In our previous Blog Post, we admitted that new year's resolutions are a waste of time.

Isn't that a relief?

So, how can we do better?

First of all, we can create and set goals for ourselves in a more helpful and appropriate way.

Work SMARTER, not harder...

'How can I do that?' I hear you ask...well, we have to be S.M.A.R.T.E.R. about things...

You may have heard of the acronym SMART when it comes to goal setting, and it's something I've used successfully in the past. However, in order to really make them work, we add a little extra to the end!

For those of you who are discovering this for the first time, a S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal is..

Specific - does the goal have a deep focus on one task? eg 'I will produce an original vocal track'

Measurable - is the goal quantifiable? eg 'I will produce 3 original vocal tracks'

Achievable - is this do-able with your current skills, or do you need time to learn new ones?

Relevant - to the direction you want to go (will the achievement of this goal make my life better? How?) 

Timely - can it be realistically done by a certain date (eg 'I will produce 3 original vocal tracks by the end of June 2020')

Easy to Evaluate - can you easily tell if you've achieved the goal or not?

Reward - Treat yourself for achieving the goal (eg with an item or experience you wouldn't normally give yourself)

It's amazing, and simple to pass all of our desired outcomes in music, and in life in general, through this filter. You'll quickly find the goals you set bear more of a resemblance of what you actually want, rather than being a gateway to beating yourself up because you failed to make a target you were never going to hit in the first place.

Don't overwhelm yourself - also think in terms of the number of goals you want to achieve, and focus on one EPIC SMARTER goal per year, rather than trying to 15 smaller ones that all compete with each other for your time and attention.

Think of it like a Pyramid - with your EPIC goal at the top, and everything else supporting that goal underneath it.

Break it down - take that EPIC SMARTER Goal, and then get granular with it, by breaking it, and the year, down into smaller chunks

I think in terms of Quarter Years (3 months), and it really is incredible what happens when you do this, as the goal gets far more realistic and achievable.

If you need help in doing so, I've created Annual & Quarterly Goal Setting Journals for you, that will allow you create the proper goals, and break them down for each 3 month period of the year, so you always know where you're at, and that you're not biting off more than you can chew.

Download the journals by clicking here

Working like this allows you to focus on the process, and let go of the outcome. 

Tomorrow, we'll go deeper into how to fall in love with the process of moving toward your goals, by building a system that makes achieving them an automatic outcome of executing that system.

Paul x