I just re-watched Joan Rivers’ documentary, A Piece of Work, after a friend suggested that it would re-invigorate my book campaign as I reach the six month mark. Although I’ve been successfully coaching since 2002, this area of my business is new-ish and needs its flame fanned. If YOU need a flame fanned, Joan Rivers is your go-to person.
This woman NEVER stopped giving it her all. The film opens with Joan facing an empty calendar. Since she uses paper and pen to book in her dates, she took out sunglasses to cut the glare of the white pages to protect her eyes. “You want to see fear? This is fear!” I was laughing already.
Her attitude throughout the film was “say yes to everything.” We see her desperately filling her days – and I mean not just weekends, but several gigs a day – playing dives, hospitals, parties. Basically any institution that would pay her to come. At one absolute hole-in-the-wall she holds up the stool they gave her to sit on, shows it to the audience to reveal the duct tape holding the vinyl seat together. Everyone, including Joan, laughed. She just kept on going without judgment.
It wasn’t about the money as is clear from her palatial surroundings, chauffeured rides, and private jet flights to her venues. But for her, performing was survival. It’s the place she felt alive she said.
Eventually, as the months progress and we see the highs and lows, she begins to get “hot” again, particularly after winning (2009) Celebrity Apprentice.
Her philosophy – “If you want lightning to strike again, you have to stand out in the rain.”
That was the shot in the arm I needed this week to keep my energy high and to go looking for my umbrella and rain boots. Which I’ll need tomorrow, according to the weather report.
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