Tag: goals

2016 Creative Goal

Here it is, the tail end of January, and I’ve finally nailed down my personal creative goal for 2016.  I actually nailed it down the second week of January, but I’ve just now found the time to write about it.

Last year, my goal was to create and publish a piece of audio every week for a full year.  I’m happy to say I achieved that goal and then some.  But that triumph left me in a little bit of a quandary.  After producing 52 weeks of content, what was I going to do with the podcast?  Keep it going and just relax the schedule and work on something else?  I wasn’t sure.

But then I remembered an idea I had a few years ago about doing a podcast where I sat down and talked to my friends for 15 or so minutes about their life and creative pursuits.  I actually recorded a few of these interviews and so I found the card they were on and listened through them.  That’s when my goal for 2016 hit me: record 52 podcast interviews in 2016. (Please notice, I didn’t say one interview  a week.  I’ll be releasing them once a week but I will be stacking the recordings.)

So, that’s my plan for 2016, record 52 podcast interviews.  I’ve already recorded 5 of them and I have one more scheduled to record tonight.  I’ve also reached out to several friends to schedule recording times and the response has been positive.  The first of these interviews comes out tomorrow morning over on the GrantCast (which now has a website http://www.GrantCast.com).  It’s an interview with a friend I’ve known for a few years now and it was so much fun to sit down and chat with her about her creative pursuits.  Who is it?  You’ll find out tomorrow on the podcast.

Now, not all of these 52 interviews will wind up on the GrantCast.  That’s not the plan at any rate.  I have an idea for yet another podcast that some of these interviews would be recorded for.  For right now, the focus of that podcast will be kept under wraps but it’ll be fun.  I have feelers out to some very good interview subjects for those interviews.  Stay tuned.

So, I hope you enjoy the new interviews starting tomorrow on the GrantCast and please, feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you think.

Happy New Year!

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Health, Decide & Love in 2014.

It is the start of a new year and so time to pick three new words I’m going to attempt to focus on in my life for 2014.  This is a practice I picked up from C.C. Chapman‘s book Amazing Things WIll Happen.

Last year my three words were Create.  Rebuild.  Live.  I would say out of those three I hit Create the hardest.  I certainly was not wanting for creative projects to occupy my time.  The Live focus also got some attention this year, but not nearly enough as I would have liked.  The Rebuild portion was a hard one.  Rebuilding relationships often takes more than one person and, despite efforts, I was not always successful in this arena, though small steps were made.

But those were the words for last year, it’s time to focus on the words for this year.

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Health. A lot of people make the old Heath resolution in January and it falls by the wayside weeks later.  Back in October, I focused on health for 20 days and it worked.  Not only that, it was easy.  But then I went to Toronto and instead of keeping going it all flew out the window.  Any gains I made were lost.  And then some.

So for 2014 I have a goal of taking better care of my self.  Yes, this includes eating right, exercising and losing weight, but it means more than just that.

