Did you watch ‘Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story’ last night?  If you didn’t you can catch it again tomorrow night on BBC4 at 11pm.  I happen to love him as a performer but even if you don’t his story is an inspiration to anyone who sometimes feels like giving up (that’s all of us isn’t it?).   Essentially his story is that he tried to ‘make it’ as a performer for TEN years before he got anything like a decent audience or a good review.  TEN years of playing to an empty house, of losing money, of being heckled.   It’s not just the length of his persistence that is inspiring; it’s what he did during those years that guaranteed his success in the long run.

His now ‘Rock Star’ status is down to a few things that are remarkable and have instant application to your business.

1     After every gig he made copious notes about the audience reaction to his material; he noted what they laughed at (often just once in the whole performance) and what they didn’t laugh at, when they heckled and when they applauded (not very often it seems!).  He put his performance and his material under the microscope and analysed what worked and what didn’t.  That takes courage.  Do you do that?

2     He believed he could be a successful performer.  “You have to believe you can do something before you can do it”, he says.   “Even if everyone else thinks you are mad”; which they did.  He always believed in spite of overwhelming evidence that he would not make it.  Do you believe?

3    He understood the concepts of marketing.  He learned how to attract audiences when he worked as a street performer; learned that you need to stand out and do something – anything- to get attention and get in front of his audience.

4    He took risks and action.  He booked venues, applied for roles before he was ready and got ready; he came out as a transvestite just as his career was taking off.  What risks are you taking to push yourself out of your comfort zone?

5   He just kept going; looked failure in the eye, learned and tried again.  He never gave up.

And he keeps learning, growing and challenging himself.  Do you?