Guide To Setting Better Goals As A Musician In 2021

As 2020 draws to a close, it’s important for artists to look ahead and start setting goals for 2021. In this piece, we look at how make sure these goals are clear and actionable enough to actually be accomplished in the coming year.

Guest post by Randi Zimmerman of the Symphonic Blog

2020 is finally coming to an end! That means it’s time to start looking towards the future. As a musician, it’s important to set goals for your career and create a plan to make them happen. From learning new skills and getting more followers to earning more money and booking more gigs, setting clear goals is the key to seeing your dreams come to life. Here’s how to set better goals for the new year…

How To Set Better Goals As A Musician In 2021

Let’s talk S.M.A.R.T.

When it comes to goal setting, many pros around the world use the S.M.A.R.T method. Created in 1981 by George T. Doran, S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that helps you create specific criteria for your goals to help improve the chances of their success.

What does it stand for?

S – Specific

M – Measurable 

A – Achievable

R – Realistic

T – Timed 

How to use the S.M.A.R.T Method:

When it comes to your music career, your goals need to be realistic and specific. You should be able to quantifiably measure their success. They need to achievable for you as an artist, and you need to be able give it a set period of time to be accomplished by.

Pro Tip: Always write down your goals! — Having your goals written down lets you look back at them when you start to feel lost and get back on track.

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For example:

Let’s apply the S.M.A.R.T method to, “I want more people to listen to my music”.

This goal needs to be way more specific. First, think about where you want more people to listen to your music. Which platform do you want these listeners on? Next, make it measurable. Come up with a variable that is quantifiable. Now, it’s time to make sure it’s achievable and realistic for where you are in your career. How many new listeners is actually doable for you?

Those insane, big time goals are good to keep in the back of your mind, but starting off with unrealistic goals will only make you frustrated and disappointed along the way. You’ll eventually get to those crazy goals, but you need to start small and work your way up. That being said, that leads us to the last step. Timed. — Your goals need to have a time limit. It’s easier to stay on track when you have set times to get things done by with checkpoints along the way.

When you apply the S.M.A.R.T method to, “I want more people to listen to my music”, it turns into something like: “I want 500 more monthly listeners on Spotify by May 31th.” instead. You can keep it focused on your entire monthly listeners, or you could break it down even further by focusing on a single release.

Now, that’s doable!

In Conclusion…

2020 was rough for a lot of us. However, one thing it did give us was a chance to assess ourselves. What do we want for our music careers? What’s been working? What efforts have been more time consuming than fruitful? Now that you’ve had all this time to brainstorm about the future, it’s time to make sure your goals for the new year reflect that. 2021 is a great opportunity to jump back in and hit the ground running.

Just be S.M.A.R.T.