Defining your goals is extremely important in any self-driven profession. In stand-up comedy, defining your comedy goals will set you apart from a large mass of aimless souls. Goals in and of themselves won’t make you funnier than anyone else. But they should make you funnier than you are now if you set them correctly. Without them, you may find yourself immersed in bitterness and resent everyone else’s success.
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Henry David Thoreau
In this episode, we talk about first defining your overall reason for performing comedy. Once you have that down, you should be able to create some benchmarks that align with your purpose.
To help get your goals into focus, ask yourself:
- What is my definition of success?
- What sacrifices do I need to make to get there?
- What happens if I don’t make the goal?
- What system do I have in place to track my goal?
- Who has achieved this goal (or a similar one) before me?
- What is my plan if I simply can’t reach these goals in the long run?
To help true comedy beginners, I go over my goals from the very beginning in 1991 (meet girls), and set new goals for 2015 (you’ll have to listen to find out). My reason for doing so is to let you see how they can change over time. Also, so you may be able to get some ideas for goals to set for yourself. Everyone will be different, but I think the process is a shared experience we can all relate to.
If you are really interested in setting some goals, check out this blog post: “What Is Holding You Back?”
As in all things in life, you want to make sure your family is on board with your goals.
Remember, your ability plus your work ethic equals your opportunities. So, set some short and long term goals and make sure to generate opportunities through focused effort.
NEED SOME HELP SETTING YOUR GOALS?
How many goals will you set for this year? How many of these will you honestly measure and track? There are limitless things to target, but without ANY specifics in mind you will have a hard time knowing if you are making the right decisions with your time.
Would you like some free advice and help on making next year the best it can be?
GET YOUR FREE GOAL TRACKER WORKSHEET
The feedback I have already received this year inspired me to create a 2015 Goals Worksheet. This .pdf is designed to help inspire you to create, measure and improve upon over twenty goals for your comedy career. Whether you are reading this post in December, February or August all you have to do is request this free worksheet and I’ll send it your way.
If you would like a 2015 Goals Worksheet, please join our INSIDER TIPS NEWSLETTER by e-mailing me at SchoolOfLaughs@gmail.com. Put “INSIDER TIPS / 2015 GOALS WORKSHEET” in the subject line. (If you are already a subscriber, you will automatically get the sheet.)
I’ll send you the worksheet and you will receive the bi-monthly NEWSLETTER. It is full of comedy news, blog recaps, podcast summaries and a challenge to get your comedy career on the right track. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter anytime. No hard feelings.
ON A SIDE NOTE
If you feel your writing is holding you back, please consider enrolling in the online writing class. For more info on that click here.
Thanks and have a prosperous (and measurable) 2015.
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Rik Roberts is a 23 year comedy veteran. Still performing over 100 shows a year, Rik also operates the School Of Laughs workshops and classes. The courses both LIVE and ONLINE are designed to help you get bigger, better and more bookable. To find out more about these classes or to ask Rik a question, simply shoot an email to SchoolOfLaughs@gmail.com.
