There are just 99 days left now in 2022! This year is absolutely flying by and before long it’ll be time to break out the Christmas music!

With that in mind, it’s a perfect time to think about your goals for these final 99 days - what do you want to have achieved by the end of 2022? This is a good time to break out your SMART goals from the start of the year and update them to reflect where you are now and where you want to get to!

As a reminder, SMART goals stand for:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timebound

(As a reminder, here’s my blog from the start of 2022 about setting SMART goals! https://www.ailierobertson.com/harp-tips-blog/2022/1/4/goal-setting-how-to-set-and-achieve-your-2022-harp-goals)

As new school term starts it can be a good idea to think about making investing in a simple Practice Journal to help keep you on track. This is the one that I made for myself and my Patreon students a few years ago: https://www.ailierobertson.com/harp-music-shop/practice-journal

Keeping a written record of your practice and performance is important for keeping track of your progress. Write down what you did, what you need to do next, what went well or not so well, metronome marks that you’re working at etc, and be meticulous in documenting everything.

Whether you use a digital or paper version, bought or homemade, try to track your

• Daily practice and your practice agenda for the weeks ahea

• What exercises you practice and at what tempo you can play them.

• What’s working for new techniques, and what isn’t.

• Progress on pieces that you’re learning.

• Music that you’re listening to and any questions related to that.

• Notes from lessons.

• Questions to ask your teacher

• etc

Psychology studies have found that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down! Writing your goals not only forces you to get clear on what, exactly, it is that you want to accomplish, but doing so plays a part in motivating you to complete the tasks necessary for your success.