How to Set Goals that Make a Difference

Sometime back I read a post on goals by Derek Sivers (who founded CDBaby.com). The article is right in step with my thoughts: goals are not about the mysterious and non-existant future, they are about what you can do right now, this moment.

In Derek's words, "You have a goal you've been putting off. You want to do it some day. You've been meaning to take real action on it, but could use more motivation. Let it go. It's a bad goal. If it was a great goal, you would have jumped into action already. You wouldn't wait. Nothing would stop you."

At the begining of last year I was really depressed (I get that way sometimes). I wrote down a few things that goals are and goals are not. Here are some examples from my own life:

What GOALS ARE NOT:Composition is not a goal. Practicing is not a goal. Singing is not a goal. A Website is not a goal . . . Composition is a process, simply an arrow (skill) in my quiver. Practicing is necessary (it sharpens the skill), but is not an end (oh, what a beautiful arrow you've got there, what are you going to do with it?). Singing (another skill) is good for you, but again, it cannot be counted as accomplished, it is an ongoing thing like daily exercise. A Website is a means of communication and distrubution (like a bow), and not an end in itself; your arrows (skills) are useless without a delivery system.

What GOALS ARE: A goal is something you can count as being accomplished or mark off a checklist;
goals are targets and you can easily assess if you've hit them or not (as opposed to non-goals which are nebulous and undefinable - "world peace" goals). You target goals (with your bows/delivery systems) so that you can hit them with your arrows (skills). Sharpening a skill/arrow can be a goal, but we should keep in mind what the arrows are for.

I adopted this new goal setting philosophy and applied it to my present. It may seem like common sense, but last year I spent a lot of time running around in circles on nebulous non-goals, and delivery systems that had no target.

I said to myself, "What can I do right now? What can I perform right now? What will get me out and performing regularly in the very near future?" I chose to select and prepare a program of Sacred Art Songs and Spirituals to perform first at Easter. As soon as the music was chosen and I could rehearse it, I started compiling and arranging a second program to be performed in the coming Summer, which I called American Revolutions. I managed to book a score of engagements last Summer because I focused on things I could do right then.

Choosing something you can and want to do right now yields results. In 2008 I was on a merry-go-round as far as time management and I ended up feeling hopeless and depressed. In 2009 I took the approach I've described above. I ended up feeling more in control, more hopeful, more engaged. I did discover that I don't want to run around hauling my performance equipment all over the place or be performing constantly, but that was another important lesson I needed to learn. Now I can set new goals.

Yes, there is a 'big picture' as well, but as Siver's says, ". . . remember that the daily actions have to be exciting, too. "Speak fluent Italian" may sound nice, but "take Italian lessons an hour a day for two years" has to excite you just as much, or you'll never stick with it."

So, my friends, whether you be a musician like me, or involved in something just as exciting to you: think about what you can do today, right now:

Carpe Diem!