Andrew Macklin, actor and career coach, on the problem with New Year’s Resolutions

One of the things that has really helped me feel connected to the creative world while in lockdown has been Andrew Macklin’s series of videos entitled “Creative Career Talk” where he talks to all kinds of creative people about what it means to live well as a creative in the world today. I knew Andrew was an actor, and that he has worked with companies like The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Abbey Theatre and The Old Vic, but I hadn’t realised until very recently that he is also a career coach. Because he has spent a lot of this year talking to people about living well as a creative, and since he also works with people to help them build the creative career they want, I knew Andrew would make an excellent end-of-year guest—a time when a lot of us reflect on the last 12 months and start to make plans for the months ahead. First I got my Doctor Who nerdism out of the way (Andrew was in an episode that aired earlier this year), and then I asked whether there were any common threads that ran through his Creative Career Talks. I also asked Andrew what he thought about the pervasive idea that actors have to sacrifice everything and “go all in” in order to succeed.  And to finish up I asked Andrew what his thoughts were on New Year’s Resolutions. We chatted about:  The importance of building and sustaining a group of people you are inspired to work with The need we have to progress and develop Being the arbiter of your own medium How the concept of going “all in” is highly seductive, but has its own drawbacks The problems with New Year's Resolutions, and some better alternatives Andrew was as insightful as always, and if you want more of those insights, check out the journal on his website, or his series of videos Creative Career Talk on YouTube. You can see Andrew’s impressive acting resume on his website, where his coaching & training is also available.  AND he mentioned he will be doing some free coaching in 2021, so follow him on Twitter on @actthemacklin to be sure to hear more about that. I can hardly believe this is my last podcast of 2020, I just want to say thank you for all the support since I started this back in May (which seems like about 3 years ago now).  I would LOVE to hear from you on what you have enjoyed, what you would like more of, and less of, and who you’d be interested in hearing on the podcast. Email me on [email protected] or connect with me on on Twitter (@frankiep). Have a great Christmas and here’s to a less insane 2021 :D