Today is double digits day – there are only 99 days remaining in 2015 – so we are losing that feeling like the year will never end and entering into the part where the year seems to be flying by faster than we can see! So the question is – have you done all the harp things you set out to do this year?

If you have, good on you! But more likely than not, there might be a couple of things as yet unfinished. The good news is you have plenty of time to get going on them and likely finish before the end of the year!

Apparently most people don’t meet their goals (a desired outcome) because they didn’t have enough time. Of course, we all get the same 24 hours each day – it’s how we use them that we need to look at. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things we think we will accomplish in a day (with work, school, chores, tasks and other stuff) – and in that overwhelm we don’t always get to our harps.

Which is a shame since the simple act of playing would probably significantly reduce that feeling of unending overwhelm.

There’s no challenge implied here. But imagine what kind of progress you could make if you mindfully moved yourself forward, just a little bit, every one of the remaining days in 2015. It’s a great opportunity to start journaling your practice or actually practicing each day (even if only for 30 minutes!). It’s a chance to do something for yourself, that isn’t bad for you and just might do you some good! At a minimum, it will help you count down the days (and will help highlight how close the holidays are – yikes!).

There’s nothing magic about having 99 days remaining in the year – it’s just a milestone, a time to stop and reflect, to determine if we’re doing the things we want to be doing with our time. Are you in?

Did you set a reading goal for yourself? Did you make good progress to that goal? The original idea was to set a short term goal to read at least one tune each day.

I didn’t do as well as I would have liked. I didn’t get to read every day. And I fell well short of my goal. That happened for a number of reasons – the sort of reasons that often trip us up

• I didn’t have a real plan for what I was going to read
• I didn’t make sure I had the “bandwidth” to insert reading into my daily practice – some days I don’t have a lot of time to practice and I chose to spend the time I had on work that has a shorter horizon.
• I didn’t prioritize reading.

Now, to be fair, part of the reason I didn’t has as much time included that I worked to prepare to teach a workshop (ironically – on sight reading!). I also need to prepare for some upcoming events that required I spend time writing which meant I didn’t have the time to read.

And, of course, reading isn’t really a contest so I could slag it off – I only needed to read some ensemble arrangements. But I have to admit, I’m a tad disappointed. Not only because I didn’t make my goal but also because I set the goal but then didn’t do enough to make it happen. That’s how it goes when you make a wish rather than a goal.

How did you do?

It’s February, and everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s grayer than sunny, the days are still short…and we’re far enough in to the year that most of us have already lost interest in working toward the goals we set just a few weeks ago – our own goals! It is much more satisfying to curl up in a chair by the fire with a cup of tea and read. Which is what I was doing…reading that intellectual journal, “Family Circle”* when I saw this:

“A goal is not always meant to be reached.

It often serves simply as something to aim at. – Bruce Lee”

Wow! Was that man was right!

Sometimes, especially if you’re goal oriented, you might forget that the goal is not the thing; it’s just the plan on how to get where you think you’d like to go. And where you wanted to go might change. How you think you’d like to get there might change. What you’re willing to do along the way might change.

All along, Bruce Lee knew that sometimes the goal would morph, change, and become a guide light rather than the target. And that’s ok – you need light to see your target. This thought might be just what you need to move you along.

So, while I might harangue you about setting and achieving goals, remember Bruce’s wise thought. Your aim can be true even if your target is moving.

* March 2015, page 13 – it pays to look at the whole page! And I’m not sure I get any more wisdom (or blog fodder) reading a professional journal…

I know you have goals. You may call them goals, resolutions, objectives, but it doesn’t matter what you call them. What is important is that you have a direction in mind and that you have some idea how you are going to get there. And the easiest way to know if you got there is to be able to see your progress.

We often state our goals in squishy words. It is easier, but it creates so much angst. How do you know you are better? Are you sure you’ve developed your (insert objective here)?  You do have to track your progress to be sure that you have made some.  This is especially true for those dark days when you cannot remember how far you have come.  So, here are 5 ways to make track your progress so you can see you are getting somewhere:

• Make it measurable – select something countable.  Number of tunes, minutes of practice, days of work, whatever measure will help you verify your progress.
• Make it visible – it’s all well and good to feel you’re getting there, but seeing it for yourself really helps.  You can mark a calendar, keep a journal, make a wall chart, use an app, build a spreadsheet – how it appears is not nearly as important as that you will use it and look at it.
• Make a baseline – record yourself now and put that aside. At the end of the year record yourself (this works best if you do the same piece of music).  Now listen to the two recordings to determine if you have met the goal. You will be able to see (or in this case, hear) that you have come of the baseline.
• Make it manageable sized bites – you’re not going to achieve each goal in one go so break them into steps that you achieve in each practice, each week or month, or some other segment.  Then you can track those steps to see progress.
• Make time, but not too much time – don’t let tracking your goal become the thing that takes up all your time. Tracking is just a tool so you can stay focused and motivated – so you can keep moving forward.

Give it a go – track your progress and see how far you come!

It is January – a new start to a new year. And of course, it is resolution time. We all know that resolutions are simply goals wrapped in festive paper. I always entreat you to set goals so I thought I’d share some of mine for 2015.

Because I want to succeed I have selected a small number of goals that are SMART. By that I mean the goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timed. I have structured my goals to meet these criteria – otherwise how would I know when I got there?

I have established three goals for my harp life. That might seem like a small number but these are just for my harp life and I have other goals for other parts of my life.  In addition, I’d rather have three completed goals than a larger number of goals that are languishing, uncompleted and weighing me down.  And I’d rather reach for the stars and touch them than be caught up trying to figure which star to reach for first!

Goal 1 – Learn at least one tune per month. This is attainable and realistic given the competing pressures on my schedule, I will definitely know at the end of the year if I have learned 12 tunes (by learn I mean prepared through performance, not just knocked one back at a workshop).

Goal 2 – Practice reading at least 5 minutes per day. I find reading music increasingly challenging while I’m playing and my sight reading skill has dropped. I know the only way to improve my sight reading is to practice. This will improve my capability as a teacher, an ensemble member, and just to broaden my horizons as a musician.

Goal 3 – Book at least one new type of gig. This is me looking to expand how I look at performing. So, just booking more weddings is not the point here, but rather to seek out new types of performing or types of event at which to perform. Because the rest of my life can sometimes get in the way of my harp life, I have set this goal low but will be delighted if I can break through to more.

What goals have you set for yourself for 2015?