Sleep.  My sleep in 2013 was horrible.  Most nights I’d go to bed after 1am then I’d be awake at 5am or earlier and just be completely unable to fall back asleep.  Usually because my brain starts going a million miles per hour.  As part of the word ‘Health’ for 2014, I need to discover why this happens and work on ways to make sure it stops happening.
Health also includes mental health.  Over the past year I have been, semi-regularly, seeing therapist.  I’ve been to two different ones over the course of the year looking for one that works but neither seem to. I’m realizing that it might not be the thing for for me.  I’ve found that a drive, late at night, on the freeway with the windows down and music blaring will usually make me feel better than an hour (or 50 minutes) of therapy.  If that’s true, I need to find other things that do the same.
I turn 40 this year and though I believe you can always make a change no matter what age you are, I feel this is a turning point and if I develop the proper habits right now they’ll last me for however long I have left on this planet.
Decide.  Despite having a lot of professional work in 2013, time spent working on projects I was truly passionate about was few.  I’m not ashamed to say that there were several moments in 2013 where I was pretty much convinced that, for my sanity, I had to get out of this business.  That being the business of attempting to land something at least minimally life supporting in the creative arts.
I spent a large part of the year angry.  Angry, jealous and bitter.  I was at an audition a few months ago and bumped I to a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile and as we talked I got off on some sort of rant about something or other in the entertainment world and he said, “Yeah, but you don’t want to wind up a bitter old man do you?”   That clicked in my head.  Was I just becoming this bitter old guy?   Were the years of trying to ‘make it’ grinding me down that much?  Was obsessing about people and projects I perceived as much less talented or creative than me who got big breaks making me a ‘bitter’ old man?
I think so.
So 2014 is all about deciding.  I need to decide on the best ways to continue in this business, if I am going to continue.  Sadly, the ways I’ve been trying either don’t work or, I think more likely, are not working anymore.  Instead of becoming more and more frustrated with how little traction my Saturday Morning Media projects get, I think I have to find a new way to go about presenting them.  I need to decide how I am to deal with the ups and downs of this business.  I, actually, used to be pretty good at it.  I need to find my way back there.
I need to decide to pursue projects that will make me happy.  Not just pursue projects ‘because I need the money.’  Unfortunately, this one is already broken for 2014, because I committed to a project I’m just not feeling but I needed the money.  At least I know that and will attempt to avoid avoid that mistake further on in 2014.
Love.  This one kinda goes hand and hand with Decide up above.  I need to find a way to Love more.  Love the life I have, love the people around me.  Love how things are going in my life.
As I mentioned above I spent a lot of 2014 angry.  Angry for the things I didn’t have or the things people did to me.  I need to learn to love what I have.  I need to learn to, not love, the people who wrong me, but cut them out of my life so I can keep focus that love elsewhere.
I have it pretty good.  I get to do things a lot of people would PAY to do.  I need to remember that.  I need to learn to love that.
I wrote in my Annual Review yesterday that there was a moment on stage in Toronto where I just broke out into a big smile.  I was so happy because I was loving exactly what I was doing at that moment.  I need to start finding that feeling in all other aspects of my life and if I don’t love what I’m doing or who I’m with, I need to stop.
I think finding more of the things I love will also help with the whole health thing too.
In his book, C.C. Chapman suggest posting your three words somewhere where you’ll see them everyday.  I didn’t do that last year and, perhaps, that is why I didn’t get as much progress on them as I wanted.  I’m going to give it a try this year.  Post them at home, in my office, and anywhere else I can find to put them.
Okay, here we go!
Soon…Goals for 2014.
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10 in 20 – Day 13 – Holding Steady.

Well, I’ve hit a bit of a plateau it seems.  Once again this morning the scale read 171.0lbs.  Not frustrated at all but would like to see at least a pound go soon.  It was fun being AHEAD of the game but I’m rapidly approaching the deadline for the goal.  When I starter I said NEAR 10lbs.  7 is good but I was thinking more along the lines of 8 or 9.  But I still have the rest of the week.  Who knows what’ll happen.

I’ve been super focused on the food though.  Usual Subway order int he morning, but swapped out the chips for apples.  We’ll see what that does to things.  Had some apple slices at the office after leading a tour of the Jim Henson Company.  Then this afternoon I stepped up my run a little bit to try and move things along.  Need some new running shoes before I go all out though.

Had rehearsal for Puppet Up tonight at the Henson Lot.  That meant dinner from Bossa Nova again so my meal here is pretty much identical to what I had last week.  Always a little challenging to head into a meal where you’re not quite sure what’ll be served, but these rehearsals are usually the same so it was familiar when I got there.  Good, good food.  Easy to eat way too much.  The dangers here are anything but the chicken.  They also have mashed potatoes, but I avoid those like crazy.

As I said, I’m not frustrated about not seeing more pounds fall off.  This actually makes me more determined that when I get to where I really want to be (I’m thinking 155-158) I’ll be more focused to stay there.  It sort of re-inspires me to maintain when I reach that weight so that I don’t have to go through all this again.  Really not happy with how I bulked up and I’m looking forward to getting back into a more ‘normal’ range.  Hope to be there in not too much longer and definitely before the holidays and my mom’s amazing cooking.

