Kay:
Hello, Mentorship Questers – and welcome to Episode 133! Today’s July 8th, and we have an awesome Shakespeare refrain for you. And, it comes from the speech called “All the World’s a Stage”, from As You Like It.
Shi:
And, one of the characters, Jacques, says, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.”
Kay:
Ooh, what a great quote from one of the original thought leaders out there!
Shi:
The OG quote machine!
Kay:
Quote machine, drama machine, and comedy machine…I mean, Shakespeare really helped to define entertainment!
Shi:
Totally! And actually, most of this refrain is done in Shakespeare’s very famous style of iambic pentameter – which is 10 syllables said in an “on again, off again” or “stressed and unstressed” emphasis. So, “They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts” is VERY Shakespeare!
Kay:
Well, regardless of the iambic pentameter of verses and playwrights, this quote is really relevant when it comes to our lives. Because, if you can think of the world as a stage, then you (as the player in your life), become kind of like the hero! You’re the main character of your own play, and the world is this stage. And, everyone has their own part to play – both in their play, and in yours!
Shi:
Well there’s like this grand stage of the overall narrative of the human race. And then there’s the stage of your county… There’s the stage of your country…There’s the stage of your school…and the world can be defined in SO many different ways – which means that the stage is basically endless. Certainly there’s even the internal stage, and your own internal world happening within as well! But, there’s so many different ways that we can look at this quote. And, as Kay and I were chatting about it beforehand, we were really looking at this through a few different lenses. And, one of those lenses that we thought of was our role as the marketing faculty for the John Maxwell Team. We like to say that any time your fingers are moving, or your mouth is open and talking, that you are a marketing…and this is kind of that same sentiment! Like, all the world’s a stage and you are presenting a role to everyone and anyone you meet at ALL times – including yourself and the way that you interact with the internal audience that you’ve got. So, there’s this marketing piece that was something we noticed right away!
Kay:
One of the reasons that your belief and value set is called your character, is because it defines who you are, and how you act out your life through your actions. And so, when people want to know what kind of a character a person is, they look at their actions, and they look at how they play. And, if that player is good at what they do, or they’re on top of things, they’re considered integrous characters. I mean…Hey – even if you are integrous about being the kind of person who doesn’t want to be on top of everything, as long as you own that part about yourself – I think we can see the next set of dimension come into this quote…
Shi:
Right? I love that character development piece, and thinking about how we develop our own character. And, if you think about a traditional play, you’re never like, “Well, that character is intending to make the right decision” or “intending to have the action”…The story is told by the actions that DO take place, and that do unfold in front of you on that stage – and the same goes for your life! And then, he brings in this dimension about the fact that, in your own play (where you’re the star of the show), you’ve got people who come in and out, and there’s not a lot of permanent characters in your own personal play. And, as your own star of your own show, you play a lot of different roles at a lot of different times….
Kay:
Chances are, you have a lot of different roles in your life right now, and you play a lot of different roles for a lot of different people. But, what’s also interesting about this sentiment, is that – if you’re a parent (for example) – you play the character as the parent to your kid, but you also play the reverse character of the child, to parents of your own. So, you can even see how that perspective can shift depending on who it is that’s witnessing! And, when we started asking that question, we thought to ourselves…What would it be like if you were your own audience member, and could you maybe find some introspection in this quote where Shakespeare says, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.”
Shi:
So, that brings us to our quest! And, today, we have a stage quest request for ya! SO – your quest today is to: Look at your life as a play from the objective stance of an audience member, and identify one thing that could change to make the show better, richer, or more engaging. Could the main character be more authentic? Does the set need to change? Are you not hearing enough from the supporting characters? What’s one adjustment to your play that you can make, that will help make your show even better?…Are you ready?
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
