I personally am not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. I fail to see the significance one day makes and have seen too many people use it as an excuse to procrastinate starting something. Why put off till tomorrow what could have been started today?

On the flip side if you can use them as a prompt to spend time actively reflecting on your life they can become valuable. But you then need to adjust aspects of your life that are no longer serving you. Personal reflection is so important. It empowers you to live intentionally and deliberately. Without ‘reflecting’ (a.k.a self-awareness) you risk becoming the victim of a life that just happens to you. You become a passive bystander instead of a creator and author.

Now, in order for your New Years Resolution to be successful or even sustainable, they need to be more than mere behavioural modification. They need to be S.M.A.R.T.

Specific

Exactly what do you want to achieve? How are you going to do it? Where you will achieve it?

You will need to honestly asses what you want and what you are capable of. Whose help will you need?

It can also be useful to exam what your potential limitation and stumbling blocks may be. This, in turn, allows you to prepare for them and have a strategy already in place for when they arise.

Being a good flute player is not specific. What is a good flute player?

To be able to play exactly like James Galway, Emmanuel Pahud, or Jean-Pierre Rampal is also not specific enough or realistic. Completing an exam is specific. Preparing for an audition, recording or concert is specific. Even learning a particular technique is specific. For example, I want to be able to double tongue a 32 bar passage of semiquavers at 150 bmp.

Your goal has to be so specific that you are able to measure it. It lay also have multiple layers. The double tonging example above may be part of a larger goal like learning a particular piece of music for an exam.

But Why?

Knowing why you want to achieve your goal will help you to stay motivated. And it will be your motivation that keeps you stepping towards the achievement of your goal (especially a long-term one). Set goals that you personally want and need. Try to avoid goals that are merely appeasing other peoples expectations of you. ‘My teacher wants me to do this’ is not a good or motivating reason. Talk to your teacher about why they are asking you to accomplish all these things especially if you are struggling to see the point in practice something (like scales).

Measurable

If what you want to achieve isn’t measurable then how will you know if you have achieved it? For example, developing a good tone on your flute may sound like a good goal but you have no way of measuring it. A better goal might be to spend 20 minutes 4 times a week practising tone in the hopes of achieving x particular sound. Find a recording of the exact colour you are trying to emulate, talk to your teacher about it, read up about it and record yourself once a fortnight so you can measure and track your progress. Otherwise, your progress will be beyond your scope of awareness and you may become disheartened by your perceived lack of results.

Achievable

There really is no point in setting out to achieve something that is completely impossible. For example, if you are in your mid-30s with average to good flute playing skills and your goal is to be the principal flautist in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra then you are probably setting yourself up for failure. The orchestra only has 3 flute positions and a position will only become available if one of the current flautists resigns (which doesn’t happen very often at all). At which point flautist from around the world will audition and only the person who fits exactly what the orchestra is looking for will get the gig.

An achievable goal might be to join a community orchestra or start up your own ensemble. To make sure your goals are achievable discuss them with your teacher or other people in the music community.

Is practising every day for three hours attainable? Or would 15 minutes every day be more realistic? How about 30 minutes four time a week? Whatever you choose has to be suitable for your lifestyle. Setting yourself up to fail is demotivating and won’t foster anything positive in your life. If you bit off more than you can chew you may find yourself avoiding doing it simply because you already know its something you can’t do.

Some questions to consider:

• What are the pros and cons of achieving your goal?
• Can you realistically achieve this goal?
• Is it worth your effort?
• Is it worth your time?
• What is the cost of this goal (time, money, energy)?
• What other commitments do you have that may stop you from achieving this goal?
• Is it worth it?

Relevant

There is not much point in setting out to achieve something that isn’t relevant to you and your life. Consider the following questions when trying to work out if this is the right goal for you.

• What will you get out of achieving it?
• What will other people get out of you achieving it?
• Will it improve who you are?
• Will it improve your future?
• Will it bring you joy?

Timed

Without a time frame, you could spend your entire life chasing a goal and it may expand to fill however much time you are willing to give it. Conversely, you could spend your entire life putting it off. Deadlines empower our goals and make things happen. But remember to be neither too rigid or flexible both extremes are unhealthy and will hinder you from achieving your goals.

Musical Goal Ideas

There really are endless possibilities when it comes to creating musical goals. So, just to help you get started here are some common goals for musicians:

• Practice x number of days per week
• Complete an exam
• Hold a performance
• Create a recording
• Learn a new technique that is specific to your instrument
• Actively listen to a new piece of music every week
• Learn a particular piece
• Become comfortable improvising
• Gain a particular amount of performance experience

Develop a Plan

Finally, you need to develop a plan that will empower you to achieve your goals. Write them down and add milestones to your calendar. Work out what you will need to do each day, week, month or year in order to achieve your goal. And actively schedule the time to do the work that you need to do. Don’t forget to make time once a month to review your progress. This is actually really important and should be added to your calendar otherwise it won’t happen. I personally absolutely love using a practice tracker. I find that without a practice tracker I can become quite lost.

I’d love to hear from you? What are your practice goals and do you have any tips that might help other people accomplish their goals? Leave them in the comment section belong.

Happy Practicing :)