August 29, 2011

new undertakings.

i've been extremely blessed to work in an environment that takes goal-setting very seriously... (we are literally "goal-coached" regularly, and that term is extremely normal at work. pretty powerful) and one of the most important things i've been dwelling on lately is how crucial it is to be clear and specific about your goals, write them down, and share them.

a little history. in september 2009, i took a scrap piece of paper out of my notebook one night and i wrote the following:

by january 2010: present dance pieces in 3 different venues.
by april 2010: come up with new choreographic idea.
by september 2010: quit this job.

i stuck that paper inside a journal of mine and i'm not sure how long it was before i forgot about it, but i definitely did.

fast-forward to june 2010.  i was flipping through some stuff and a piece of paper fluttered out.  it was that little scrap with those deadlines on it (bet you didn't see that coming).  i had completely forgotten that i had even written it.  but upon further thought, i realized my success rate was pretty incredible.

by january 2010: present dance pieces in 3 different venues.  i had work in Dance Chicago in November of 2009, and Northwestern University put up my first show on campus in December 2009.  so that's two out of three.
by april 2010: come up with new choreographic idea. january brought with it my first choreography resolution, so that's 31 new ideas. and i had just started rehearsals for my at-that-point-unnamed project that would become The Way We Danced 'Til Three.  so that was kinda thirty-two out of one.
by september 2010: quit this job.  i had just days before started my leave of absence from Accenture.

that felt pretty powerful.  not a bad track record.  as you might imagine, i've been making a point to physically write down some goals and dreams regularly!

here's my latest.  until now, i've fronted money from my savings account to self-produce my work, but i can't really afford to do that anymore, so my latest goal is to actually get FUNDED to put up TWWDTT here in NYC.

the best part about that is that then the ticket sales from this show, instead of reimbursing me for the expenses, can go towards the next production.  and then hopefully i'll keep this cycle going!

here it is.  i just launched my kickstarter campaign, and you can see it here! at least you can see what i'm up to!

on another note... survived Hurricane Irene, and my part of Brooklyn was fortunately spared!  grateful for all of it!