#131: Now It Looks Like We Can
Monday 1/6/25
Happy 2025 everyone!
I cannot believe we’re here… But we are here lol. I feel like I’ve been waiting for 2025 for 10 years at this point. In just a few weeks it’ll be five years since the whole world shut down and that is a whole lot of time when you think about it. I could’ve gotten another degree!
But in all seriousness, a new year always comes with expectations and hopes for the future. I’m always looking for a good excuse for a fresh start… it also comes with personal reckonings. I love a Sunday, I love a Monday. I love the start of a new quarter. I love the start of a new month!
I love them so much to the point that I will sometimes stop my own progress because I know that there’s something new around the corner. And forget it… If the first of a month lined up on a Sunday? I’m untouchable lol. If I see that first of the month lining up with a Sunday weeks down the road… I will put off what I need to do until that day. I’ll literally wait for a “fresh” start.
i’m choosing this year that my fresh start can begin at any point in time. It can begin at 3:15 on a Wednesday afternoon. It’s part of my procrastination mindset. Any excuse to put something off till the very last second. Don’t get me wrong - i’m always gonna get something done… Always. But I’m gonna get it done right before it’s due. I’m gonna get it done right when it’s convenient. So sometimes I see that “fresh start” dangling a few days or a few weeks away and really what it means is that I’m gonna put off what I should be doing because of that glitzy date on the calendar.
And I see that manifest in my business and I also see a manifest in my acting career as well. I’m gonna do that self tape the day it’s due. I’m gonna put off printing and learning that music until the morning I wanna film. And the reason I do is because I know I can still get it done. I don’t see the value in putting in all the effort beforehand when the result is essentially going to be the same. And this is the mindset I want to shift in the new year.
I wanna hold myself to a better standard in terms of my procrastination, my accountability, and my ability to get something done when it’s sitting in front of me. I like deadlines and timelines yes… And I’ll always honor them when someone gives one to me. The ones that are on my own accord? I struggle.
And that’s really what my “resolution” is gonna be for this year. I’m not really one that makes a ton of resolutions every year. I like could-do lists instead of to-do lists. As you can see from this post, I like to live in a shade of gray sometimes. And I think a lot of people find that surprising. For someone who’s always on time I also crave flexibility. as I learned many years ago when I did a leadership assessment, some people think that “deadlines have a snooze button“… I don’t think they have a snooze button… But I do think that as long as we get to the deadline that’s all that matters. I don’t need to be first in line. I just need to finish.
anyway, I hope that whatever you’re thinking about for your theatrical life or your coaching life is something that feels manageable and doable. I’ll challenge you as you make resolutions that those are accompanied with actual tangible things to do or change that will help you achieve those goals. A goal is just that… It’s a goal… It’s a result. And a result is only accomplished by the things that you do and say in order to get you to that point. A result is simply proof of what you do- a result is simply proof of what you believe. So as you make your resolutions, I want you to also think about the things that you’re going to do in order to achieve that result. Those are two different things!
Dreams Don’t Die
Julie