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Subway 6″ Turkey on Wheat, apple slices, bottle of water – 8 WW points
As I said, swapped out the Chips for apples here to try and cut some points.  Same old, same old.

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Apple slices & Grapes and Apples Slices – 2 WW Points.
I really like the apple slices with grapes.  Sweet and crunchy.  The apple slices are great too.  Again, I have an issue with these being a point each, but I’m sticking to the book!

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Bossa Nova Chicken, rice, plantains, salsa – 21 WW Points (estimate)
Again, a super high estimate.  Even with that big of a point meal I still have 5 daily points and 2 activity points.  Plus I haven’t used any of my flex points at all this week, so we are good.  Thos plantains are so damn tempting, just really tempting.  Didn’t have as many as I usually would have though.

ACTIVITY – 30 MINS RUNNING

 

As always, thanks for joining me on this journey.  We’re getting close to the end and then I’ll leave you alone.  Promise.  Then I’ll just be blogging daily about Toronto!  GAH!  Cannot wait for Toronto!!!

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10 in 20 – Day 10 – Maintain.

CLARIFICATION – In yesterday’s report I put that the scale had read 173lbs.  That was a typo.  It read 171lbs, and thus my 7 lbs since I began.  Sorry for any confusion.

Folks, we are…I mean, I am maintaining!  That’s right, this morning the scale read 171lbs!  That’s maintaining.  I had been really worried, but I’d stayed the same.  Good news.

Today was a bit odd food wise.  I had my usual subway sandwich in the morning and a banana in the office as a snack, but I got busy with a project and suddenly ran up agains the time I was going to be able to go for a run and be able to get home, shower and change for an improv show I was in tonight.  This meant no dinner until after 10PM which I’m REALLY trying to avoid. I was super starving after the show but I decided to eat light.

As you’ll see below I found these apple slices packages that come with apples and grapes.  I like apples, I like grapes so I got them.  Luckily I hand’t taken them to the office yet and they were still at home.  Those and a bowl of oatmeal became my dinner.  Again, didn’t like eating so late, but I didn’t want a repeat of last week.

Good news today as I was able to get my run in.  Nothing like a good run in the early evening, listening to songs and ignoring what’s bothering you.

Eating very light tomorrow because I have a special dinner planned for tomorrow night.  I’m running sound for a show in Hollywood tomorrow so I’m going to go to a place in Hollywood that has a great chicken salad.  And it’s not ‘chicken salad’ it’s a salad with chicken.  It’s a big salad and even though it’s healthy, it’s a lot of food.  But I’m really looking forward to it.  It’s a good salad.  You’ll see in pictures tomorrow.

But that’s tomorrow, let’s look at today’s food…

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Subway 6″ Turkey breast on wheat, sour cream and onions Baked Lays & bottle of water. – 11 points
Like an old friend or a comfortable shoe.  Or something.  Anyway, same old same old here.

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Banana – 0 WW points
Monkeys love them, so do I.  A banana snack.  What else do you want me to say?

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Apple Slices & Grapes – 1 WW Point
Again, I have a problem with the 1 point this calculates out to, but I’m tracking, so I’ll track it.  It must have to do with the preservatives or something.  Or something.

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2 packets of Lower Sugar Quaker Instant Oatmeal – 6 WW Points
Good, good stuff and actually a nice warming meal later in the night.  I’ve read you’re not supposed to eat a bunch of carbs and stuff before sleep because you’re body has to work harder to process it, but it was late and what I had.  I’ll stick to the protein & vegetables tomorrow night.

ACTIVITY – RUNNING 30 Mins.

That was today’s menu.  Interested in seeing what the scale reads tomorrow what with eating so late.  We’ll see and I’ll report back here.

Interesting proposition….a friend asked if they could take me to barbecue before I leave for Toronto next Sunday.  Tempting…tempting.  I’ll have to see how well I do by mid-week and let her know.  And let you know right here!

Have a great day!

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