My 8-Week Goals

Step 1: My 8-Week Goals (To Be Completed By 9/11/2008)

• Awesome Apartment: My apartment will be simplified so that I have ample space for all of my things and nothing feels cramped. My dependable sublet-tenant will feel welcome and at home.
• Mucho Money: I will leave the country with an abundance of money – and return with more in the bank.
• Badass Biceps: I will tone up my arms, chest, abs, and legs to the point that I’ll want to sing “I believe in Miracles. You sexy thang!” when I look in the mirror.
• Confident Craft: I will shoot the “Around The World Project” with confidence, ease, and grace.

Step 2: Potential Obstacles

• Awesome Apartment
• I won’t start my subletter search soon enough.
• I’ll want to keep a lot of my stuff because I might need it someday.
• I won’t investigate storage because “it’s an unnecessary expense”.
• Mucho Money
• I won’t budget my time well and thus won’t complete my freelance projects before I leave for Thailand.
• I won’t work as much as I need to while I’m in Montana.
• I won’t watch my spending because I’m earning.
• Badass Biceps
• I won’t work out because I don’t like the gym.
• I’ll wait until the end of the day to work out and then be too tired.
• I’ll be over-ambitious and then crap out.
• I’ll put everything else as a higher priority.
• Confident Craft
• I won’t work on my craft outside of class because “I’m too busy.”
• I won’t know enough about the film to feel at ease.

Step 3: Solutions & Strategies

• Awesome Apartment
• I’ll send out emails to everyone ASAP and simply explain that I haven’t emptied my apartment completely yet.
• Anything that I haven’t used in over 2yrs won’t be used because I don’t know enough about it – so get rid of it.
• Research the closest storage facilities and see what they will charge for a very small space.
• Mucho Money
• I will set specific deadlines for my work and attach dollar amounts to them.
• I will pay all of my bills ASAP and then remind myself that my money is for a very specific and important goal: traveling around the world without attachment to back home.
• I will discuss my need to work with Emily before my trip and set specific afternoon/evening hours. I will work at least 5-7 hrs/day.
• Badass Biceps
• I will do calisthenics.
• I’ll do my work out as soon as I wake up every day.
• I’ll start small and add one rep each day.
• I won’t let myself do the other work until I’ve taken care of my body.
• Confident Craft
• I will carve specific times into my week to work on craft wherein I’m not allowed to do anything else.
• I will research my locations and let that fuel my character work.

What Tasks Will I Complete This Week (To Be Completed by 12am 7/24/2008)?

• General
• I will program all of the below tasks into my calendar, forcing myself to make time to complete them.
• Awesome Apartment
• Draft email about apartment, include pictures, and send to friends.
• Put away my laundry.
• Do a load of laundry.
• Take one bag of clothes/stuff to The Good Will
• Mucho Money
• I will pay all of my bills and credit card debts.
• I will complete the Maxon freelance project.
• Badass Biceps
• I will do the following exercises every morning:
• Plank: 30sec + (# of Days)
• Squat Lunges: # of Days
• Bicep/Tricep Isometrics: # of Days
• Pushups: # of Days
• Situps: # of Days
• I will go running on Friday
• I will water ski in Montana
• I will walk/hike in Montana
• Confident Craft
• I will rehearse my scene for acting class.
• I will write one blog post / record one video based on A.C.T.’s training

A 4-Point Structure for Setting 8-Week Goals

Step 1: Write Your Goals

A goal is: SAGE. Specific. Achievable. Genuine. Exciting. Have fun phrasing your goals, and really take the time to imagine yourself at the end of them – that glorious vision is what will pull you through all of the steps along the way.

Step 2: What are some potential obstacles?

You know yourself and you know your gremlin. Where do you anticipate difficulty for each of your tasks?

Step 3: What are some ways around those obstacles? What’s the solution?

How will you break through these obstacles? Are there any limiting beliefs that are preventing you from achieving what you want? The easiest way to deal with an obstacle is to side-step it, perhaps there’s an easier solution than you think.

Step 4: Next Steps or What will I do before next check-in?

The Power of Goals

There is a palpable danger in actually writing down your goals for others to see - you run the risk of accomplishing them. Even the simple act of generating goals and committing them to paper (or email, or blog) can generate enormous amounts of resistance. However, once you master your resistance you'd be surprised at how many things can be completed with seemingly little effort.

The following is an email I sent to my friends from the Sage Creative Career Co-Op in celebration of the end of our latest 8-week goal cycle.

Tomorrow is day that all of our 8 week goals come due. I’m happy to say that I have essentially completed all of them. Thanks to all of you for helping create this structure and providing me with some much needed accountability. Here’s the rundown.

1) IN PROGRESS - I will meet with two more agencies and secure representation.

I’ve met with one agency and turned them down. Earlier today I got a phone call from RPM looking to setup an interview for representation. So while I haven’t secured representation I have been offered it and have another opportunity coming up.

2) COMPLETE - I will go into my agency interviews confident in my ability to book commercials and act on a film set.

