In the midst of this pandemic, some artists have felt like they’ve found themselves in this abyss of nothingness. As the months go by it can feel like you’re experiencing waiting met by even more waiting. It’s an easy time to feel helpless and lost without direction. To give Broadway athletes assistance in finding inspiration, purpose, and the simple need for joy, I’ve suggested they focus on a few key things.
A lot of artists went from the busy daily grind of running to auditions, to work, to the gym, to their show, to work again, etc. to a now a wide-open appointment-free schedule. So, the first thing I’d suggest for you is to make a daily schedule for yourself. If your day, week, month, and rest of the year seems bare, we must then fill it up with purpose-driven goals. Start by coming up with a few macro goals, followed by thinking of micro-goals you’d need to complete to accomplish your macro goals. Take it one day at a time and plan out your schedule for the next day each prior evening. For example, if one of your macro goals is to read five books by the end of the year, set out a daily goal of reading 20 pages each morning before picking up your phone. Don’t focus on reading five books because that’s overwhelming. Just focus on the doable micro habit of 20 pages each day.
The same importance of schedule-making goes for fitness goals during this pandemic. Getting your blood pumping and your heart rate elevated is not only good for our fitness but, it makes us feel alive! Exercise gives us that natural rush and sensation of, “I’m still in this thing!” Even though your days are wide open, still try to commit to a schedule and train at the same time each day. This type of accountability to yourself will keep you feeling accomplished and satisfied in the sense that you completed something that day to better yourself. This is an easier goal to accomplish if you have a training plan. Randomly choosing exercises or classes to do spontaneously oftentimes leads to us choosing nothing at all.
We now have two hypothetical goals on our schedule, so now is a great time to talk about writing everything down. There’s something powerful about writing out your commitments to yourself. Put this list on your mirror or someplace that you see first thing in the morning.
How To Cope With the Broadway Closure Our anxieties frequently get in the way of allowing us to feel as though we can accomplish our schedule. I’m sure you can relate to having anxieties. It’s 2020. This is why I encourage you to journal and/or meditate. Ask yourself: “What are my anxieties?” “What actions can I carry out to subside them?” If nothing can be done on your end, take the time to release them and assure yourself it’s out of your hands and no fault of your own. OK, so we’re going to journal and meditate. Now what should you do? Write down your commitment to do this daily! At a time in all of our lives where our feelings are all over the place, we must continue to strive to act on our commitments and not our feelings.
Find a like-minded group of people to be members of your tribe. The cliché saying, “You are the company you keep” is overused for a reason. It’s true! Surround yourself with others that encourage, inspire, and uplift you on a daily basis. Just because the brick and mortar of theaters are closed, doesn’t mean your creativity with others has to be as well. Take the momentum of your daily successes of reading, journaling, meditating, exercising, and let that springboard you into creating with your peers.
Let’s conclude with a few other actions that can help us to move forward during this pandemic. Change up your music playlist during workouts or other times throughout the day. Read, watch, or listen to stories of people or groups who have overcome substantial trials throughout history to encourage you that you’ll overcome this. Intentionally choose when you’ll scroll through social media or news and give yourself a limit. We must intentionally create structure in a seemingly unstructured world. Yes, all of the above must be practiced in moderation, but once again, as a coach, I have to warn you about the dangers of solely living out life based on how you’re feeling. There is no doubt that these are trying times; frankly, most of this sucks. But, this too shall pass.
You’re going to make it! We’re going to make it! Keep taking it day by day and strive to complete your daily, written out actions. Here’s a brief review of what we discussed:
- Make macro goals and then micro-goals to bit by bit achieve those macro goals.
- Write down your commitments.
- Make a daily schedule each evening.
- Exercise.
- Meditate and/or journal.
- Change up your usual music, walking routes, etc.
- Limit social media and news scrolling.
- Choose your company wisely.
- For the majority, act on your commitments and not your feelings.
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and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
