Image via Flickr by JohnONolan
At the end of every year, I review last year's goals and set new ones for the coming year. This process got me thinking about how often I hear actors express frustration over how little progress they're making. They say things like, "no matter what I do, I'm just not getting anywhere" or "I feel like I need new goals, but I don't know what to do with the ones I've got" or "... goals?... *blinkblink*"
Trying to build a career without clear, effective goals is like trying to drive to a party without the address. You find out pretty quickly that having a general idea of where you want to go isn't enough. But most of us have never learned how to set good goals, so we end up with something like "make a living as an actor within five years", and then sit there and stare at the notebook/screen/bar napkin and wonder what to do next.
(Some people are familiar with "SMART" goal guidelines, which can be helpful , but I find they're better suited to non-artistic careers. The "R", for example, stands for "Realistic." For many, deciding to be a professional actor feels kind of unrealistic to begin with, so why use a system whose rules you've already broken?)
So let's demystify the process. When setting goals for your acting career, you need them to be:
- Within your control. Put a big star next to this one. The point of a goal is to serve as a starting point for incremental action. If I set a goal to "get better at tennis", right away I can rattle off a few things I can do to achieve it -- buy a tennis racket, sign up for lessons, strengthen my upper body. But if my goal is to "book five guest star roles next year", I'm stuck, because I'm making myself responsible for something I have no control over. When you have a goal like that, ask yourself what's standing between where you are now and where you want to be. To book more guest star roles, maybe you need to meet more television casting directors or gain audition skills and confidence. Those are things you can control. Set those as your goals, and you'll be on your way to booking more guest stars. (Another way to think about it is to make your goals "actionable." A good goal is one that you can take action to achieve.)
- Relative. I've never been a fan of numerical goals, like "establish relationships with ten feature film casting directors next year." They set up a weird standard in which it would somehow be a failure to meet nine feature film casting directors, which is pretty silly. And what if there are only seven feature film casting directors I'm interested in meeting? Should I spend time and effort trying to meet three more casting directors I'm not excited about, just to hit that number? No. Instead, I like to make goals relative. For example, I might set a goal to "establish relationships with more feature film casting directors than last year" or "establish relationships with several of the feature film casting directors on my target list." See how those goals point me in the same direction without setting up an arbitrary finish line?
- Inspiring. This one is both a no-brainer and often the most overlooked quality in a goal. Your goals should get you excited. They represent what you want for your life. If you have a goal that makes you roll your eyes and slouch every time you look at it, something needs to change. Maybe you set the goal because it's something you think you should do, rather than something you want to do. In that case, you can either stab that "should" in the eye and commit to doing what you really want (which is about the best feeling in the world), or refocus on why you're doing what you "should" do. If your goal is to establish and stick to a budget, and you've been putting it off for months because it's the last think in the universe you want to do, ask yourself what purpose it serves. Maybe that's what you need to do in order to quit a day job you desperately want to be free of. Make that your goal, and let the budget become one of the actions you need to take to achieve it. See how much better that feels?
So here's your homework. If you already have goals written down, take a look at them, see how they line up with these criteria, and how it feels to change them accordingly as needed. If you don't already have goals, spend the next week coming up with three or four things you want to accomplish in the next year, and write them as goals that follow these rules. If it's too overwhelming to set goals for your career, set them for your apartment, your wardrobe, whatever. Setting good goals is a muscle. Start working it, and you'll be flexing proudly in no time.
Need help writing a good goal? Want to show off what you've got? Comment away!