Catching a Fly With Chopsticks
Upon seeing Mr. Miyagi attempting to catch a fly with chopsticks, Daniel gives it a try. That’s a description I found on the Internet. “Try” isn’t a word that I’m particularly fond of using in regards to going after a dream. It’s non-committal. If there is one thing we learned about Daniel in The Karate Kid, he was committed. Even when he was frustrated because he didn’t understand the tasks Mr. Miyagi was giving him, he did them. Including focusing all of his attention on catching that fly. If you get what you focus on, then you want to focus on what you want. Many people in the entertainment industry know what they want in a big picture way like: “I want to be famous,” “I want to work on Oscar winning projects,” “I want to make millions of dollars.” These wants are in alignment with what’s possible in this industry, however, when I ask how they plan to achieve these “big picture dreams” 90% of people say either that they don’t know or that they plan to keep getting work until it happens.
Those answers are not focused answers. If you ask a budding CEO of a breakthrough product what his dream is and he says that it’s to make millions with his product, and then you ask him how he plans to do that, he will whip out a business plan that he designed in Harvard Business School, and it will be quite impressive.
Do you have a business plan for 2015? If so, how focused is it? I’d like to give you some pointers:
1. Work backwards from the “big dream.” In how many years do you want to achieve the Oscar? Let’s say 10. If you want an Oscar in 10 years, what goals will you achieve by 5 years from now to put you in the position to be hired on an Oscar worthy project? Where do you have to be by the end of 2015 to set you up for your Oscar win?
2. Make a list of 10 business action tasks that you want to focus on this year to bring your 1-year goals to fruition.
3. Create a 12-month calendar with your action tasks going down the left and the months going across the top.
4. Put a number of what you plan to accomplish next to each action task (for example: 200 new contacts, 1 script written, 20 mentors)
5. Spread the numbers out throughout the year either by dividing them by 12 or strategically.
6. Focus each month on what you want to get done.
AND ACTION
1. Create your 2015 business plan
2. If you want to create a plan and need more help, contact me.
Daniel was always the underdog, underestimated, and unlikely to win. With his focus and determination, he beat the odds. There are thousands of people beating the odds in our industry every year. Will you be one of them in 2015?
