Part Two: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – As Applied to Actors

Welcome back to our blog mini series on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People! We are breaking down the 7 tips that Stephen Covey shares in his book (great read! I can definitely recommend it) but we are gearing our tips below to ACTORS looking to be more EFFECTIVE in their acting careers!

So onward to habit # 2.

2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.

For the baseball fans in the house– let’s start with a Yogi Berra quote– “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

You need to be thinking today about your ultimate destination in your career. What do you want to achieve? What do you want your life to look like? Who are you as a successful actor? What work are you doing? Who are you doing it with? What types of characters are you playing? How much money do you make? Where do you live?

Feel a little day-dreamy? Good! You can’t build your best vision of the future if you spent no time thinking about it and designing it!

If you don’t have an answer to all those questions above, it truly is WORTH taking the time to explore your heart on them. And don’t limit yourself to your career! Think about your relationships, hobbies, lifestyle and how life feels living in your chosen path. You can’t possibly move closer to the YOU that you want to be if you don’t have a clear picture of it!

So here are a few tips for you for point number 2!

Spend 5 minutes each morning thinking about the career you want to have. Set an alarm, close your eyes, and think about the life you want to be living for at least 5 whole uninterrupted minutes. Focus on the 5 senses and your emotions and think about everything in detail. You should be smiling while you do this! It should feel good or you are doing it wrong!

Create a vision board for your life. Put pictures that represent your career, lifestyle, income and relationships on it. Get specific and cover a whole poster board with representations of your future.

Set goals by working backward. Once you know your ultimate goals, it is easier to work back from there to identify the remaining milestones that need to get you there. Write that top goal and think “what would I need right before this?” and then write that goal down. Then ask the question before that goal and so on. Doing this will help you build your own personal road map.

Pave your brain for success. Envision how you will handle hurdles. They will happen and your reaction is important. Take time to really explore how you can overcome challenges with grace and grit.

One day, when you are gone and the Oscars want to celebrate your life–what do you want them to say about you and your career? What do you want family and friends to remember about you? Weave those answers into your life now!

Habit #3 is en route in a future blog post! Feel free to comment below on any action steps these principles inspire for you!

Need help taking regular action to move your career forward? CLICK HERE to check out our membership program which includes a weekly accountability group! We talk a LOT about mindset in the group– so if you need help with that piece– come find us!

Colleen Finnegan Kahl is an accomplished Theatre Arts Educator, author of this article, and President of Actors Connection. Colleen is an expert helping aspiring actors prepare for casting calls, find an agent, and optimize their acting training for theater and television.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven