It’s one thing to know more about how you approach things to help shape your goals but it’s quite another to capture that info and use it! 

I have seen research reports that indicate that only 8% of people who set goals actually achieve them. Yikes! 

When you look at what helps those 8% get over the hurdle – writing it down is the prevalent shared element.  Those people are no more motivated or dedicated or special than the people who don’t write their goals down, they just used a tool to help them get along.

This might sound familiar – I’m always telling you to write it down.  I encourage you to have a practice journal so you can keep track of the day-to-day mundane parts of practice (what metronome setting? which phrase still isn’t right?) as well as the delights (f-i-n-a-l-l-y got through that tricky part successfully!) and the disappointments (ugh, I feel like I’ll never get that phrase….but when I look back I see I have only been working on it for 2 days, not the 2 millennia it feels like!).

All this documenting can start with the goals themselves.  Now, maybe you have broken your pen, or you used all the writing paper in your house to line the hamster cage, or you just don’t want to write.  Ok.  I get that – you think I’m wrong (although I have multiple students who will tell you otherwise!).  You might enjoy this suggestion anyway.

Once you’ve formulated a goal, you still want to capture it.  Preferably in an enduring way that allows you to center and focus on it – not just now when you’re setting the goal or at the end when you’ve achieved it – but more crucially, in the middle of working on it.  You know, that time when it’s so easy to lose interest or to get sidetracked (shiny object syndrome anyone?), or to begin to despair that you set a goal this is achievable, just not by you.  You can think of this as the “worried in the dead of night” phase of working toward something.

Another thing those successful goal setters do (after they write it down) is to keep their goal(s) in front of themselves so they can remember what’s important to them.  So, how might you go about capturing your goal(s) so you can keep your eye on them?  Well, if you’re like me, you’ll write lists and maybe a narrative [of course, if you’re really like me, you’ll lose the paper, or write on the back of it and then throw it away…and then you’re stuck trying to remember what you had thought was so important to do].  But if what leads to success is keeping the goals in front of ourselves, maybe a better approach is to go with something we look at.

Maybe we take it to the wall! What if you made a visual representation of your goals instead of just writing them down? 

A what?!?

Bear with me.  Not everyone is verbal or likes to write.  And sometimes doing something that feels a little uncomfortable actually changes your vision of the activity (for example, trying to write with your non-dominant hand makes you think about the act of writing differently).  And it is a lot easier to hang a visual item on the wall to look at it frequently than it is to pin a bunch of words to the wall.

So, give it a try – this year, as you capture and form your goals make a visual representation of them.  You can do this however you choose – make a collage of photos (from magazines or online), draw in your favorite medium (I’m currently shifting from my washable markers phase to crayons…but I just bought some chalk pastels, so I feel another change coming!), paint, sculpt, mixed media – whatever.  I’m really keen on a mashup that is part bullet journal, part sketch book, part junk journal.   You will probably need some words too – but those can be written, lettered, drawn, cut from magazines or newspapers (if you’ve never seen one of these, they are an ancient form of communication rarely seen in the modern world!) – again however you choose.  When you’re done you can hang this where you’ll see it – near your harp? next to your bathroom mirror? next to your tv?  Doesn’t matter as long as it’s a place you can see it, reflect, and keep your goals in mind.

And if, like me, you’re more verbal and your mind is screaming “NO!!” – try this anyway.  Expressing yourself in a different medium will give you an opportunity to think differently.

Because what’s important is that you keep your goals in mind so you can become a better harp player!

I’ll be working on mine.  Let me know if you’re really going to give this a try… and if you’d like to share, I’d be delighted to see how you have captured your goals! Just send a photo! 

Happy Goal Setting!