Stop Setting Goals for Your Pre-Pandemic Self

PART THREE OF OUR “GREAT RE-ENTRY” SERIES

STOP! This is a quick check-in for you: Are your goals realistic and current? 

The world is a heck of a lot different than it was two years ago, and so are you. So why are so many of us expecting to accomplish things from a checklist that belongs in another time? Watch my video below for a few words on this idea and then use the goal checkpoint below to see whether you’re right on track, or whether your goals could use a little sprucing. 

GOAL CHECKPOINT

Write down your goals first. They don’t have to be perfect or even SMARTE (you know what I mean, Path Alums!), just a general sense of the main projects you’re working on. Then answer the questions below to see how current they actually are.

1. Is this goal still exciting? In other words, is this goal a must do, a should do, or a really freakin’ want to do?

2. Does this goal serve your overall vision for your five year or even one year plan for yourself? If not, it might be time to rethink or reroute.

3. Does this goal need to happen today? What are the smaller bite-sized steps you can set up here for a longer-term plan?

4. Is this goal really about you or is about an outdated idea of what’s standard in your industry? In other words, is it something you’re doing because it’s the way it’s always been done or can you find a new perspective and try a more creative approach?

5. Which goals can go into retirement to make space for fresher more exciting goals that are more in alignment with who you are today?

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Listen, you might get through the questions above and find that your goals are still serving you. They may still directly feed that idea of your big vision for yourself. But what might not be working is your current timeline. Maybe you used to thrive on the grind - hustle was your middle name and five cups of coffee was standard protocol.

Did the pandemic teach you to slow down? Have you learned that you function better with a little extra time to breathe and protect your creative time? It’s totally seductive to pretend the pandemic never happened! To jump right back into a rehearsal room or a writers’ group and pick up where you left off. But I encourage you to let the lessons you learned over the last 2 years seep into your work. Give your projects a little more room and a little more love. Use your new frameworks to set meaningful and intentional goals with realistic deadlines that speak to who you are TODAY.

Image courtesy of Milt and Edie's Instagram, @miltandedie. And a big thank you to my client, Gwen M. for sharing it during our session!

I so love this idea; that forward is forward. No matter the speed - even when the path curves in an unexpected direction - every step is progress. And we LOVE a good progress over perfection moment.

Especially now with the holidays coming up - I encourage you to be gentle with your goals and projects when it comes to scheduling. Break down the bigger goals into bite-sized steps. Allow more time for play and family and joy and see what creative magic happens both on and off your schedule.

See you in the coaching room soon,
xo Betsy

Compare and Despair

PART TWO OF OUR "GREAT RE-ENTRY" SERIES

Summer has drawn to a close and it might feel like everything is going from zero to full speed all around us. Back to school, back to the office, back to rehearsal, back to commitments. Where is that glorious, slow, easeful, transitional period we all collectively dreamt about months ago? Shouldn't there have been a time in the pandemic (you know, just after adjusting to the new way of life and just before this moment) where you suddenly became a creative genius - using all of your down time for creative productivity?

Well, sure. But that's not what happened. Over the past few months I've found many of my clients quite unforgiving of themselves - having expected a much more productive past 18 months. From Compare and Despair: "My best friend started an online cabaret series and I didn't even finish a script!" to Where Did the Time Go: "If I couldn't get organized when I had nothing to do how am I possible going to do it now?"

See my response to this in the video below.

Okay so maybe you didn't write King Lear during the plague (and frankly who knows if that lore is even true.) You were in fact busy surviving. And, if you pause for a moment to reflect on your last year and a half, you may find you have accomplished things you're not even acknowledging. Are you taking more walks than you used to? Did you learn the lifelong skill of growing your own vegetables or baking your own bread? Did you reconnect with an old friend or face-time your grandmother regularly? Maybe you marched in your first protest or got serious about your mental health.

I urge you to use this time to your advantage - not to charge from zero to sixty, berating yourself all the way for not having accomplished "enough." But instead to slow down and create your own transition. Thank yourself for staying alive and healthy. Write down your itty bitty accomplishments. Continue fostering your connections. Creativity and inspiration are muscles and there's time enough to get back to it while also being gentle with yourself.

We're to support your journey.
xo, Betsy