We all have our different mantras, rituals, habits, and personality traits – and all of these factors may or may not have an impact on how successful we are in our careers. What we DO know is that positive thinking works, and as actors, the energy you put out into the world has an impact on your career satisfaction! And career satisfaction is a sensitive little thing that could make or break your momentum. You know we’re big believers in routine positive thinking, and BACKSTAGE recently came out with an article detailing what qualities their experts saw in successful working actors. We’ve decided to compile our own list of traits and habits of successful actors… take a look!

Practice gratitude. Cannot stress this enough. When you are grateful for every opportunity, learning experience – no matter the outcome – you open the door to abundance.

Lift up others when possible. You get what you give! Surely there have been times when you needed a hand.

Know that you’re the only one who can define your success. Don’t let the expectations of others cloud your vision and disrupt your momentum. Just focus on what YOU want to do.

Take a few risks. Do one thing every day out of your comfort zone. It may open your world up to so many possibilities and people!

Say “yes” more often. Maybe you’re not interested in unpaid work, or maybe you’re skittish about taking a chance on an independent project — but you never know what lies behind each opportunity. When you say ‘yes’ and do things out of love or pure interest, it opens you up to new experiences, new people, new connections, and all sorts of other positive possibilities.

Don’t make room for expectations. Expectation can set you back so much if you’re not careful. Let go, show up, do your best, and know that there is always something good to take away from a job. Don’t expect anything more. It creates unnecessary worry and animosity when things deviate from your plan.

Constantly revise and refine. Take classes, be open to new training, always work on your characters and roles. There’s no ONE right way to do things. If you’ve booked a role, keep developing your character, try new things to get a better understanding of who you’re portraying. As ideas evolve, characters get stronger!

Take time to re-calibrate. Your career is extremely important, but it’s not your entire life. You have other hobbies, passions, and aspects of your life to enjoy. If you put too much pressure on your career being the sole source of your happiness and satisfaction in life, you may be setting yourself up for hard times. If things don’t work out the way you expected or if things aren’t happening as quickly as you’d like, it will land you in a very unhappy place.

Always early, never on time. This is pretty much a given. Don’t be late. Ever.

Know your lines. Do your homework. Also an obvious one. Just be prepared and comfortably familiar. This is huge.

You make decisions for yourself. Period. Maybe you’re in a disagreement with your agent or your partner or friends about a certain role, or a movie you’re auditioning for. You can listen to the input from others, but remember that you’re the captain of your own ship. You’re in control. If you want to go out for something. do it. If you don’t – don’t. Always maintain true to yourself, no matter what.

Don’t compare yourself to anybody. Worry about YOU. Plain and simple. You can’t compare your success to anyone else’s because everybody’s trajectory is different. Everyone has different things to offer. If you are hard on yourself for not doing as well as your actress friend, or for not being as far along in your career as your other friend, it’s a huge disservice to everything you’ve accomplished.

Radiate positivity, no matter what. Agents and casting directors will be able to notice your disposition. Maybe you didn’t get the role, or your audition went badly – just remember it’s all a learning process. Make sure you’re always on the bright side of life! Science shows that it makes you more attractive, desirable, and magnetic.

Learn from your setbacks. If things don’t work out the way you want, sit back and reflect. Learn. Evolve. Go back out there and strive for greatness. That’s all you can do.

LOVE what you do. Every part of it. That’s the whole reason why you’re doing this, right? Always remember that! If there’s no love or joy, what’s the point? You’re pursuing a passion. Pursue it every single day. Be grateful for all the experiences you’ve had. It’s only going to get better.