All kidding aside, your personal integrity, your goals and finding out what you need and want from your career is no different than finding out what you need or want in any kind of relationship.

But the reverse it true, if you are striving to succeed you must also find out what is needed and wanted from the industry in order to achieve your goals. Read or re-read the article that I wrote for AWN called “Be True to You,” as it goes into even more detail about this.

Finally, as for ending off a job with no new prospects in sight — I will share a little story. My daughter Lucy is the light of my life and I consider myself privileged to be her mom. At sweet 16, she is not interested in voice overs at all. She has been dancing since she was four, and that was when I realized she was truly gifted. A couple years ago, some casting directors and a coupe of managers called me to express their interest in representing Lucy. They even expressed interest in her auditioning for a lead in a television pilot for Disney.

I presented this to Lucy and she looked at me, gave it a little thought and said, “Mommy, will there be more auditions for me if I don’t decide to do this now?” I replied, “Oh yes, Lucy, there will be plenty more — especially for you, honey.” She sighed with relief and said, “Okay then, I’m going to wait. I just want to keep dancing for now!”

It was one of those, so-honest-it-almost-hurts, moments. She does not have any considerations that there is a shortage of opportunities. She does not have to overcome any barriers of self-doubt or of lack of ability. She is loaded with not only talent, but more importantly, she is loaded with the sense of knowing that she has the ability to create anytime she wants. It is lesson for us all to have, have faith in yourself, and your ability to “create” your career at any moment.

So, dear reader, I say, there is no real “Starting over Again” if you truly are doing what you love to do. You merely have to keep going. Keep doing the successful actions you did in the first place. Surround yourself with trustworthy people who support your choices and continue moving toward your own written out goals. Good luck and good night!

Nancy Cartwright is best known as the voice of spiky-headed Bart Simpson on The Simpsons. She has voiced dozens of cartoon characters in her career that has spanned more than 20 years. Currently she can be heard as the voice of Rufus the Naked Mole Rat on Disney’s Kim Possible and Chuckie on Rugrats and All Grown Up. To learn more about Nancy’s career, listen to her audio book My Life as a 10-year-old Boy.