Ep102 Transcript: Stop Making Excuses – Top Takeaways from Jay Donaldson

Is it time to stop making excuses and finally do the thing that you’ve always said you’ve wanted to do? That’s my top takeaway from Jay Donaldson in episode 101. He started standup comedy when he was 50. Tune in to my top takeaways from that episode.

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The big takeaway I got from Jay was that he had always wanted to do standup comedy, and he was just making these excuses that it was going to be too hard or it was going to have to work too hard, or he wasn’t even going to be good enough to do it. And he finally did it and loved it.

And the thing I like that he said in episode 101 was that it was finally time for him to just try it and then say if he really wanted to keep working at it or not. So it could be a decision rather than an excuse. And that’s an amazing way to go because then you have no regrets. You’ve done that thing that you said you wanted to do, you’ve tried it, and now you know.

One of the other things I really liked from his episode was talking about taking a class. And I think that is the perfect way to get started in anything, because it will help you get to where you want to go faster. You’re going to learn from an expert, you’re going to get some of the tips that you might not know until later. And you’re going to feel more confident when you do your activity. And that’s how I got started in standup.

That’s how I got started in improv comedy, and lots of other things that I am doing here. I started with a class and it’s amazing because now you are able to move faster at this time of your life and get better.

And the great thing about standup is there are lots of opportunities for people to just dip their toe in the water.

There’s open mics as a way to perform. You can even take it further by going into smaller shows. You can enter into festivals and you don’t have to commit to it like 40 hours a week in order to do it. A lot of times these open mics can be really supportive environments. I’ve found some amazing open mics here in the Denver area, and I know there’s open mics in all cities, of course, and just that community can be really supportive and helpful for growing as a comedian. And when you connect into that community just like Jay did, you’re going to be able to get more opportunities for possibly paid gigs or other gigs to help you grow even faster.

The other big takeaway is that you have so much time. Jay has 30 years or more to perform comedy and isn’t that amazing? To be able to have that length of time and go out there and use your art in a way that really fills you up. So go get started trying something that you’ve always wanted to try. Let’s leave the excuses behind. Let’s recognize when you are coming up with an excuse and get to the bottom of that excuse. Usually it’s just something that you’re afraid of that you just need to push past.

So if you want to try a standup, get out there and go to an open mic and give it a shot.

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