While I’m not yet a pro from Dover, I fee way more confident in my abilities in the auditioning room than I have in the past. I’m sure this will continue to improve as I finish up Level I at A.C.T. It really is solid training, thanks for getting me into class Richard & Dava!

3) COMPLETE - I will have a 32" waist. I will eat healthy food that tastes great and keeps me energized. I will achieve my goal by participating in activities that I enjoy.

I found some great health buddies - my parents. We've been staying in touch via email and we've all managed to improve our health. I’ve now got a 31.75” waist (Down from 33.5"/34") and I’m eating far more fruits and veggies than I have in the past. I fell off the healthy eating wagon a bit once I hit 32" but once I get through the remaining 2 for $5 Ben & Jerry’s in my fridge I’ll be golden.

How are you all progressing towards your stated goals? Now would be a really great time to reflect and re-evaluate.

The Beauty of Audacity

From an environmental standpoint Los Angeles simply shouldn't exist. There are far too many people to be supported by the annual precipitation of this semi-arid climate - let alone the endless green lawns and Beverly Hills gardens. So says Emma, a friend who visited from out of town. Given her credentials, a BS from MIT and a MS from Princeton in some sub-category of Environmental Sciences, I'm inclined to agree. But even she admitted "I really like it here. I will be coming back." I think she got caught up in what is truly beautiful about LA - the sheer audacity of it's existence and persistence.

What is perhaps most surprising to someone visiting LA is that it pretty much is everything it purports to be in films and television. The walk of fame, Mann's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood sign, club goers, all-night diners, and rows of palm trees all exist and are readily accessible. It's a little surreal. Walking by these landmarks seen time and time again in fictional narratives can make it feel like you're floating through a storybook landscape.

Even seeing coked out hookers and tatooed gang members can be a reassuring experience - "Look ma! It's exactly like in the movies."

As I approach my one-year Los Angeles anniversary I'm so grateful to have friends visit. They help me to see this place with renewed awe and optimism. No matter how "bad" my days get, working for myself and being able to laze away a Sunday on the beach beats just about anything else out there.

Facing Resistance

The War of Art is Steven Pressfield’s treatise against resistance – perhaps I should reread it. The scarcity of my indicates that I’m facing some pretty serious resistance. Here’s the deal: I have doubts about pursuing a career as film/tv actor. As I round the bend of my first year in Los Angeles I find that I’m not nearly so far along as I hoped. I expected to have an agent and to be going out on commercial auditions – I don’t and I’m not. To have set my sights on what I believed were realistic goals and still not reach them is doubly frustrating. I don’t post because I don’t want to admit my perceived inadequacy in a public sphere. That and I don’t feel qualified to proffer too much advice lest I become “the blind leading the nearsighted into blindness”. I’ll see what I can do to stem my surging cynicism and get back to you with something a little cheerier.

Some mantras to get me through this:
“And this too shall pass.”
“An acting career in LA is a marathon not a sprint.”
“It’s the journey not the destination.”
“What good is success without struggle?”

What You Want vs What You Want Most

Los Angeles is a big city and the possibility of "making it" often seems so remote that it is very easy to lose sight of what you want most. A simple example from my life this evening:

I want to watch The Fountain to escape and be entertained. However, what I want most is to travel around the world making a film with my friend Gabriel.

To do what I want most I have to save money so that I can continue to pay rent in LA. Thus, I need to stop watching The Fountain, take my laptop to Starbucks and get some work done.

Try to evaluate your wants against what you want most at some point. You may be suprised at just how far off-track you can get yourself doing things that seem right.

The Magic of Music at Upright Citizens Brigade

This evening I went to Upright Citizens Brigade to watch Amy Poehler do some improv. If I was to judge this evening against my expectations, I would be sorely disappointed. Instead I was treated to a joyous experience - I got to see a group of incredibly talented improvisers play and sing songs that meant something to them.

There are few things worse (in performance) than bad improv. The performers look and feel a lot like I did when I got pantsed in the 7th grade in front of all the girls I had crushes on. The thing that I love about UCB is that most of the performers are so battle-worn that they are relaxed nearly to the point of indifference.

Seeing these zen-master improvisers step out of their comfort zones to sing to a packed house was beautiful. Their voices weren't perfect, their eyes were cast at the ground, and they often forgot to plug in their amp cables - but it was evident that they loved what they were doing and even though they were terrified they were doing their thing.

Paul Rust sang a great original piece about sharing a first kiss in a bedroom populated with hand-me-down furniture. Amy Poehler sang a gorgeous rendition of Blue Bayou. However, the singular moment of the evening was when Sean Conroy sang Johnny Cash's version of NIN's "Hurt". At first the audience giggled, "Surely he wouldn't try to fill those shoes?! It must be a joke." But it quickly became clear that he was singing this song in earnest. The laughter stopped, the crowd fell quiet, and then collectively leaned in. Everyone telepathically agreed that this was something special, a ballsy attempt that should be honored. Sean Conroy may not have had the gravitas of Johnny Cash, but for this evening he was our man in black.

Seeing these talented improvisers work in another medium really humanized them and inspired the heck out of me. Just be glad you aren't my neighbors listening to me howling like a hound-dog along with my out-of-tune ukulele.