate achieving that intention. That is positive reinforcement and your body responds to this feel-good sensation.

Spend Your Time Well

The worst thing you can do after an audition is sit around and wait; don’t.

You put your life on hold and give your power away if you wait. 

Distraction and doing something that makes you happy is key. This is how you take the control back and stand in your actor power. 

Call a friend, grab a coffee, walk around the park, watch a film, read an inspiring book. 

Whatever it is you choose to do, make it personal and feel good.

Call In Your Tribe

A friend, family member, your partner or agent; whoever is going to give you some perspective; call them. 

This gives you the opportunity to chat it through, get it out and release some of your feelings about the process. It also lets you hear from someone you trust. 

Once the conversation has happened and you’ve got it out, breathe deeply, then choose to mentally and emotionally step away from it and move on.

Get Closure

To get closure on the process as quickly as you can, try simply throwing away everything that was linked to that process: sides, sheet music, details etc., Bin them or put them away in a cupboard, out of sight, and forget about them. 

The last thing you need is to be reminded of your audition by glancing over piles of papers, or emails. 

Getting rid of audition material also helps break the emotional link to the process. If you hold onto the material or keep emails in your inbox you are energetically keeping that link open and therefore keeping yourself open and emotionally vulnerable.

[easy-tweet tweet=””Getting rid of audition material breaks the emotional link to the process. Holding onto it makes you emotionally vulnerable.” ” user=”JessopAmy” hashtags=”acting, mindset, auditions”]

Practice Appreciation

One of the best ways to keep a handle on your post audition mindset is to practice appreciating everything that you do have around you.

Remember; the work is not the most important thing. 

Sometimes the smallest things to appreciate are the best; a cup of coffee, sleep, a cuddle, or food in your fridge.

See Rejection As A Gift

Shifting your mindset to reframe the way you see rejection is the biggest game-changer. 

It’s not failure, or you not being good enough; rejection is a gift. 

If you didn’t get a recall or an offer then the job wasn’t right for you right now. It’s a way of keeping you on the right path towards something else that is intended for you. 

Instead of seeing it as a failure, try to see rejection as a friend who is there to guide you towards the right things, people and experiences.