Be Average

Sir Donald Bradman. 

For those of you listening from overseas

Or for anyone who may not be

As in love with cricket as I am,

(Which I assume is most regular people…)

Don Bradman or “The Don” 

Stands out as one of the most important 

Figures in Australian sporting folklore.

Why?

The number 99.94—

His batting average. 

Right. 

Now that I’ve lost half my listeners,

If you’ve stuck around so far, congratulations. 

I use this example because 

It’s best to illustrate my point.

Bradman’s average…

As in the average amount of runs he scored

Every time he walked out to bat,  

Was so fucking high, 

He is considered to be 

One of, if not the most successful 

Athletes in history,

Across all sports.

For some context; 

The next highest batting average 

In the modern game of cricket

With bigger bats, 

Better training,

Better equipment, 

Proper nutrition and sports science

To develop skills blah blah blah…

The next highest is 58. 

And this was achieved by a 

Once in a lifetime

Generational talent. 

But Bradman’s average

Is higher still by nearly 42 runs— 

And he was batting during the Depression era

With essentially a stick

In the shape of a bat. 

But what the hell does this have to do with 

Acting and your career?

Well…

Over the past 15 years

I’ve had loads of off days and nights. 

Times when I just felt like 

My acting was just shit. 

Like the work that I was giving

Was not where I wanted it to be. 

And this might be due to any number of reasons.

The day I was meant to shoot that big scene 

Or had a double-show day and 

I’d slept terribly and felt completely

Unable to give the work I wanted. 

I was rushing on the way to the audition

And didn’t prepare well enough, etc. 

And that’s okay…

That’s normal. 

I’m not a robot. 

Shit happens. 

But what I’ve noticed about the actors I admire— 

The ones I consider leaders in our industry, 

Is that they don’t have these “off nights”. 

I mean, they do. 

Of course they do. 

But their work is of such a high standard 

That it’s almost imperceptible to others. 

Case in point: 

I worked on a show last year. 

Worked with an actor who 

I consider quite brilliant. 

And one night, 

Stepping off stage, he said

“I didn’t really feel it…

I was a bit all over the place, 

Bit of an average show”

He felt it was an average performance.

But what I witnessed that evening,

Was a masterclass in acting. 

And I think to myself, 

So you’re telling me

That you can technically give brilliant work

Even when you’re not feeling it?

That “average” can be that good?

Well, blow me down…

That’s certainly something to aspire to.

Because his average work was so good

That I couldn’t tell the difference

Between an “off day” 

And an award-winning night out at the theatre. 

What’s the point here?

***

Raise. Your. Average. 

Make your average work so good,

That even on your worst day

You’re still able to deliver high-quality work. 

How?

By getting runs on the board. 

By doing and reviewing.

Consistently.

Two steps:

Practice outside of your comfort zone

And then review your work.

Ask:

What is working?

What can you improve upon?

But the key to all this is:

Do it — outside your comfort zone. 

This is relative. 

Everyone will differ. 

It might mean going to class, 

Working with a coach,

Working with groups of friends

Standing on the corner outside the cafe, singing into the ether,

Or trying something new in your next opportunity

It’s a choose-your-own-adventure for how to practice

Outside your comfort zone. 

Maybe learning a monologue

And doing it to your partner is enough… 

But the point is, 

You have to be specific about

What area you’re training

And you have to be specific about

How you review your work. 

To raise your average—

Target specific areas and focus on

 Skill development.

There are literally hundreds of books you could read,

A thousand courses you could take 

A million areas you could look at. 

If it were me… I’d keep it simple. 

Focus on one of these four areas:

One: Comprehension.

Are you understanding what is happening in a scene, literally?

Are you understanding what’s really happening in a scene —

Sub-textually?

Two: Emotional connection and vulnerability. 

Practising these cornerstones of being human.

Three: Acting technique

The ability to be heard at the back of the theatre

Or breathe naturally as yourself in a close-up. 

Four: Delivering when it counts.

What’s your process for delivering your work

When the chips are down, and pressure is on?

Four areas.

Pretty simple. 

Do you have systems in place 

That allow you to

Practice these four areas

Consistently?

If not— 

There’s never a better time to start. 

***

Now. 

Having a high average

Doesn’t just extend to acting. 

Consider these two life scenarios as an actor. 

One: 

Would you rather grind it out?

Every day… Just grind and grind and grind

Work HARD and slug it out with 

Blood, sweat and tears, 

Just bleeding yourself dry for your craft. 

And FINALLY

After all that pain and effort

You finally book a supporting role on a Netflix series.

All that effort, all that pain, and you’ve got your shoot date

And then you get to go to set and meet all 

The other amazing humans you get to work with them

And then you shoot and it’s so fun—

The best day of your life,

And then—

… In a flash, it’s all over. 

And you realise - you have to go back to regular life. 

This amazing, fleeting chance 

That tasted so sweet must end so quickly. 

And now you're back… 

Back to the grind. 

And the dread sinks in… 

The dread that the process must start all over again. 

And the grind begins once more.

Or

Two:

You follow what brings you joy. 

You build a life around what gives you energy.

