Fail to Plan = Plan to Fail

I saw the movie "Revolutionary Road" last night.  AWESOME movie.  Go see it when you get a chance.  I wrote a brief review (and some thoughts spurred by the movie) at my personal blog spot: "Living Truthfully".  Check it out when you get a moment.

Okay, today is day two of what I like to refer to (only in my head thus far) as "operation get your @$$ outta bed".  I pretty much slept through the last three weeks.  It was great, but I did start to get concerned that I had lost my drive.  While writing my last post, I realized that I just no longer had any real direction.  No focused goals with measured steps for me to take.  "I want to act." and "I need to book some stuff."  are just words unless I have a plan to make them happen.  So...

I am still working on my goals, but I do know that I need to pinpoint what I want MORE of in my life, and what I want LESS of.  And when I say "my life", that includes my career, because I don't think work and play should be entirely different worlds.  Then I need to figure out how to get more of what I want and less of what I don't want.  I'm finding that some of the stuff I thought I wanted is really stuff that other people want FOR me and I started to feel like I SHOULD want, but really don't.  I thought I was past this stage in life, but maybe it's ongoing excavation.

So now I have office hours.  This worked well for me in 2007, and I decided to bring them back to give myself some structure.  I have a "to do" list for the day, and sit at my desk and handle whatever business I need to handle for 3-4 hours, then I close the office.  On some days I will have auditions, on others I will have errands to run, meetings, gym - whatever.  This helps to actually see what I am doing to move myself forward, and to make sure I also have personal time.

I also want to do more workshops this year.  More "marketing".  Some people will tell you to stay in a class.  If that works for you, then great - by all means, do it.  I study when I need to, then I go out into the world and apply what I have learned.  When it stops working for me, I train some more.  That's my way.  I want to go to the next level, so I will do what I need to do in order to make that happen.

So that's where I am right now.  I feel like that was a bit rambly, but it is what it is.

--Nicole J. Butler

Comments

[WhenIGrowUpCoach]

That wasn't rambly - it was the thoughts of someone who is putting things in focus. In reading your last few posts I can see the path that you're starting to clear for yourself, & I love that you're reinstalling your office hours. It did seem though that you had office hours once & then you stopped them, so I wanted to ask if that was a concern of yours. What happened to make you let go of the office hours? If office hours have proven themselves to be fruitful for you, how can you ensure that they don't disappear again?

I also love the idea of you figuring out what YOU want more of as well as what you want less of. I thought too that after the ripe age of 30 I was "over that", but sometimes it's too subconscious to even see! Really make sure you notice what makes you run as well as what depletes you, and keep a running list. Even if you keep a small pad of paper with you & have two columns (I suggest "Love It" and "Suck It", but that's just me) that you jot notes on while you're going about your day, it would be interesting to see how the pieces fit together after a few days. It can even be as simple as "Love It: Playing psychopaths; Suck It: Spinning class" or whatever.

OK now I'm the rambling one. Looking forward to seeing how your year unfolds, Nicole!

Best,
Michelle

[Nicole J. Butler]

Hi Michelle--I had a feeling you would reply, only in my head your name became "Grow Up Coach" (cool moniker, BTW)!

Great questions. My office hours fell by the wayside because they gradually started extending and pretty soon all day every day felt like "office hours" (because I was so focused on advancing). Then I got so burned out there were NO office hours at all.

Thanks for the "love it/ suck it" idea. I'll do that!