It’s that time of year when we know we should be setting goals. We might not want to have resolutions – they are slightly terrifying and we know that most people don’t stick to a resolution. In addition, resolutions are about improving yourself – but you probably don’t really need to improve yourself – you need to improve your playing! So you need to set seom goals. But you might not really know how to do that. Here are four easy steps to help you get started setting goals:

1. Decide what you’re goal is – you need to know what your goal is so you can persue it.

2. Make it specific and measurable – this sounds harder than it is.  Specific of course means that your goal won’t be “I’ll play better this year” but rather something concrete like, “I’ll practice more this year”.  You can see that this concrete goal is also measureable.  You can improve the goal by also making it measurable.  Rather than saying, “I’ll practice more this year” you might state your goal as “I’ll practice 10 minutes more each day than I currently do”.

3. Write it down – It is important to write it down so that you don’t get confused or lost.  Be sure to leave it somewhere that you can read it regularly – tape it to your music stand, write it on your mirror, or somewhere else that you’re sure to see it.

4. Check yourself – While all those steps get you started, the real work will be in the follow through.  The best way to achieve that follow through is to schedule a checkup.  Put it on your calendar, verify you’re making progress.

5. Modify as needed – Sometimes, despite all your hard work writing your goals, you get it wrong (or you didn’t consider other factors like work or family commitments).  If you are just not going to make it (or your goal turns out to be inaccurate) modify it.  There’s nothing that says you can’t change your goals if needed!

Enjoy the progress you’ll see when you make progress toward and eventually accomplish your goals!