The Great Acting Blog: “Small Steps To Accomplish Big Goals”
Yesterday’s post was about setting goals high enough so that accomplishing them creates stress, and coming through this stress then helps us to grow. However, we don’t need to dive into the stress from the word go. Oftentimes we need to gently ease ourselves into it in order to be able to face up to it.
The overall goal may be difficult to accomplish, it may be a long haul project, writing and producing your own play for example. You are however, unlikely to accomplish this overnight. Indeed, many are put off from even making a start on such a task, overwhelmed by the size of it. The point is that you don’t need to do everything instantly. You don’t need to accomplish all the big stuff up front. The important thing is to make a commitment and then make a start. Begin with small, meaningful steps. Small is doable, it relieves the pressure and stops overwhelm. To use our example, if you intend to write a play, then start by doing, say, an hours work on it per day or whatever your schedule will allow. The length of time isn’t actually that important, what is is getting started and creating the habit of working on it daily. Do good, productive sessions. If you do this over a period weeks or months you will eventually end up with a finished manuscript without having to head-butt any walls. Remember, you don’t need to create a masterpiece in each of those writing sessions, you just need to be focused and productive during them. Crucially however, by making a start, by getting some stuff done, you create momentum, the project is in motion and this is energising, it carries you forward. It also makes the project real, you’ve begun to invest yourself in it and this helps to perpetuate it.
Clearly, if you are trying to accomplish something which is beyond your comfort zone, you’re going to run into stress and turmoil at some point, indeed this is to be welcomed. Starting with small actions though, will at least get things moving. In time, you may be better placed to deal with the pressure when it starts to mount.
talya2312/ 21.08.2013
I sometimes set high standards on myself because of fear. Things that frighten me also exhilarate me. Success frightens me. However I love being scared because it motivates me. I think when one chooses to do something creative they automatically get scared because society say that to do anything creative full-time will lead to a life of poverty. I most people are afraid of being poor. I also think that since we live a society of instant gratification, people expect to accomplish their goals in a short amount of time and with little to no effort. Trust me I have experienced this from teaching English. It seems like no one wants to put effort into achieving their goals.
James Devereaux actor/ 21.08.2013
I completely agree about wanting to get things without effort. When I’ve directed actors it’s often that they don’t want to embark on a creative endeavour, they just want me to tell them what to do, to give them the answers. I think this is sad and boring.