How to Achieve Success

Recently my face appeared on a poster with Leonardo DiCaprio(I'm on his left)  for the new Martin Scorsese film called the Wolf of Wall Street. A friend of mine saw this and asked me how he he could get into movies and I responded with this:

Marc Cosentino Routine Patrol Author on Left Arresting Leonardo Di Carprio

 JUST SHOW UP! What does this mean? It means get out there and do something to accomplish your goal. I grew up in Brooklyn  New York with nothing and I mean nothing as far as material possessions go so maybe it was an advantage of a sort. Not to belabor the point but mom worked 2-3 jobs, dad was with another family,we were hungry most of the time and so on but one thing we always had was hope and the will to go on. Our imaginations, creating ideas, plotting and planning the next idea is what drove us. Everybody has this to some degree or they wouldn't get up in the morning, but the guys and girls I see succeed make an art of it.The ones that make it to the top know that no matter what may come as as long as they breathe, there will always be another shot. No matter how many times they fail there will always be another chance to succeed. You know the names of so many but have you ever looked at what they actually did to win? People like: Edison, Hershey, Paul Revere, Jobs, Trump, Pacino, Davinci, Helen Keller, L.Ron Hubbard, Lincoln, Dylan, Bear Bryant, DiMaggio, The Beatles and so many more have overcome a lot and persisted through the obstacles and hurdles regardless of how impossible it seemed to attain the goal. As I write this I realize I am encouraging myself in my new venture as much as my friends who may be hitting the wall or waiting for a spark to jump into the next attempt at a personal goal. It has nothing to do with your current position, status, wealth or even your raw ability, it has everything to do with showing up to the game. What does that mean? It means this is your life so you have to come and play. To break it down even simpler and borrow a popular phrase from the lottery " you gotta be in it to win it". How does this relate to your immediate situation? This depends of course on who you are and what you like or want to achieve but the basic idea can apply to anyone in any endeavor. Talk is cheep so here are some of my favorite examples.
  My friend Bob was a detective and artist in NYC and asked his boss if he could use a closet in the station house as an office. His commander thought he was nuts but indulged him(which translates to encourage) to guys like us. The space was so small he had to turn his desk sideways to put it in the the new "office" and then climb over the desk to squeeze into his chair. Bob then put up sign on over the door to his office which read "Art Detective NYPD". There was the usual jokes and ribbing as any cop would expect but his interest and desire soon had him investigating art crimes at the most famous art museum in the world, The Louvre in Paris France and later got his photo on the cover of GQ magazine as the ART COP. This man was passionate and dedicated to helping people, which is how I met him and we became instant friends. He didn't worry about what people thought or if it was the acceptable thing to do, he did what he knew was right and I admire that most about him and miss his joyful smile. You can read more of him in this New York Times article.

My brother Scot decided one day that we would " open a pizzeria and make the best pizza". Coming from New York City the home of the best pizza in the world and wanting to do it in Staten Island New York of all places, which is home to largest Italian-American Population in America made this an even crazier idea. Not to mention that we had no experience in the industry and were surrounded by incredible mom and pop pizza places(no national chain could ever compete a local family run place for quality and freshness by the way). His pizza plan was the essence of simplicity and having once laughed at him back in the 70's when he returned after a jog with an epiphany and came to me all excited with the idea to "bottle water and sell it because you can't find get a drink of water while running".  As you know his idea became a billion dollar industry several years later so I decided maybe he knows something I don't. His best pizza idea which I backed fully this time soon became the Industry leading Goodfella's Brick Oven Pizza and wouldn't you know he actually one the "World's best Pizza" in several International contests.
 Now for an example, I learned from my 10-year-old daughter Lily. Her best friend was doing gymnastics and convinced her to take classes with her. Lily was a year or two behind the classes but determined to catch up and learn how to do the running flip in the air without touching the ground. Every day, all day long, she would watch YouTube videos and practice the steps leading to the running flip or whatever it is called. "Daddy, can you hold my legs?" Daddy, can you help me bend backward and hold me up? Daddy, can you watch me? Rain or shine she would practice. Day in and day out. With her friends or alone. Then one day she asked me to watch her on the front lawn. She ran as fast as she could, jumped and crashed into the ground. I was running towards her when she picked herself up, smiled and said: "stay there I am going to try it again OK?" Man, I was proud of her and waited as she went back to her starting place and began running, put her down as she ran and kicked her legs in an arch up over head and landed on her feet. Wow! I was impressed and realized what an accomplishment this was for her after months of working towards it.
  As for myself; I remember wanting to be on a TV show called NYPD BLUE as a young actor(since I thought I was perfect for a role as a former police officer from New York). I had auditioned in New York and was told it was good and we can use you but as the season started progressing the encouragement became " maybe next year, we have a stable of actors her, only so many roles, your in New York...) depression hit me hard for a minute with my hopes dashed so I made a decision to SHOW UP! I went home packed my bag after buying a one-way ticket to Hollywood and told my new wife " I am going to Hollywood and I'm not coming back till I get on this show". Well, I showed up there, announced myself, got to meet Bill Clark the technical adviser (a former NYC detective) who after a few days reluctantly said: " you got an audition it's not as easy as it looks and there is nothing I can do for you once you're  in there". That was all I needed to hear, I read for the part, the casting director asked: " you did this before?" I said yes and 10 days later I was a co-star on the top TV show acting with my hero Dennis Franz from Hill Street Blues. I returned to New York in triumph.
   Any of these examples could have resulted in failure and there were many failures on the way, so what? The point of all this is try, keep trying, get in there, give it a shot and keep giving it a shot, refining it, practicing, regrouping, trying new approaches and knowing that you are in the arena. Those of you who give it your all will always be able to hold your head high and look the men and women who have done the same in the eye with pride and honor regardless of your current position in the game. All who watch you struggle will admire your attempt regardless of what they say.  Only you can determine how far you will rise and I will always respect those of you in the Arena. Best wishes, Marc Cosentino