7 Steps to Achieve Your Goals
How to make an action plan
We all have dreams.
We all have goals.
But how do we transfer those from our minds to our realities?
I recommend an Action Plan.
If you haven’t yet, I recommend starting by reading these other two blogs:
Now, Let’s make an Action Plan together.
STEP 1: Let’s dream
Start by thinking of one of your biggest dreams. For the purpose of this blog I am going to use the dream of dancing for ABT (American Ballet Theater). Choose whichever dream makes your heart sing the loudest.
STEP 2: 5 year dream life
Think of where you would like to be in regards to this goal in 5 years. This might feel very far away, but that’s the point. Perhaps I would like to already be in the company as a corps de ballet member in 5 years.
It is important to remember that at this point we are thinking about the “ideal”. Don’t worry about making this 5 year life “realistic”. The truth is that in 5 years we will all be in very different situation than we are now, but this is an exercise to get us moving in the right direction.
STEP 3: 5 years to 1 year
Now make a list of things that you can do in the next year to get closer to your “5 years from now, ideal, dream life” :)
Go back to your blog concept of Dreams vs Goals. The quick summary of the blog is that Dreams are desires we have but are dependant on outside forces. For example, getting into a ballet company requires that the company has to be hiring, and they need to have female positions open, they have to have an audition that I am able to attend, then the auditioners have to like me, and on, and on. The stars have to align in order for dreams to come true. But Goals, are desires we have to propel us towards our dreams, but the cool part is that we have 100% control over the outcome.
While making your list of one year goals, make sure that you are able to accomplish these goals by yourself.
Example:
Try out for ABT’s summer intensive
Learn more about the company
Attend a company audition
Work on my ballet technique
Compete a variation at a competition
*All of these things would be almost entirely in my control
Also note, that just like 5 years, a lot can happen in 1 year. As a personal anecdote, I made a list of yearly goals just 2 months ago (I was making my personal action plan) and I revisited them while planning this blog. Guess what? Nearly half of them had changed or morphed! This isn’t because my dreams changed, it was because I got some new opportunities and lost others.
STEP 4: Year to Month
Now that we’ve got our yearly goals down, let’s break it down even more.
What are some things we can accomplish this month to get us closer to your yearly goals?
I prefer to break down each goal I had above into smaller parts, one by one.
*I will mention, I’m no longer immersed in the ballet company world, so this is all just me spitballing, not an actually great list, but feel free to steal some inspiration from it.
Example: Bold = yearly goal
Try out for ABT’s summer intensive
Look up the audition schedule
Make sure I can get transportation and have the day free on the schedule
Learn more about the company
Follow current dancers on social media
Learn about artistic director
Find podcasts or interviews with ABT dancers or staff
Attend a company audition
Find audition schedule (find out if they do open call auditions)
Research how other dancers got into the company
Attend a smaller company’s audition for practice
Work on my ballet technique
Attend 4 ballet classes a week
Start cross training 2x a week at the gym
Compete a variation at a competition
Research competitions I qualify for
Find a variation I want to perform
Now that is a laundry list, too much for just one month, this list is enough to fill a year! Keep this list handy as you continue through this year for ideas, but no need to accomplish all of this in a month.
STEP 5 : Month to Week
Don’t feel overwhelmed. I’m sure right now you are looking at a long list of things to be done.
You have more control than you might have thought. Let this inspire you, not terrify you.
I am guessing you know what’s coming next… Look at your list and think, what can I do this WEEK that will get me closer to my monthly goals.
At this point, it might be helpful to pick just 4 monthly goals from your long brainstormed list. We have a lot of material and ideas to use in the future but we first need to make it reasonable for us now. If you have 3 auditions this month, no need to worry about a competition that is 10 months away.
Example:
Weekly goals based on monthly goals:
Monthly goal: Attend a smaller company audition for practice:
Weekly goals:
Google smaller companies and their audition schedules
Get new headshots and audition photos
Refresh resume
STEP 6 : Week to Day
You probably guessed what the next step is, we are going to break down our weekly goals into daily goals or to-do lists. This is the most fun, because this is when our goals really start to feel obtainable.
Example:
Weekly goal: Get new headshots
Daily goal ideas:
Text your photographer friend
Post on inta stories if anyone has a photographer friend
Try on tops and choose a good color
Look up other ballet dancers headshots to see industry standard
Practice your hair style
Practice faces/poses in mirror
I like to make a list of possible daily goals at the beginning of the week, then pick from them like a menu throughout the week. That way I have freedom in my schedule, but also always know what I need or can do.
STEP 7 - Reflect
Did you think you were done? Well, not quite. In fact you are just beginning. Now you get to go and start working towards your dreams. BUT… don’t forget to reflect. One of the great parts of this action plan is that you get to constantly check in with your goals and set new ones. It is totally normal to drop goals when they aren’t working for you, or changing the way you want to structure things.
When I made my first action plan, I had a lot of goals that looked like, workout everyday, do a ballet barre everyday, do skin care everyday, read everyday, write everyday. In an ideal world it would be great to do all these things everyday, but that wasn’t realistic and if I missed my workout on a Tuesday, I ended up just skipping it for the rest of the week because I already “messed up” the week. Now I set goals like, workout 3 times a week, write 2 sentences 5 times a week, do a ballet barre 3 times a week. But I only learned that this was a more productive way of goal setting for me by reflecting regularly on how I was doing.