Happy New Year, readers!

This is normally the day when I’d post a podcast, but in light of the holiday, I thought I’d give the microphone a little vacation and talk about New Year’s, one of my favorite days of the year.

Because this is the day when it all starts over.  And no matter whether you had a great year, or a @#$%, this is the day when we set out to make things better than they were.

A clean slate.  A blank canvas.  A bare stage.

So much potential.

And it’s up to us to realize it.

Today is of course the day when millions upon billions of people set New Year’s Resolutions.

And a month from now is when millions upon billions of people will break those Resolutions.

I’m a super resolution maker (are you surprised?), and I spent many years breaking ’em, forgettin’ ’em, and saying, “What the @#$% was I thinking” about ’em.

But about a decade ago, I started using the Three Keys below to help set my resolutions, and, dangit, I started keeping ’em.  And more importantly, they started working!

So, as we ALL start off this year, and since we all want it to be the best year yet, I thought I’d share these keys of mine with you to help you with your resolutions, whether they are theatrically-related or not.

Here’s how I set my resolutions:

1. Make them “The Two As.”

All of your resolutions should be follow the rules of the Two As. They should be “Ambitious but Achievable.” Stretch yourself, but make sure your goal is something you can accomplish.

I once set a resolution for myself to start and produce a workshop, write a screenplay and start a new website in 90 days . . . while working two jobs that took up about 60 hours a week.

Guess what? I failed. And felt pretty bad about it.

Set a resolution that will challenge you but that isn’t impossible. If you just finished a play, don’t set a resolution to “Get it to Broadway.” Maybe set one to have a reading or a showcase production in the next 12 months.

If you just graduated from college and got your first job, don’t say, “I will make a million dollars this year.” Push yourself, yes, but make it something that is possible.

Because falling short of a goal or breaking a resolution can actually cause you to regress on your journey towards success.

2. Make them specific.

Your resolutions should be as specific as possible. The more concrete and clear they are, the easier they are to follow. Resolutions are like directions. If someone says, “To get to my house, just go that way . . . for like, oh, I don’t know, a while, and then turn . . . and after then you’ll sort of end up there.” You’ll never get to where you want to go or you will spend hours on a trip that should have taken minutes.

But if someone says, “Drive three miles, take a left for 2 miles. Turn left at the stop sign then your first right and I’m the red house on the left with the balloons out front,” you’ll get there. Efficiently.

So don’t set a resolution to “write more,” or “go to the gym more often.” Set a resolution that says, “I will write three hours a week,” or better, “thirty minutes every day,” or “I will go to the gym twice a week.”

Specificity leads to success.

3. Make yourself Accountable.

Find someone and SHARE your resolutions with that person. Make him/her your Resolution Buddy!  For some reason people often keep their resolutions private . . . but the best way to make sure you stick with them is to make them PUBLIC.  Put ’em on Facebook, Twitter, your refrigerator. Or in our PRO Facebook group!!!

And have periodic check-ins with your buddy. Or get yourself a trainer, coach, Mastermind, teacher . . . someone to make sure you do your homework. It works! I’ve had an Accountability Buddy for about 20 years. And have been a member of Masterminds for over a decade.

These Three Keys have worked for me, and I hope they’ll work for you.  And don’t hesitate to tweak to make them your own.  Everyone’s journey is different.  But if you start with these three steps as a foundation when you set your 2018 Resolutions, I’d bet that you’ll have your best 2018 yet.
(This post was this week’s “Tip of the Week” email that I send to my ProducersPerspectivePRO members every Monday (they said it was ok to share it with you).  Want more like it delivered to your inbox every week?  Click here to find out how.)