And look… 

Wow

A supporting role in a Netflix series pops up 

And it’s just the cherry on top. 

You go in, deliver some fucking awesome work

And the next day, 

You’re actually happy to get back to your average day. 

You’re straight back into your flow. 

Because to be honest…

Nothing beats it. 

***

I bring this up because

I was having a beer late last year with a friend 

And as we sat at the pub discussing 

The reality of life as an actor with kids.

I have two little rascals—

And his partner was, at the time, due to give birth

 To their second.

We talked about the importance of 

Being average. 

More specifically, 

An average day in the life

And what that looked like. 

We swapped notes on how

We’d made a huge effort to build

An average life. 

And this may sound strange, 

But when we talk about quality of life, 

The best measure, 

Isn’t looking at the highs and lows…

The brilliant days we spend on set

Or heartbreaking moments when

We cry in an accountant’s filing cupboard because we 

Can’t stand the life we’re living…

(True story… this was me a few years back) 

It’s not the extremes.

It’s the average day. 

For example—

On paper, 

My 2025 sounds like an incredible year. 

I filmed a TV series

Was in a feature film,

Was in a show at Sydney Theatre Company… albeit briefly. 

I shot a short film in December. 

I shot an ad,

I even wrote a pilot TV series

And pitched it to a production company. 

When I say all that out loud

And read it back,

That sounds fucking amazing…

And honestly, 

I’m really proud of those things. 

But if I add up the total days that I spent working

Either on set, 

Or in a rehearsal room 

Or on stage

Being paid to be there—

It doesn’t actually add up to that much. 

And that the vast majority of the year, 

At least 80% 

Was spent left to my own devices…

Therefore zooming out and looking at

The day-to-day, 

Is far more important

Than measuring a year by

The “wins” and “losses”,

The highs or lows alone. 

So.

Build your average life—

The day-to-day,

 the week to week,

The month-to-month.

 Make it so good, 

That even the best day

Doesn’t eclipse your average.

And allow space for the opportunity. 

Your career will follow. 

***

But practically — how do we do this?

I’m glad you asked.

I haven’t made New Year’s resolutions in ages.

They don’t work for me. 

For example: 

I’m going to stop eating chocolate. 

I’ll do a practice tape every week. 

Sign up at the gym and go three times a week. 

Etc. 

I’ve done this so many times. 

The goals. 

If you’re anything like me,

The motivation to start fresh

Lasts for about a month or two. 

Then I found myself

Slipping back into old habits. 

Old ways of being. 

Lacking any form of discipline to carry on 

Some grandiose new version of myself

That I might conjure up. 

But I do see each new year

As an opportunity 

To start with a clean slate.

To reflect on the year gone by

And prepare for the year ahead. 

Here’s the method I stole  for doing this:

Grab a fresh sheet of paper and

Draw a line down the middle

Creating two columns. 

Label column “energy up”

And the other side, “energy down”.

Go through your previous year’s calendar. 

The acting opportunities

The meetings

The friend catch-ups

Practice sessions,

The coaching sessions

Going to the beach, 

The nature trips, 

Banjo lessons

Whatever… 

Go through your entire year 

And remembering each event, 

Add it to the corresponding column. 

If the event gave you energy 

Add it to the “energy up” column.

If you feel like the event drained your energy, 

Or made you feel lousy,

Add it to the “energy down” column. 

Easy. 

Energy up, or energy down. 

No judgement… 

Just honest reflection,

Giving you some really clear data points. 

If you don’t keep a calendar,

You can also do this 

By going through the photographs on your phone. 

Once you’ve finished,

Look back over the two lists. 

Ask yourself:

What top 20% of the energising experiences

Gave me 80% of the life I want to lead?

Highlight them. 

Do more of this. 

Then…  

What is the bottom 20% of the de-energising experiences 

Took me 80% further away from the life I want to lead?

Highlight them. 

Do less of this. 

Do more of what gives energy

And less of what takes. 

You can make this process

More manageable by 

Give yourself a smaller timeframe. 

Do it each month or 

Do it each quarter. 

At times, I’ve done it day to day, 

With smaller events just to get 

Really clear data on what’s working 

And what’s not. 

Will there still be lots of shit times?

Of course there will! 

I just finished directing a show at a high school

Every time an actor didn’t show up to rehearsals

I thought to myself: 

“What the hell am I doing”?

“Why am I putting myself through this…!?”

The point is not to never have challenges,

But to endeavour to build the life

That allows you to do more of what you love,

Making you more able to deal with challenges, 

Weather them, 

Learn from them

… And grow.

Thereby, raising your average. 

***

To sum it up

You will go way further

By being consistent with a high average

Then you will

By being great sometimes…

So.

Spend little time raising your average. 

What does your average day look like?

Your average week?

Your average month?

What are you doing?

Who are you doing it with?

How are you spending 80% of your time?

What 20% can be spent 

Getting 1% better? 

Focus on finding joy in the process.

Finding reward in incremental growth, 

 Allowing your average to be

The best it can be. 

So when you look back,

You’ve spent more time doing the things you love— 

The things that move you incrementally closer

The life and career that you really want. 

Have fun out there.

Dx