how to set and achieve your new year's music resolutions

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How to Set and Achieve YourNew Year's Music

Resolutions

http://eartra.in/nyres


January is a great time to set new music goals.

Sadly, "New Year's Resolutions" normally fail.

Less than 10% of people achieve the resolutions they set.

There are 6 mistakes to avoid.

... and 6 ways you can fix them.


The Top 6 New Year's Resolution Mistakes


1. Setting too many goals


Enthusiasm and inspiration are great...but there's a danger too.

Most musicians have several areas they want to improve.

But our brains suffer from decision fatigue.

Result: setting many goals → reaching none


2. Choosing goals you don’t truly care about


It's easy to set goals but hard to reach them.

Setting the goal costs nothing but gives us a sense of achievement.

Plus we often choose certain goals because we feel we "should" do them.

Result: we often choose goals which we don't actually care that much about reaching.


3. Setting vague goals


A goal of "getting better" is too vague to be useful.

We get excited by a general idea but then never make our goal specific enough to be useful.

Result: We're never sure how quickly we're moving towards the goal.


4. Not making a plan


January: Set the goal!

December: Reach the goal!

February - November: ???

Sound familiar?

Result: If you don't plan how to reach the goal you'll never get there.


5. Not having support


Trying to go it alone puts you at risk when things get hard along the way.

Some people keep their resolutions private, others share them with friends.

Either way, without support along the way it's hard to keep your resolution.

Result: You feel alone and helpless when things go wrong. Confidence plummets.


6. No progress tracking


Once you've set your goal, you need some way to measure progress.

Unless you're working with a teacher, this is up to you.

Many people forget this part, thinking they'll know instinctively if they're progressing.

Result: You never know if you're making progress towards your goal, motivation suffers.


How to set resolutionsyou will achieve


1. Set ONE goal


There are probably lots of musical areas where you want to improve.

But the fastest way to achieve all of your goals is:

One by One

Remember: if you reach your goal early you can always move on to the next!


2. Choose a goal you care about


Really ask yourself how much you care about achieving this musical goal.

You might care because:

• it’s intrinsically exciting to you,• it’s something you fee embarrassed you can't do, or• it will let you break through to the next level

As long as you feel a deep emotional resonance with the goal, it’s a good one to set your resolution for.


3. Make your goal MAGIC


An easy way to eliminate vagueness in your goal:

Use the M.A.G.I.C. framework to set clear and effective musical goals.

→ Learn about the M.A.G.I.C. framework for musical goals.

http://www.musical-u.com/modules/planning/planning-for-success/


4. Make a Plan


The goal will be your "guiding light" but you still need to plan your route

There are good plans and bad plans

→ Learn about what makes an effective plan and then make yours.

http://www.musical-u.com/blog/3-strategies-effective-music-training-plan/


5. Get Support


If you don't already have musical friends around you, find some.

There are friendly and supportive communities of musicians available online.

The right community can help you set goals, plan your training, and achieve results.

http://musicmattersblog.com/2015/12/08/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-online-music-resources-guest-post-by-christopher-sutton/


6. Track your Progress


This doesn't have to be scientific or complicated.

The important thing is to do it regularly and pay attention to what you observe.

→ A Progress Journal is a great lightweight way to do this well

http://www.musical-u.com/blog/jump-start-music-training-progress-journal/


Summary


Each of the six tips here can help you set and achieve musical goals this year.

You don't need to do them all!

Choose one or two and add them to your New Year's Music Resolutions...

... and see how much more effective and enjoyable it all becomes!


Get more tips and information on easily achieving your new music goals:



how to set and achieve your new year's music resolutions

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