The Goal is to Improvise the Goal of Improvising the Goal: Part 2

In Part 1, we explored the initial connection and three of the tenets of improvisation that apply to outcome/goal (o/g) setting, relationship, journey, and completion.  Let's discover twelve more that will create a most connected experience for you!

4) Be specific.

Generalizing will lead you on a long journey without the fulfillment for which you're looking. Are you looking for "a little here, a little there," "sorta this, kinda that" or are you looking for something complete and direct? You don't have to over-specify every tiny detail to be specific, but, without clarity, you may find yourself struggling to connect with your true, exact o/g. Be clear - what do you want?

5) Label in early moments and choose to know.

Identify the important details and players in your journey toward your o/g. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Know the answers to these. "I Don't Know"s prevent progress, accomplishment - use your IDKs to explore answers, seek them out, and utilize them to guide yourself to achievement.

6) Set up your partner(s) and accept gifts.

The circle/cycle of giving and receiving is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, in consciousness. Shower your o/g with love and attention, be willing to accept whatever your o/g gives (back) to you and ride those gifts to the next step of your journey.

7) Deal with your partner's statement, don't move on to a completely separate idea.

We all suffer from Overwhelm enough, the last thing we want to do is overwhelm ourselves more. Focus on this one specific o/g and carry it out to fruition (or revision), rather than add on numerous o/gs that will spread your attention, efforts, and purpose too thin.

8) Embrace the simple and leave room to build/heighten.

The top of the ladder, stairs, mountain is the last place you reach in your climb. Don't aim to immediately start there - you won't have anywhere to go, and you'll also be setting yourself up for an impossible feat (Can you make it to the top of the ladder, stairs, a mountain in one step?). Keep it simple and understand it's a process, which you get so much out of in itself, with many rungs/steps/terraces - often in a specific order - leading to your ultimate o/g.

9) Make use of powerful silences.  

There will often be chunks of "downtime," "inactivity" while you're taking action, moving forward toward your o/g.  These silences are to allow room for you and your o/g to breath.  Neither you nor your o/g want to be suffocated - find the power, revitalization, and balance you (re)gain during these periods where it seems like nothing is happening. There's actually a lot going on.

10) Don't over-think, sometimes go with first impulse to hit you.  Listen to your inner voice.

Have you ever thought yourself into something, out of something, back in and out all in one sitting? This type of over-complication will compromise your o/g and mindset. Your heart, "gut," and universal consciousness have equal voices in this whole process - receive their ideas, feedback, and trust the internal and external messages that are sent to you.

11) Stay present.

Your o/g is not in the past. While it will come to fruition in the future, as of this moment right now, your o/g is not in the future. It is here with you, right here, right now. Stay with it in the present as it grows with you. All of your planning and action steps will set up for a beautiful future for you and your o/g, and when that future comes, guess what? It'll be your present.

12) There's no such thing as a mistake.

Doubting Debby and Danny have no place in your o/g journey. (Sorry, D&D.) Your pathway may not resemble a straight line, in the beginning or by the end. You must let go of the exact path and know that if there's meaning in your o/g and you've connected completely with your purpose (the "Why?"), you will travel from start to finish, no matter what bumps you encounter along the way.

13) Reveal yourself through your character.

Be open, honest, and spiritually naked to your o/g - and others with whom you interact on the journey. If your o/g and others who will help you don't know what/how you're feeling, they won't know how to assist, guide, and connect with you most effectively. Take off your self-defense mask and allow your vulnerability to be a valuable tool in your outstanding accomplishments.

14) Find your function, role, purpose in every game.

You can't be the star in the spotlight for every step in your journey. Know that your o/g will always consider you its leading man/lady, but sometimes you will have to trust the signals that tell you to back off, step forward, quiet down, get loud, take a break, power through. You'll most likely experience a mix of different roles - connect with Why? you're doing what you're doing and relinquish yourself to wearing a hat that was intentionally given to you, even if you had something else in mind for that moment.

15) Have fun. 

Have fun. That's it. If you're not having fun, neither is your o/g. Make your work play and your play work. Have fun.

The funniest part about all of the connections between improvisation and o/gs might actually the one major factor that is completely opposite! While you're going to want to set your o/g, knowing the ending (or thereabouts) from the very start, you have no clue what the ending is going to be at all when you start an improv scene!  Beyond that difference, hope you take a lot out of the many similarities and improvise your way to your outcome/goals!

What value have you found in conscious improvisation in your own life? 

All the best and yummiest to you.