Specificity Matters (or Wanting an Emmy Not an Oscar)

Yesterday, the nominations for the Oscars were announced. I try to wake up and watch them live, but this year I set my DVR and watched them when I woke up. I got me thinking about how I used to want to win an Oscar more than anything in the world.

I first caught the acting bug in elementary school when I played Chair #3 in a version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. After my chair “broke” (I was the too small one), I stayed under a table and was able to watch the audience the rest of the play. From that moment on, I was hooked.

I always said that I wanted to win an Oscar. Even in my senior quote in high school I mentioned it.

But once I moved out to LA and started to seriously pursue acting, I realized that I had the wrong goal.

I wasn’t thinking exactly what an Oscar required growing up. I didn’t grow up around the entertainment industry so I didn’t always have all the information I needed to create the correct goal.

I’ve discovered that I love television more than movies. That’s not to say if I got offered a movie part that I’d turn it down, but if I had to create my dream job I’d want to be on a tv show. And more specifically, a sitcom style, or multi camera, show.

Once I had that specific goal in mind, I could create steps to help me reach that goal. I’m still at the early stages of those steps, but I know that I’m heading in the right direction.

I need to be more specific with other goals I have in my life. I want to lose 100 pounds. I know that. But I haven’t figured out exactly how I want to go about it. Do I want to train for some crazy event and use that as my method? Do I want to have a goal of attending workout classes or working out at home a certain amount of time a week? I’m honestly not sure yet.

I’m going to spend my weekend picking out my specific goal and then working backwards to figure out the steps I need to accomplish that goal. It’s what I am doing for my acting career. And just like in my acting career, I need to be accepting that it will not be a straight line to success. There will be ups and downs, but in the end, progress will be made.

My 2013 Goals (or I’m Not Calling Them Resolutions This Time)

Welcome 2013!

I’m excited to see what I can get done this year! In the past, I’ve always made resolutions, but for this year, I’ve decided to call them goals. Somehow they don’t seem as scary that way.

Here are my goals for 2013:

Continue on my weight loss journey. I didn’t lose as much in 2012 as I would have liked, but I did lose. And I’ve got my brother’s wedding in September and you know that those pictures are going to be around forever. I want to look back and not be embarrassed.

Continue paying down my credit card debt. Again, I didn’t do as much as I would have liked in 2012, but I’m working on it. I may not reach my goal of being debt free by my 30th birthday, but that’s ok.

Do at least 5 5Ks. I do enjoy walking various 5K events. In 2012, I did 3. This year, I’d like to see if I can do 5. I have my first one planned for February (unless I decide to do another one sooner).

Do my first 10K. There’s going to be one at Disneyland 6 days before I leave for my brother’s wedding. Unfortunately, due to that timing, my parents won’t be able to come and see me do that, so I’m looking at maybe finding one another time so they can come see me accomplish this.

Find alternative income. I love my day job, and I don’t plan on leaving it anytime soon. But I also need to find a way to make more money to help me work on my debt. And if I can find a way to support myself without having to go to a job 6 days a week, that would be great for my future.

Take an improv class that counts. I’ve taken improv classes in the past. I did a few years at LA Connection Comedy and also studied weekly with Kip King for almost 8 years. But in the commercial world, they want you to have classes from one of the main schools. So I’m looking at maybe taking classes at UCB this year so I’ll have that competitive edge on my acting resume.

Keep blogging. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

Any of you have some goals for this year that you are really excited about?