Goals for the New Year

wishes are good and goals can be acted on

Just some random thoughts on what is the first workday of the year for many people.

I’ve seen so many people setting goals for 2024 that are deeply dependent on other people cooperating (book a guest star, win a specific award or sell a screenplay).

Instead, I want to do work that might make the muses smile. I want I connect with a role in a new and deeper way than I ever have before and do something with my acting that is scary and fresh (but not foolishly reckless); I’d like to hone my ability to commit to the moment I’m playing and both the immediacy and terrors/joys of it.

Those other concrete tangibles are great wishes, but become more solid goals when couched as what we do, regardless of what others do or do not do.

Instead of ”book a guest star,” perhaps “get off book on sides faster by practicing a new memorization technique and so allow myself to explore and discover more” or “take a bigger risk with the material to do something no other actor can do except me.”

Instead of “win a specific award,” maybe “contact 4 new professionals in a meaningful way for possible collaboration each month,” or “find a photographer that captures the kind of roles I play brilliantly in the eyes of the photos of people they take.”

Instead of “sell a screenplay” it could be “write 10 new pages a week,” or “re-read what I’ve written in the last month during the first week of each month with an eye to making positive progress with it through re-writes or further additions.”

Wishes can focus on outcomes, and that’s good. Goals can be more measurable and within our grasp when they focus only on our behaviors and choices, our end of things, our power to do them no matter what. Focusing or being distracted by what the world and other people respond/s with at the expense of our own practices can be a less useful thing.

Let me know if you want help through acting coaching or in any other way.

© Copyright January 2, 2024, David August, all rights reserved davidaugust.com

David August is an award-winning actor, acting coach, writer, director, and producer. He plays a role in the movie Dependent’s Day, and after its theatrical run, it’s now out on Amazon (affiliate link). He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, on the TV show Ghost Town, and many others. His artwork has been used and featured by multiple writers, filmmakers, theatre practitioners, and others to express visually. Off-screen, he has worked at ad agencies, start-ups, production companies, and major studios, helping them tell stories their customers and clients adore. He has guest lectured at USC’s Marshall School of Business about the Internet.