I Can Do It
I CAN DO IT
I can do it. Four little words we use individually, I dare say, dozens of times a day uttered throughout our speech as we engage in conversation. Combined as ordered above, they become a mantra for today. At the same time, the phrase harkens back to our toddling days where we fought for independence from parents or parental figures for the right to simply hold our own cup. Anywhere there are moms and preschoolers, dads and preschoolers, teachers and preschoolers…you’ll see the same dynamic, or perhaps more aptly put, the same fight playing out. We’re born with it. The innate desire runs deep…to carve out our own spot, develop our own style, reach our own star, and even to do it (whatever it may be) our own way.
Change the tone of “I can do it” from a strong, driving force with an emphasis on the “I” to a quiet, meek tone with a slight quiver or simple hesitation on the “do it”, and ladies and gentlemen, you have a completely different line. That line was the way I started last year - the one with the hesitation. You could almost hear the questions in the background, “Can I? Can I really do it?” This was my on again/off again theme for 2023. Can I be a voice actor? Can I really narrate audiobooks? Can I really become a voice talent who gets paid? While I will say the hesitation tone was definitely the theme for 2023, the strong, driving force tone wove its way in there like a silver thread in a piece of fabric. When it gets far enough in there, you begin to see it. It slowly starts to transform the piece adding the sparkle that gets it seen in a whole new light, as something finished…as something complete.
As I worked on everything…from my recording space to equipment to my business plan and as I auditioned and auditioned and auditioned, I thought I can do it…become a VoiceOver artist. The silver thread began moving into the weave of the fabric. Then I worked on platform profiles and social media posts and audio issues. The quiver came back. The silver thread backed out a little. It wasn’t woven in good, yet. Then I got more involved with other VO talent in some specific VO spaces and I fixed a few audio issues and I learned some stuff. The silver thread became more and more imbedded into the fabric. It wasn’t going to catch on any brief negativity and pull itself out now. It might get frayed and need mending or it might get out of line and need adjusting, but it was in there to stay now.
Sitting back in 2021 and 2022, thinking into the future and saying I could do that, I CAN do it became I am DOING IT in during 2023 and now 2024. There were quivers. There were hesitations. Even a couple “no way I can do that” snuck in. But as the silver thread of training and learning and coaching and recording and recording and recording and auditioning and auditioning and auditioning and consistency wove its way in, the stronger weave forced the imposter syndrome into the background and out the back door.
I can create a freelance business and make money. I can learn audio and deliver an audiobook that sells. Several in fact. I can do it. I CAN do it. I can DO it. I can do IT. I CAN DO IT. Not only I CAN DO IT, but I DID IT! Yes, I did with my cheerleaders by my side and a few more communities added to my posse. I DID IT. I’m an Audiobook Narrator. I am a VOICEOVER TALENT.
