I went through a period last year where I was listening to a lot of podcasts on the Nerdist network. The stand-up comedians who often feature on various Nerdist podcasts will every so often talk about career progression and recognition in the world of stand-up.

A point that has been brought up in those podcasts which continues to resonate with me is to ‘just kill’ (write good material, perform it well, listen to the crowd’s feedback, make adjustments and get a better reaction next time). Forget about everything else. Forget about other stand-up comics who are becoming more well-known than you, whether you think they deserve it or not, whether you think it should be you instead of them. Forget all of it. Just kill. Keep killing, keep iterating, keep improving, and your stand-up material will speak for itself.

I spent the last few weeks building up an opportunity in my head, telling myself how right I was for it, and how right it was for me. This week I learnt that it wasn’t going to pan out. Needless to say, I am disappointed. It’s alright to feel disappointed, but what matters now is how I face this disappointment. I need to concentrate my focus now on one key goal: just kill.

There is no shortage of opportunities. They are always coming and going. The next time one comes my way it’s my responsibility to ensure that I am a better candidate then than I am now, and the way to do that is to just kill and let my work speak for itself.