So that…

So that statements are one of the most powerful practices I have in my creative tool kit. I first heard about this practice from acting coach Jen Waldman. Jen challenges us to use so that statements in goal setting, however I will yes and… her and add that there are many more ways to integrate so that statements into your creative process.

So that statements are a way to set an intention and attach meaning and purpose to your work. I encourage my students to use them anytime they are creating something for someone and anytime they are working in front of others.

For example, before students get coached in the Studio, I ask them to declare a so that statement for their work that day. One person might say, “I am working today so that I can be more precise in my storytelling and ensure I am clearly activating my objective.” Another simpler so that might be, “I am working today so that I can just put this song on its feet and feel more confident.” Establishing a so that statement for where you are in your process helps you to be clear on what it is you are trying to accomplish and also helps me, as the coach, to meet you where you are that day and to view your work and give feedback through a specific and purposed lens.

I also use so that statements for all my various creative projects. On my desktop, I have stickie notes with tasks for each work stream and at the top of each stickie I have a so that. For example, my Actor-Singer work note has the following so that at the top, “so that I can continue my personal artistic growth, experience joy and flow, collaborate and find community, and deliver meaningful stories.” My Event Concerts work stream has this so that, “so that I can use my voice to share the hopeful and positive stories of good work and good people.” As opportunities or tasks come along, I always refer to my so that to make sure the task or opportunity supports my purpose and intention.

As we round into February and continue to refine our 2026 goals and practices, I encourage you to attach a so that statement not only to your goals, but also to your process. I hope it imbues your work with meaning and purpose and keeps you motivated as you work toward building a more fulfilling creative life for yourself this year.

using your Win wall to make space for more success in 2026

Back in April, I wrote a post about the benefits of creating and using a WIN WALL. We use a collective group Win Wall in the studio, but this year I started my own personal Win Wall so that I can see physical proof and reminder of my progress. As I begin to assess 2025 in order to set up 2026, I intend to use the posts on my wall to take stock of where I found the most success in 2025 and link which efforts led to successes and which did not. Here is what I plan to do:

1. Take all the sticky notes off my wall and line them up on the floor each on a separate sheet of paper.

2. Write a stream of consciousness, no filter, brain dump list of all my creative efforts in 2025. Everything from taking a class, reading a certain book, starting a blog, reaching out to a certain individual, auditioning for a show, developing a daily voice practice (these are just vague examples, your list should be more specific). Look back at your calendar or credit card statements to get a sense of where you invested your time and money as insight into where you placed your efforts.

3. Then, I will look at my WINS and start to connect my WINS to my specific efforts, listing under each WIN each and every effort that helped me to achieve that marker. For example, a win for you might be landing the lead role in a show. You may link this WIN to efforts like working with a coach on your audition material, trying a new mindset technique to assist in feeling confident for your audition, working with a vocal coach on your range so that you could hit higher notes, etc.

4. Assess which efforts come up again and again under your WINS? Which efforts don’t seem to find a space to attribute to a WIN?

5. From there, use that information to inform where you should double down on your efforts in 2026. Which were your most effective efforts? Then make a plan to do more of that in 2026 and less of those efforts that didn’t lead to any WINS.

It may surprise you which efforts led to your biggest successes. In which case, it is worthy information to help you to do less of the efforts that don’t push the needle for you so that you can make more space for the efforts that do make the difference.

Building a creativity bridge

One of my favorite habits from Twyla Tharps’s book The Creative Habit, is what she describes as building a bridge to the next day.  She advises us to take on a new posture for the end of each day and instead of creating until you have nothing left to give, quit a little early when you still have some juice left in the tank, a few ideas left unexplored.  Ask yourself what is that idea, that impulse, that expression that you are leaving in the tank? Define it and write it down on a notecard as you finish your work and then don’t think about it the rest of the day.  Sleep on it and then awaken refreshed and anew and revisit your note.

“When you start the next day with the note, you’ll be tapping into that reserve from the day before…you will approach the impulse behind the note as a new person.  At worst, the note will give you something to start with.  More likely, the new you will find a way to improve on it.  With methods like these are grooves formed.” Thanks Twyla.

Give it a try tonight and see if after a few days you return to your work with creative juice leftover to get you started and a fresh perspective to add.

Defining your creative special sauce

Every creative brings with them a unique blend of traits, perspectives, skills, and passions.  Defining them for yourself and others is a generous act that can connect you with other individuals and projects where you can add creative value.

