One super useful way to arrive at your vision plans is to reverse engineer them. Start with the end in mind, and ask a series of questions to back your way into your next steps.
For example, if I had a vision to become a comedian, defined as performing a paid gig in NYC, my line of questioning might look something like this:
- In order to get paid, I’d probably need a solid 10 minutes of material.
- A joke takes 20 seconds on average, so that means I’d need 30 solid jokes.
- Most of the jokes I write will suck. Maybe 1 out of 20 will be good. So I’d probably need to create at least 600 jokes to find 30 good ones.
- I’d need to test those jokes out at open mic nights in order to see which ones are good and which ones suck.
- I probably need to do 50-100 open mic nights to practice and get good at performing.
- Maybe I should do some improv classes first to get comfortable on stage.
- To get an open mic night (much less a paid gig), I probably need to build relationships with other comedians and club owners.
- I bet I could use Twitter to practice joke writing once I understand the basic concepts.
- I probably should study what makes a joke good or bad so I know how to write them.
Given all of this, your vision plan might look something like this:
Vision: Become a comedian
What “done” looks like: Perform a paid stand up comedy gig in NYC.
Estimated time to complete: 5 years.
- Year one: study how to write good jokes.
- Find 3-5 books.
- Watch 20 comedy specials. Take notes on jokes I like. Deconstruct why.
- Start attending my local comedy club at night. Meet comedians. Take notes during sets.
- Ask 3-10 comedians who I like for coffee. Ask them how they approach joke writing. Keep in touch periodically.
- Year two: practice writing jokes.
- Create a Twitter account (pseudonym is fine).
- Run an automation to follow/unfollow people who follow comedians I like to build an audience.
- Write 10 jokes a week. Post on Twitter. Track which ones perform well. Try to understand why.
- Continue to build relationships at local comedy club with other comedians.
- Year three: get comfortable on stage.
- Sign up for improv classes.
- Continue to post jokes on Twitter.
- Continue to build relationships at local comedy club.
- Consider creating an email list - build an audience before I need it.
- Year four: start performing at open mic nights.
- Sign up at local comedy club.
- Write 20 new jokes each week, perform once a week.
- Hone in on a solid 5-10 minutes.
- Get my set recorded. Study how I communicate - look for opportunities to improve. Post clips on TikTok / IG / YT.
- Continue to build relationships with local comedy club.
- Continue to post jokes on twitter.
- Year five: transition to a paid gig.
- Reach out to my comedian friends and ask how to get a paid gig. Ask for intros to other clubs if necessary.
- Reach out to owner of local club and ask how to get a paid gig.
- Perform.