The Doing is the Thing

I’m a perfectionist, a planner, and a notorious all-or-nothing-er (if you didn’t already know this, read here and here.) Sometimes making goals or New Year’s resolutions backfires heinously, because I give up if I don’t make immediate progress or go from 0 to 100 in an instant. Thankfully, I’ve changed a lot, and I’ve learned how better to improve—and the short answer is: Break it down into tiny steps, and then JUST DO IT without fear of it not being perfect.

Here are some of my goals for the month of January.

First off, I got this 2017 Volt Planner, and I absolutely love the way it’s designed (I copied the man, who found and ordered it online).

Not only does it ask you to write down your goals for the whole year and for the month ahead, it also breaks down weekly goals and requests that you review all of these goals often.

Outlining the overarching goals is fun and inspiring, but it’s also overwhelming. Once you get it all on paper, then you can do break the goals down into sections and start the fun stuff: the itty bitty steps each day.

For example, above you can see my goals for the first week of January: start vocalizing, record my Love/Perfect lines, eat from home, run 20 miles, take two nights to myself, and print more resumes and headshots for auditions. These goals span from physical fitness and mental health to pursuing my passions, but they’re also pretty reasonable for where I am right now in all of those areas. I didn’t try to do too much.

After making my week’s goals, I started dividing and conquering (and, as you can see, experimenting with how to cross each day off as I went—squiggly line wins!).

To use my mileage goal (20 miles this week) as an example, I ran 2.5 miles on Monday, 4 miles on Wednesday, 4 miles on Friday, and 10 miles (my weekly long run) on Sunday. Boom!

However (and OF COURSE), not all weeks are going to be so cut-and-dry and gratifying. The next week kind of fell flat:

Such is life! I made a point to list the positives of the week below, which helps me see how I can adjust my goals to be a tad more realistic. For example, getting ahead at work meant being more tired and emotionally drained during the week, which resulted in eating out more and not hitting 20 miles. Give and take!

I’ve also HONESTLY fallen in love with the idea of “failure” or disappointment only being a launching pad for further success. SO cliche and I hate the sound of it as I type it, but it’s true: a bad run means it’ll be easier next time, a shitty audition means I’m going to practice that much harder for the next one, etc.

(Here’s that week’s outlook, just for fun:)

(Hi again, squigglies!)

I am really liking the delicate dance of pacing myself with my goals this month. My three top aims are to eat well, to pay off my credit card, and to invest more in my performance skills.

My voice, alone, is an area where smalls steps are imperative. You can’t just practice for 10 hours and make up for 10 months off. I have to ease my delicate vocal folds back into everyday, healthy use. It’s kind of excruciating, but it’s the only way.

I’ve been discouraged about my auditions lately and my overall “value” as a musical theater performer in the Denver community. In the past, whenever I felt that way, I’d just hang up my hat and take a long break from performing (years at a time). Instead, I want to see this as an opportunity to do something different… and now it’s: Tap dancing! I already ordered my shoes (the Bloch “Respect” lace-up tap shoes above, from Discount Dance Supply) and I’ve found a few places I can take lessons. FUN!

What are your goals for the week, the month, the year?