Counting Down to G-Day in 135
I have a really bad track record with New Year resolutions. As in, I can’t even remember if I made one last year. Three hundred and sixty-five days is too long for me to hold myself too. It seems like a long time, and it did feel like a long time when I wrote my first countdown post.
As of January 1, 2014, I have approximately one hundred and thirty-five days until commencement which equals one semester left of college. And then two hundred and thirty days of doing I don’t know what for the remainder of 2014. Does anyone else see the irony in being a tarot reader who doesn’t know her own future?
In spirit of this unknowable-ness that is my future, I give myself until graduation (G-Day) to fulfill. Maybe with a closer deadline and the Green Room bloggers, I can keep to it my second G-word: goals.
Taking Action – Not Just For New Year’s
I have mixed feelings on resolutions.
I feel like there’s a lot of adrenaline around the end of December that pushes us into January. We feed off this adrenaline and use it to come up with all these new goals and changes we’re going to implement. The problem is many of us don’t continue to take action toward our goals once this adrenaline wears off. Look at all the people who join gyms in January that don’t continue to go the rest of the year.
(For the record, I’m okay with this one. I like it when February comes and my gym is less crowded.)
Another issue I have with resolutions is when people use them as an excuse to wait to take action. For example: October comes around. You know you want to get into shape. But instead you think, “I’ll wait until January to start dieting.” This is mere procrastination, and it’s the opposite of what we want when it comes to goals.
Tattooed Theatre Student’s Goals!
I don’t make resolutions at New Year’s. I don’t like the tradition and as I was never able to stick to them I just stopped making them. However I do like to have goals in my life and as 2014 is my first complete year at university there is much to aim for this year.
Now one of my goals is to do with my university work – I recently handed in an assignment that I had left majorly to the last minute. So my first goal is to make sure I manage my time better so that no assignments have to be rushed meaning they will be of a greater quality. Linked to this is the fact I want to work my hardest to get a good grade at the end of this first year – these marks don’t actually go towards my overall degree however a better mark this year means hopefully next year is not such a big leap.
This year I’m lucky enough to have many opportunities to work with a production company and I want to make sure that I put my absolute all into them. I also want to work with the company to make sure they have the best stage management team they can and make sure everything is done the right way. I’m exceptionally lucky to have such a good opportunity and I want to thank them by helping them become the best company possible.
2014-The Voice
Since I’ve worked on the radio for a decade, this may read a little strange, but this is the year I intend to let my voice be heard.
Obviously, I don’t mean my larynx vibrations. Instead, I pledge this year to write the stories that I want to tell, to create the collaborations I want to have, to give my opinion, respectfully, and to speak my truth, without fear.
But I realize that to let my voice be heard, I need to give something up. (smoking) No! Seriously, I need to give up the tendency I have of letting other people’s opinions of me affect how I live and create. Because if there is one major block to speaking your truth, it’s worrying about what others will do about it.
And you know what’s tough? I know that the only way I can stop being concerned about what others think of me, is to stop having an opinion about them.
An Enterprising Set of Resolutions
Career resolutions were a little tough for me this year. I can resolve to book more by auditioning more, but I already do audition for everything within reasonable driving distance…and then some. I can resolve to get new headshots and take classes regularly (both of which are actually on my resolutions list), but that is a normal part of staying current with your business, not so much something to really help hone my skillz. I’m in major re-framing mode for some of my other ventures; for example, I am completely overhauling Things We Say to Girls, but the new! and improved! model isn’t finalized yet, so I didn’t feel ready to make a resolution, per se, about that. Here are a few things that I have resolved for my actor-ly self in 2014. And I share these with a caveat about resolutions, in general: sometimes you make a resolution, you take the action steps needed, but the desired outcome isn’t achieved in the anticipated time frame. Trust that by taking the steps, results will follow. I think that’ll be my mantra this year.
The Enterprising Actor’s 2014 Resolutions/Business-y Edition:
1. Be early-early.
I have a habit of being (mostly) on time – To rehearsal and shows? Always! – but sometimes I’m getting there early-on-time by cutting it really close to being on-time-late. I resolve to pay more attention to the clock and to allow five more minutes than I need. I can do it so easily for work that I can certainly do it for not-work.
But this resolution also extends to turning things in early-on-time. I have gotten into a bad habit of waiting to submit applications/submissions/entries on the last day. Instead, I will use those handy reminders Google calendar provides to email me a couple of weeks out. And if it’s not ready, I’m not making myself miserable by spending all day on the submission deadline by furiously finishing the application. Instead, I chalk it up to a missed opportunity and move on.
