Be SMART!
Are you in the habit of setting yourself regular goals? What do you want to achieve, not only in music, but also in your studies, your workplace, and your personal life? How will you work towards these in order to be successful?
There have been a ton of articles and studies done about goal setting over the years, many of which outline the countless benefits of including this as a part of your regular routine. Goals are a great way of providing a sense of purpose and direction to what you are doing. They help in improving motivation and focus, as well as providing greater structure and clarity in decision-making. The flow on effect to this is a far more effective use of your time and energy, and gives you more control over what you want to do in the future.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty good procrastinator, and my wife is an amazing procrastibaker! 🍰🧁(How do I not weigh 500kg!?) But once we’re done finishing off the crumbs and we set our sights on a goal, immediately our procrastinating goes out the window and we’re fixed on achieving what we set out to achieve.
But often it isn’t quite as simple as just setting a goal and striving for it. If your goal is to become the world’s best at your chosen instrument, yet have only been playing for 3 weeks, then the distance between where you are now and where you want to be is too great. Motivation quickly dissipates and you run out of steam. If you set a goal and achieve it quickly and easily, yet don’t follow it up with another goal to work towards, you quickly become stagnant and stop improving and growing.
So what do we do!?
To make goal setting easy and manageable I use the acronym SMART as a guide. This gives a structure to your goal setting, making it easier to keep the momentum going and your progress heading northward.
There are a few variations on this, but one of the most common version of SMART is:
S – Specific – What specific thing do you want to achieve?
M – Measurable – Break your goal down into measurable, objective elements eg. gradually increasing the tempo, improving intonation, rhythmic accuracy etc.
A – Attainable – Is your goal attainable and acceptable to you? Is the required effort, time, and personal cost involved appropriate to reach your goal, or will it take over your life and cause too much stress and burden?
R – Relevant – Is what you are aiming for relevant in your musical journey? Is it in line with your musical and personal values?
T – Time-bound – Set yourself a timeline on when the goal can be reached. Is it a long-term, medium-term, or short-term goal? Although deadlines are good to aim for, be flexible and realistic along the way.
So what SMART goals are you going to set for yourself this week? Make sure to download the SMART goal guides below, and share with us what you’re working on!