This can be challenging to navigate, especially if you’re new to the industry! So let’s talk about a goal-setting method that you may or may not know, and that’s the SMART Method.
SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. So when goal-setting, it’s important to make sure that the goal you’re creating checks all 5 of those boxes.
SPECIFIC: What area of your acting journey are you trying to work on? Your materials, such as your resume, headshots, or reel? Your self tape setup? Is there a specific acting technique that you want to learn more about? Identify what you want to work on before you determine how you’re going to work on it.
MEASURABLE: When goal-setting, it’s important to make sure that our goal can be measured, so that we can see how we’re doing! Maybe your goal is to find a clear, repeatable method for preparing your auditions, and you want to be able to knock them out with 2 days of preparation instead of your usual 5. Maybe you want to learn a new language to level up your Special Skills on your Actor’s Access profile, so you set out to get a 100-day DuoLingo streak! Whatever it is, find a way to check your progress as you go.
ATTAINABLE: This one is often the trickiest. With acting and auditioning, we simply cannot control the outcomes of casting. Many actors, when trying to set goals, think of things like “I want to book a Series Regular role on a Netflix TV show!”. While I understand the appeal of this goal, we need something that we are actually in control of. Maybe “I want to submit for more Series Regular television roles on Actor’s Access” could be a good alternative goal.
RELEVANT: Here’s a fun fact: There are a ton of non-acting-related things that you can work on to level up your acting career. Say what? You’ve seen the Actor’s Access Special Skills section. It’s a mile-long! Focusing on new skills like learning a new language, taking singing lessons, trying a new hobby, or working on your fitness, can all be beneficial to your acting career. Don’t overthink it! What’s something you can start doing today to help you become a more well-rounded actor?
TIME-BASED: Just like any other kind of goal, especially one that is Measurable, we want to have a timeline for achieving it. So if your goal is to submit for more Series Regular television roles, maybe you can say “I want to submit for 20 Series Regular roles by the end of July”. That way, you have a trajectory of how long you have to achieve it, and you can plan to work on it accordingly!