How Not to Lose Yourself in the Holiday Tumult
…or any of time of the year, for that matter.
by Christina Shipp
I like to play. I like to party. I understand how easy it is to get knocked off course with all of this city’s distractions and the inevitable Holiday Cheer. So after this last Thanksgiving—The Feast of Feasts-- I ask myself, how can I balance? How can I maintain the sort of effort I need to keep myself moving forward, free of distractions, and making the kind of moves I want to be known for? How can I motivate myself to put as much investment of energy into my work as into my play?
I’ve also known the feeling of disappointment that comes when I have failed to meet my expectations: the feeling that happens when you know you should have got up in time to go to that audition, should have taken that meeting, should have to followed up with that call. I get it. I’ve been there. We all have. So now: a new year. We’ve got the holidays coming up and new distractions to rationalize. How do we stay on top of our goals and be the balanced creative’s we want to be and make the “should’s” obsolete?
The answer is this, and comes from a lot of effort, and perhaps not the answer that’s easiest to stomach. It may, in fact, go down like third piece of pumpkin pie after the second round at the turkey table. But the solution is still a simple one. It’s discipline, my friends, plain as day. Discipline and determination. And I wish I could take full credit on that one, but I stole that from Chet Holmes: millionaire and author or The Ultimate Sales Machine. It takes discipline to wake up each morning and set out to accomplish the tasks you’ve set for yourself. Clear, pig headed determination and discipline. It’s taken me discipline to get through the book: but I do it so you don’t have to. Everyone needs a coach.
It’s each year that makes me the wiser—I had a birthday right before Thanksgivin’ hit—and I realized: I’ve spent years investing in the creative part of myself. Years training and cultivating the craft I so respect and love. And I say now is the year for cultivating the Manager part of myself. How many of you need more of a Manager in your lives? The person who organizes your creative brain, who sets goals, keeps you on task, motivates, and produces, top notch, at all times? We all need to embrace the Manager within ourselves, and spend as much time investing on waking this manifesting force as we do on classes and technique. No one is going to do this work for us. We need to cultivate the dedication to do it for ourselves. So I say, Now. Now is the time to cultivate the discipline and determination to wake up and realize your full potential. To cross the six things off your Daily To Do List with focus and dedication. The time to calculate and measure your successes and failures. The time to make a difference in your life with every single step, every single day. To work like a Manager right up to, during, and on the other side of the Holi-daze.
The truth: no one is infallible. Which is why even all-stars need coaches. It is wonderful to have people in our lives that we trust to let in on our goals and dreams. These people act like fans and keep us moving forward. We never want to let our fans down, so often times checking in with our support groups on what we want to accomplish holds us accountable for our actions. We need to access and support this kind of accountability, and embrace it. This is exactly the kind of motivation we need. And with the right amount of discipline and determination to embrace the Manager within, we can achieve the kind of balance in our lives that keeps us going strong, even when the distractions of life breeze through. We will have our iron will determination to carry us right through to the other side. Through the holidays, through the New Year, and toward achieving our goals.
So stay disciplined, embrace your inner Manager, and get together with your coach, team, and support group this holiday season! Eggnog, anyone?
