Podcast Summary: A VO's Journey with Anthony Pica

Episode 269: Chase Perfection, Catch Excellence
Date: May 16, 2024
Host: Anthony Pica

Episode Overview

In this episode, Anthony Pica explores a core principle for both voiceover artists and anyone chasing big goals: perfection is unattainable, but by striving for it, we can achieve excellence. Drawing from personal experience and reflective observations, Anthony shares insight into the challenges of pursuing a voiceover career, the mental hurdles of ambition, and the importance of perpetual movement toward higher objectives. The tone is candid, encouraging, and philosophical, aimed at inspiring listeners to keep striving, despite the impossibility of perfection.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Community Announcements and Updates

• Lead Academy Special: Anthony mentions a special promotion launching next week for A VO's Journey Lead Academy, offering a discounted first month to new members.
• Sound Certification: The Academy is introducing a new sound quality certification and badges, with the goal of standardizing best practices in the industry.
• Academy Voices Platform: Anthony highlights "Academy Voices," an online casting platform run by voice actors for voice actors, which continues to grow and focuses on careful vetting and community building.
  • “We vet every single voice actor and we work with them. So it's really cool.” (04:14)

2. The Main Theme: Chasing Perfection, Catching Excellence

• Perfection as a Moving Target: Anthony reflects on the common desire among voice actors to achieve perfection in every aspect of their work—auditions, jobs, demos, websites, and studios—but asserts that perfection is always out of reach.
  • “Perfection is not attainable. If we chase perfection, right, we can catch excellence.” (07:03)
• The Paralysis of Perfectionism: Striving for flawlessness often leads to inaction and discouragement; many give up when outcomes fall short of their perfect vision.
  • “We’re always trying to make everything perfect. And a lot of times, because we're trying to make those things perfect, we don't actually get anywhere.” (08:17)

3. Embracing Contradictions in Voiceover—and Life

• Voice acting, Anthony suggests, is full of contradictions (e.g., “be upbeat but serious”), and so is the pursuit of mastery. One must strive for what cannot be achieved, knowing that the effort itself elevates performance and progress.
  • “Voice acting is a series of contradictions…you’ll never reach ‘perfect,’ but you can always be excellent at the moment.” (10:40)

4. Redefining Success and Excellence

• Illustrative Example: Anthony uses a financial goal ($10,000/month) to illustrate expectations. Even falling short of a “perfect” number (e.g., $9,000) is a notable achievement and should be celebrated as excellence, not dismissed as failure.
  • “If you made $9,000 a month...That's excellent. That's amazing.” (12:53)

5. The Influence—and Betrayal—of Feelings

• Feelings vs. Reality: Anthony delves into the ways emotions (“my feelings betray me a lot”) can distort self-perception and overshadow actual accomplishments.
  • “The way I felt was that I did not succeed right the way I wanted to. But then when I looked at the numbers, the numbers showed absolutely a different scenario.” (14:40)
• Emotional Intelligence: He discusses how emotions can overpower logic, driving decisions and perceptions more than facts.

6. The Necessity of New Goals

• Once a major milestone is reached (like going full-time in VO), it’s natural—and necessary—to set the next target. Stagnation leads to aimlessness; growth comes through continually redefining “perfection.”
  • “If you ever reached your end goal, game over, it's time to pack it up and go. What's the point anymore?” (18:14)
  • “It wasn't… the end goal. That was not perfection. I had reached some form of excellence, right? But there was another goal.” (20:01)

7. The Value of Conflict and Movement

• Conflict as a Driver: Discomfort, struggle, and conflict are uncomfortable but crucial for progress.
• Momentum Matters: The episode returns to the recurring theme of “movement”—taking action, stumbling forward, and maintaining momentum, regardless of pace or obstacles.
  • “Everything is about moving forward. You have to move. You've got to do. You've got to take action.” (28:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Elusiveness of Perfection:
  “No one will ever be perfect, but the idea is that we have the courage enough to chase perfection—to chase the idea that we’re going to be as good as we can be.” (10:22)
• On Emotional Reality Distortion:
  “My feelings betray me a lot… The way I feel something is happening isn’t necessarily the way it is really happening.” (14:25)
• On Goal Setting and Life Purpose:
  “If you stop or if you've reached what you've wanted to accomplish, what is the point of us being on this earth anymore?” (24:28)
• Playful Moment About Perfection:
  “Wouldn’t it be funny if there was a paddle that pops up, be like—boop, you've hit perfection!” (11:36)
• On Continuous Progress:
  “You should always be working on something. You should always be continuing the process, continuing to grow, continuing to chase perfection.” (24:57)
• On Action vs. Overthinking:
  “Sometimes I wish I could just turn down [my feelings] a little bit… logically take the steps we know we need to take… Just do it. Move forward.” (27:18)
• Theme of Movement:
  “Even if it’s one little step at a time, you gotta keep going. Everything is about going, is about moving.” (29:05)

Important Segment Timestamps

• [04:14] – Academy Voices casting platform update & vetting process
• [07:03] – Introduction of main theme: Perfection vs. Excellence
• [08:17] – How the pursuit of perfection can cause inaction
• [10:22] – The courage to chase unattainable perfection
• [12:53] – Examples redefining “perfect” outcomes
• [14:25 - 15:40] – Feelings and their impact on perception of success
• [18:14] – The necessity of always having another goal
• [24:28 - 24:57] – Maintaining purpose through constant striving
• [27:18] – Turning down emotions to take logical action
• [29:05] – The importance of continual movement

Conclusion

Anthony’s message is woven throughout: don’t let the fantasy of “doing it perfectly” keep you from moving forward. Celebrate your excellence in the now, set bold new goals for the future, and recognize that movement—even imperfect, emotion-laden progress—is what keeps you growing, not just as a voice actor, but as a person.

Recommended for:
Anyone navigating the emotional highs and lows of solopreneurship, new and veteran voiceover artists, and listeners seeking realistic motivation for long-term creative or business pursuits.