5 Ways to Stop Being a People Pleaser

Be informed

Knowing what you are talking about will stop you from being a people pleaser. In fact, if you are really well informed, you will find people trying to please you. As Barrack Obama recently said regarding Donald Trump “It’s not cool to not know what you are talking about.” Read, listen, learn.

Have an opinion

A great way to stop being a people pleaser is to have your own opinions. Walking into an audition room, a rehearsal room, or onto a set can be daunting. Trusting yourself to have an opinion about the work you are creating will stop you feeling like you need to support other people’s opinions to please them. If your opinions align with the people you are working with, great! If they don’t, well, that will probably help the work too.

 

Do it for yourself

You are an actor. That’s your choice. You don’t have to justify it to anyone. If you are fortunate enough to be invited to audition or to play a role, do it for yourself. Know what you want from the experience, and go after it. If you are acting to fulfil the hopes and dreams of someone else, you’re not doing it right.

Value yourself

It’s a little cliché, but it’s really important to value yourself. Regardless of the scale of the project you are working on, you deserve to be there. You are important. Don’t let other people get comfortable disrespecting you. Respect and value yourself.

Create work

Creating work for yourself will stop you trying to please people in some ways, but there are risks. If you are creating work for yourself make sure you repeat the other steps to yourself daily, hourly, in every moment. If you are producing work for yourself that is informed, opinionated, self assured and confident you can’t go wrong.