An Internal Locus of Control

So I'm pretty much intimidated out of my mind right now.

I just looked through a few game design and development blogs. Almost every one of them has had a "How to break into the industry" subpage - since they get asked so often.

Examples (just for kicks):
Zen of Design
GameCareerGuide.com
Psychochild

Their advice is certainly informative, but disheartening. Let's take Zen of Design's list for example:

• Entry positions are rare - Companies don't hire people straight out of school because there are always experienced people in the market.
• Get in the door any way you can - answer phones, do Quality Assurance work, whatever. Suck it up and get in.
• Build a portfolio - That's what college is for. Show potential employers some kind of finished product - whether NeverWinter Nights mods or simple flash games.
• Prove you can finish - Ideas are cheap. Everyone in the industry has about 100 great ideas they can use any time. You must be able to execute.
• Build networks - 'Nuff said.
• Do anything to get a game industry line on your resume - Intern, do freelance work, or work for a startup
• Accept that you'll be the low man on the totem pole - Be willing to learn. Don't be a brown-noser, but be humble.
• Excel - Be good at what you do.

So that's that. It's quite terrifying, considering I don't have many opportunities to do this stuff. But, in order to shift to an internal locus of control for my life (thank you psychology), I shall list how I'm planning on overcoming these crazy things.

• Hrm... I guess I can't do much about this except be good at the rest.
• I'm emailing a CEO of a small company tomorrow. I'll be emailing other companies in the next week or so looking for internships.
• I have two options here: wait for grad school to come around, or do something slightly out of the ordinary. I'm not much of an artist or a programmer and I don't have a team to work with (I believe that's been pointed out). What can I do? Story. How can I show them proof of interactive story concepts and execution? Dungeons and Dragons, baby.
  
• Well, this is probably accomplished by actually doing any and all of the above.
• Networking is always a challenge for me, but I'm seeing what I can do to go to the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco in March. Also, I'm going to ask said CEO if he might be able to be a contact for me just to grab advice from every once in a while.
• Again, internships.
• Honestly, this is a personal and spiritual growth issue. I'd like to be confident and know I'm good at what I do, but at the same time, I must always remember that there are others that are better. Especially there.
• Yeah... I guess I just need to do this...

So there's all that. You, dear Reader, have now borne witness to my mindset trying to change. I think I'm going to write a different post now. Bye bye.