In the studio, we spend time in explorations and exercises that help us define what I call our “creative special sauce statement”.  A compelling special sauce statement should communicate not just what you do, but how and why you do it in a way that only you can.

We start by asking a few trusted friends about our creative essence and strengths.  In one class, I had a student who saw each student as a fabric and explained why.  One person was silk, exuding old world glamour, another was corduroy, expressing something old, worn and safe that you come home to again and again.  See if you can do the same and ask a few collaborators or fans how they see you and your work.  What strengths do they see, what is the essence of your energy, in what creative environments do they see you thrive?

Ask the same questions of yourself.  Think about creative endeavors where you found yourself in a state of flow or roles that really allowed you to express yourself fully or times when you felt you were standing in your power.

Once you have that information, start to see how it informs these prompts.  Start with the phrase, “I am an artist who…”, talk about what you do.  Fill your statement with words explaining what kind of work you enjoy, “I am drawn to work that…” or “I am drawn to stories that…”.  Describe your unique gifts, “I bring to my work…”.  Add a bit about your approach, “ I approach my work with…” and “My work wouldn’t be mine without…”.  Finish your statement with your personal intention and aspirational purpose for your work. “Through my work, I am aim to…”.

I find having this kind of clarity is really empowering and generous to share with others so they know how to empower you and how to best utilize your skills.  I encourage you to put your statement at the top of your resume or college essay.  How amazing would it be for the person on the other side of that resume to be met with someone clear, empowered and purposed?  What a gift.

Keeping a Spark File

Spark files are genius and I can’t believe no one told me about them until I first heard of a similar concept in Twyla Tharp’s book, “The Creative Habit”.  Twyla starts “…every dance with a box.  I write the project name on the box, and as the piece progresses I fill it up with every item that went into the making of the dance.  This means notebooks, news clippings, CDs, videotapes of me working alone in my studio, videos of the dancers rehearsing, books and photographs and pieces of art that may have inspired me.  The box documents the active research on every project…One of the biggest fears for a creative person is that some brilliant idea will get lost because you didn’t write it down and put it in a safe place.  I don’t worry about that because I know where to find it.  It’s all in the box.”  Twyla’s use of the box is project specific; it’s the place she goes to both fill up and check out with creative inspiration and ideas.

Another version of this is called a Spark File.  A spark file can be physical or digital or both.  Personally, I keep a Word doc on my desktop and anytime I come across a concept, exercise, quote, piece of art that I find interesting or intriguing, I put it in my doc, aka my Spark File.  There have been many times when I’ve been stuck and gone to my Spark File to find just the nugget that I need to help me see a new path.  Heck, these blogs are partly an amalgamation of information that I’ve been acquiring over the years in my Spark File.

Figure out how you want to structure your Spark File and then keep it handy on your desktop or phone or night table and be sure to make an inspiration investment every time you find something worthy, I promise it will pay off in dividends anytime you need a little spark to get you going.

The importance of reflection scripts

I first heard about Reflection Scripts from acting coach Jen Waldman on her podcast with leadership coach Pete Shepherd.  On that podcast Jen and Pete state, “Essentially a reflection script is a creative way to either write or talk or just spend time thinking about and reflecting on a project, or an audition, or an interview, or a podcast, or like, a piece of work that you have done.”  They suggest starting with a simple framework of 3 questions, 1. How do I generally feel about what just happened?  2. What went well? 3. What went less well?  I naturally engaged in this practice without having a name for it for as far back as I can remember.  However, I only recently realized how key this practice is for developing discernment when it comes to feedback.

In a recent TCE gym class, we were discussing feedback, how to know what to take in and what to leave out.  As a creative, our job is to consistently share our work with people who will inevitably and understandably have an opinion about what we created.  In response, we need to be dogged in developing our personal brand of creative discernment and aesthetic, so that we can know not only who our work is for and who it is not for, but which feedback to take into account as we iterate.

Engaging in a consistent reflection script practice allows us to build self-awareness and hone our natural instincts about what feels in line with what we expect from ourselves and our work.  The key is to practice the reflection script with ourselves BEFORE we allow anyone else’s feedback or opinions into our creative psyche.  By doing this, we learn to rely first on our own impressions and evaluate our work against our personal creative standards; we develop our own creative discernment and learn to listen to our gut instincts.  Once we know how we feel about our work, ONLY THEN can we better sort feedback and determine which feedback to consider and which is out of line with our creative standards, intents and aesthetic.

Give it a try and start honing your creative instincts with a consistent reflection script practice before you give someone else power over how you should think about your work.