Now that the holidays have arrived, I want you to do something that will go against everything you’ve been conditioned to believe about your career. I want you to forget it. Ignore it. Throw the damn thing in the closet and lock the door. This is not the time of year to focus on the entertainment industry. You should be thinking about Santa, not show business.
I’m constantly meeting actors who have ambition seeping from their pores. Everything in their lives is about getting ahead. They’re the ones who spend the holiday break sending submissions to closed agencies and trying to spike their social media numbers when they should be thinking about spiking the eggnog.
And yes, I know you’ve been told that if you want to succeed, you have to spend every waking moment of your existence trying to make the right moves and meet the right people. Hell, I’m sure there are a few columns out there where I say just that. But here’s the thing: I’ve come to believe that a successful actor usually springs forth from a happy human being, not the other way around.
That’s why you have to take a step back during the holidays. Christmas is the perfect time to charge your batteries. So do me a favor. Spend the next couple of weeks with friends and family. Donate your time at a local charity. Pack on a few pounds. It’s all good. And when January rolls around, you’ll be refreshed and raring to go.
Now, before we shut down Secret Agent Man headquarters for the year, I would like to plant one seed between your ears: Did you keep a professional journal during the last 12 months? If you did, good on you. But if you didn’t, this coming January is the perfect time to start.
A professional journal is a valuable tool you can use to track the ups and downs of your career. And you shouldn’t keep it online or in a word document. The process works better if you do it by hand. That’s right. I’m talking old-school. So go buy yourself a cool journal that reflects your personal style. Call it a Christmas present from you to you.
Starting in January, make an entry at the end of every day. Write down every positive and/or negative career-related event that occurred during the day. Did you meet a casting director at a workshop? Did you fart during class? Did you show up 10 minutes late for an audition? That all goes in your journal. And this time next year, when your break is over, set aside one night and a bottle of red wine to review what you wrote.
Congratulate yourself for the good and acknowledge the bad. Search for patterns of behavior that need to be examined and understood. Learn what condition your condition is in.
Trust me. Looking back will help you move forward.
Now that we’re nearing the end of 2015, I hope these columns have been helpful. And if they weren’t, I hope they were at least entertaining. Writing for Backstage and sharing my knowledge with you is a supreme pleasure that I don’t take for granted. So thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts.
Happy Holidays!
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