One intermediate step I am taking to achieve this is to evaluate that, if my submission is not ready a week or two out, perhaps the opportunity is not a good fit for my project. I am trying to work smarter, because life’s hard enough, as it is.
2. Take a scouting trip to L.A.
I’ve never been to L.A. I’ve been to northern California – the bay area is so lovely – but never to southern California. I love NYC. I’ve been there many times and know my way around, and I know what kind of challenges I would face if I decide to relocate there. But L.A.? Pfft! Not. A. Clue. So, this year I resolve to choose a class/workshop/study to enroll in and use that time of 6-to-8 weeks to scope things out and see what I think about the place, if I could see myself relocating there. By taking a class, rather than going out to “make it,” or sign with an agent, or anything else Hollywood-y, I think the pressure will be off and I can get a real sense of what I think of the place. First step: choose a class. Second step: Establish a financial strategy to make this a reality. Third step: let’s not get ahead of ourselves…until I know how I can pay for this venture, it’s all talk.
My goal for 2014? Become a warrior for positivity! And perhaps take a tap lesson or two.
Do you remember that episode of Friends where the girls meet Fake Monica? They go to confront the woman who has been illegally using Monica’s credit card and encounter someone who grabs life by the horns, lives each day to the fullest and forces them to take a hilarious tap class.
Credit card fraud aside, this is my professional goal for 2014. Life isn’t lived unless you challenge yourself to do something new every day. In our industry, particularly when you are a Stage Manager and have the role of keeping everyone else calm, negativity can creep into any rehearsal room and breed like an infection. In the past few years of working in theatre I truly believe that if an upbeat cast member or a tech crew with a positive can’t-be-defeated attitude blesses a show then anything is possible on a stage. I also know that at times I can be terribly guilty of allowing negative thoughts or suspicions to ruin a production process for me. My goal this year is to enforce positive thinking and approach every day like Fake Monica. And I’m not joking about that tap lesson.
Any suggestions for a good class New Yorkers?
January 2nd Works Just as Well…
Sorry to be the hipster of the group….but I’m anti – New Years Resolution. I’ve found the best way for me to function in all areas of my life is to live each day as proactively as possible, not letting a moment go to waste by waiting to pursue a goal that is of great worth to me. January 1st feels exactly the same as December 31st to me, and waiting to get things done only causes me stressful days and sleepless nights.
So I put my OCD to good use and make clear, concise lists….and lists of lists. Lists on my phone, on my bulletin board, in my notebooks, on bathroom mirrors, everywhere I look….and my greatest joy comes from checking them off. So the moment I think of something I need to get done, I’ll pencil it into my planner or type it into my phone. When I think of a major project or a weighty goal, I write it everywhere, tell others so they hold me accountable, and make additional lists of what it is I need to do to achieve said goal. Whether that happens in January or August, I get to work on it right away.
So instead of listing my non-existent New Years Resolutions, I’ll list off some of the things I have left on my ever-growing To-Do list:
1.) ITS TIME TO GET AN AGENT! I’ve been in SAG since I was seven, I’ve been making commercials my entire life, I came out of the womb acting. But when I left the country for several years I left my agency. I’ve returned home only to realize I had very little clue about how to go about finding an agent. Likely because I was four years old when I signed with my agent and obviously had very little to do with the process. I’ve been booking solid work in the live performance spectrum but would much prefer to return to film/tv, a path better supplemented with the help of an agent.
- PROACTIVE PLANS: I’ve made a gazillion page list (I have a list obsession) of agencies I found online, in Samuel French’s Guide to Agents, from the advice from friends ect. I reworked my resume, reel, and website until I was blue in the face. And have started sending in two or three submissions a week. Read more…
4 goals, 4 tasks, two thousand 4 teen
NEW POST SERIES: “What are your goals/resolutions for 2014? What concrete steps do you plan to take to achieve those goals or life changes? Share some of the things that you think will be your greatest challenges along the way.”
I wrote out my new year’s goals a week ago, but now that I’m typing them for the world to read I’m suddenly terrified of trying and failing. But I believe that expressing fears and goals is an awesome way to accomplish those goals and eliminate the fears. So here goes:
- Book a TV commercial
- Book a national broadway tour
- Book more modeling work
- Join a performing union
My biggest challenge this year will be breaking back into the Los Angeles acting scene. I have been working out of town for the last 14 months- only coming back to the city for a few weeks or days for gigs, auditions, and short breaks between contracts. At the request of my agent I’m spending less time on low-paying-out-of-town contracts and committing some time to commercial auditions and big contract theater auditions that happen in Los Angeles.
The Green Room 