I've never conducted an annual review, so I have been referencing some of Ben Whitehair's posts from Playbills v. Paying bills (here and here) as well as his source, Chris Guillebeau here (includes a spreadsheet template for your own annual review) and here.
Looking Back
Stats
7 Auditions
1 Call-Back
1 Role
34 Blog Posts, including this one (approx. 1.6 per week)
Approaching 2,000 pageviews
?? Headshots dispersed (several hard copies and plenty of digital copies)
What Went Well
I did well this year to take advantage of opportunities (sometimes unexpected) that came my way, including my time as a camp counselor. During that time, I tapped into skills I didn't even know I had, leadership and working well with kids, which I hope to continue to develop. There is also something to be said for getting an acting job while living with my mom in the middle of nowhere. Not only am I proud of getting the role, I am also proud of my performance. While I was working on the show, I developed a strong relationship to the artistic director of the theatre and I think the relationships I've formed and maintained have been a highlight of the past year.
What Did Not Go Well
It has been a challenge to find ways to motivate myself to work at full capacity, knowing there's nowhere I need to be in the morning, no due dates, and no professors who's respect I want to earn. It's just been me, sans schedule and time restrictions and, while I have gotten some things done this year, the level of my productivity is disappointingly low. I also had every intention of being in Chicago by now, which may have been possible with better planning and budgeting. The extra time at home will inspire more restlessness, I think, but possibly also generate a little more money for when the time does come to move.
Looking Forward
Guillebeau suggests creating categories and setting 3 to 5 goals for each one. So here it goes:
Acting (artistic):
- Read the rest of Shakespeare's plays.
- See 15 plays.
- Enroll in an acting class. (Auditioning?)
- Bring monologue repertoire up to 10 total (5 classical and 5 contemporary).
- Journal every day. Yeah. Every day. I think about acting that often, therefore I can write about it that often.
- Increase blog postings to twice a week, possibly add interviews and reviews.
- Increase tweets to 2+/day
- Send out mailings every quarter.
- Send out professional email every quarter.
- Create a budget and stick to it.
- Set up retirement fund and contribute $20/month.
- Set up credit.
- Run a 5k.
- Flexibility--To be able to sit and bend at the hip with elbows resting between legs. To be able to hold bottoms of outstretched feet.
- Join a soccer team.
- Largely replace snacks with more protein and veggies and less salt and fat. (So this one's not really measurable. Whatever. You know what I'm sayin'.)
- Send friends mail or goodies at least once a month.
- Return home for Renaissance Fair and/or Christmas.
- Date night with Chris once a week, even if we stay in.
- Set up etsy site and have steady supplies of cards and coasters.
- Put out advertisement for baby, pet, and house sitting every 2 weeks.
- Add self to care.com.
- Knitting
- Sewing
- Get back to writing fiction and poetry.
- Driving (No, I still don't drive. Don't make fun of me.)
- Paper crafts/Collage