One of my favorite things about starting the new year is the start of new adventures. Or for some, the continuance of an adventure already started, but new opportunities and discoveries to be made. I’m a mixture of both right now. With the new year starting I’m going to be starting a new adventure (sort of), as well as continuing one that I’ve been on for a year now!
First, continuing an adventure that I’ve already been on. I started taking an acting class in January of last year for two reasons. One, I have such a deep love and passion for acting. I’ve been in school for the past 5 years, and since that’s where a lot of my focus has been I wasn’t able to dive into acting the way I have always wanted to. Last year I decided that I was losing sight of what makes me really happy. I was losing my touch with balancing my life with work and play, and I wanted to change that. So, I decided that it was time for me to get back into acting (because it makes me happy and it’s so fun!), and figured taking an acting class would help me rediscover my love for it.
The second reason is because, I got accepted to participate in this exclusive acting competition/convention for the third time (third times a charm, right?), and I really wanted to go this time with fresh training under my belt. Actually, let me rewind. I was supposed to attend this event in January of 2017, but my money fell short so I was not able to go. However, since I had already been accepted, and started the training, I just got rolled over to the next one, which will be January of 2018. So instead of sitting around and being sad that I could not go when I wanted to, I decided to fill that time, loneliness, and space with acting anyways. So, I started taking an acting class.
Even though I started the class this time of last year, the whole training period for the technique that I am learning won’t be completed until the middle of this year, 2018. So, it’s an adventure that I am continuing since I will not reach the end of this adventure until around May. This is one of the few adventures/journeys/opportunities that I have had over the past couple of years that I’m really excited about to see the end result of. Why? Well the biggest reason is probably because it’s centered around something that I love so much!
Seriously, acting was my first love. At 6 years old I knew I wanted to be an actress. I can remember being 10 and 13 years old (10-13) and every summer doing my best to convince my parents to pack up the family and move to California so that I could start my career as an actress right now! Of course, this didn’t happen, but the passion and ambition was always there. Being able to take this class, rediscover my love for this craft, and have the opportunity to work on it every chance I get, is so refreshing. It brings me to life, it teaches me something new about myself every day, and most importantly it reminds me that my love and respect for this craft never disappeared. I just needed something life-changing to bring that passion and drive for it back to life.
So what’s the new adventure I’ll sort of be starting? As mentioned above, it’s having the opportunity to attend this exclusive acting competition/convention for the third time (see where I’m getting at with the sort of component in that sentence?)! Honestly guys, I love attending this event and if it was free, or even a lot cheaper than what it is, I would attend this event every year. Twice a year to be exact because it ideally happens twice a year. Once at the beginning of the year in LA (which is where I’m going!), and once in the middle of the year in New York (where I’ve been). So, if I could, yes, twice a year, every year.
This event is just so fun! It’s a great opportunity for actors, actresses, models, musicians, or any talent for that matter, to get exposure to agents from all over the world. On top of that, it’s a week full of inspiration. You’re surrounded by other talented people who all just have a deep love and respect for creativity and passion. That’s the best part about the event. You get to see video montages of big name celebrities who also attended this event and have made a household name for themselves, like Ashton Kutcher. That in itself is so inspiring! It’s probably one of my favorite parts of the event. I mean honestly, I could go on and on about how amazing this event is, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
That’s what the beginning of my year is looking like so far and I’m so excited! Everything happens for a reason. My mother use to tell me this all the time growing up. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to adopt this mindset. Turns out, there’s a lot of truth to it. Nothing is ever written in stone until it is written in stone, but I just have a good feeling about everything in my life right now. I feel like I’m right where I am supposed to be. Like everything that is meant to happen, is going to happen, when it is meant to happen. Everything that I am doing, I am meant to be doing, and the results of doing so will be what they are meant to be.
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I’m just so happy and at peace with where I am in life right now, and that in itself is so refreshing! So, since this new year is all about planting the intent to set and achieve goals, here are 5 tips on how to stay focused on those goals.
Tip #1: Patience
With everything that we do we must have the patience to be able to do it. When we take our time to be noticed, to be seen, and to do something as imperfectly as possible, we are in the mist of creating greatness. And yes, you read that right, with everything that you do, do it as imperfectly as you possibly can. This helps to not only teach you have to be authentically you, but it will teach you patience. How? Because it teaches you that nothing in this world is perfect, even when it comes pretty damn close to being perfect, it’s not perfect. True perfectionism can be seen in those who have the patience to fail forward, time and time again, and still keeping going. So practice patience.
Tip #2: Commitment
You have to commit to whatever it is you are doing, or intend to do. Commitment is a big piece to the puzzle for achieving goals, because there are going to be many times that you fail. There will be many times that you experience setbacks, both big and small, and there will be many times when you feel like just giving up. You have to be strong and committed enough to not let those things hold you back from achieving your goals. Even when it feels like you don’t have the upper hand, find a way to give yourself the upper hand. Commit to everything that you do because it is a reflection of your determination.
Tip #3: Focus
You have to have clear focus on your goals in order to achieve them. It almost falls back onto the commitment aspect of achieving goals, but is a bit more detailed. By having focus, I mean you have to have a plan for how you are going to get there. How long do you anticipate that it will take you to reach that goal? Even when you set a goal date, don’t anticipate the day that date comes. Instead give yourself room to discover earlier or even later achievements of that goal, because life is unpredictable, it can’t be planned, and at any given moment anything can happen. Give yourself the ability to focus on your goals, by making a plan on how and when to get there, and make the necessary adjustments as and when needed. Stay focused.
Tip #4: See It Through Until the End
Seriously, see your goals through until the end. I know that this can be hard for a lot of us. When you set your mind on something the hardest part is waiting. However, nothing that we do produces an immediate end result. Everything that we do is a process. For me setting goals is like baking a really big cake. You have to make sure you have all the necessary ingredients, all the tools that you will need, which all amounts to the number of people you plan to feed. In addition to that, you have to prep and prepare before you enter the waiting period. After the waiting period (when the cake is baking) you still have to add the finishing touches before you can call it complete. It’s a process where the end result is in sight, but in order to get there you have to put in all the work needed first. See everything that you do through until the end, the results will always be much more rewarding that way.
Tip #5: Don’t Anticipate the End Result
My acting teacher, as well as Mr. Misner himself, would say that “anticipation is the actor’s greatest enemy”. Honestly, there is a lot of truth to this, but not only within acting, this is true with life in general. As humans we anticipate a lot of things. We anticipate when the guy (or girl) is going to pop the question in relationships, we anticipate when the arrival of our first baby, we even anticipate the little things, like when tomorrow is finally going to come. You can’t anticipate your goals. Anticipating will only lead to you acting on impulses that have the potential to help you sabotage your goals. Instead, be present and fail forward. Don’t anticipate, but instead go with the steady flow of the river.
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New adventures await us in this new year. Keep these five tips in mind and apply them as needed to your goals for this year. I know I will, especially while I’m out in LA! I’m excited for this, I have a really good feeling about where it will take me. So remember:
- Be patient
- Commit to everything that you do
- Stay focused
- See everything that you do until the end
- Don’t anticipate
See you soon love bugs!
-Xo
Kimora