Resolution

For me, New Years Resolutions are promises to yourself meant to be broken, consequently I no longer make them. In 2006, the only Resolution that mattered to me was at Banff when I had the privilege of performing Hugh Fraser's arrangement of Part 2 of Love Supreme.

I am a believer in the use of goal-setting techniques in order to advance my progress as a musician. At the start of every year, I make lists of the various projects in which I am involved and then detail what I would like to see happen in the coming year. I also take a look at my ever-expanding collection of instruments and list what needs tweaking, repairing, replacing, whatever. Nothing is too trivial.

Everything ends up on a single sheet of paper, which I refer to several times during the year. I cross things off the list as they are done. I amuse myself at seeing what was important to me in January, but no longer relevant in July. Some things never get crossed off - too big, too small. Some things require a lot of TME (time, money or energy), others, sometimes surprisingly, just happen without effort. In the end, most of the individual listed items don't really matter, rather it's more important whether or not I've made progress in the year.

I start out by reading the previous year's list one last time. I am usually pleasantly surprised with how much I have accomplished. Generally, the ones that aren't crossed off don't cause much regret. I can either carry them over or dump them. I also have space to add the good things that did happen, even if they weren't on the list.

There are times when I am plagued by artistic sef-doubt and feel that I am stuck in a rut. Looking over the list reminds me just how much I've done.

It's important to have some ridiculously large things on the list, say "Get the call from Maria Schneider to sub in". That one is not really on my list, but maybe it should be. The odds of that happening are so minute as to be incalculable, but just having that in writing allows for the possiblility of other big things to happen. And they do.

It's essential to be very clear, sometimes the more detailed, the better. I might write a separate page on something very important, say if I were to be in the hunt for a new tenor sax, which thankfully I am not. A lack of detail may cause unexpected results. Last year I wrote down "new clarinet" to replace the loaner I've had for a few years. By the fall, I had to return the loaner and I did get a very nice clarinet on eBay, an alto clarinet. D'oh! Gotta be more specific on that one.

Ideally there should be more of the "being" and "doing" sort of goals, rather than the "having". That sets up a better state of mind for good things to happen, rather than the mere accumulation of more stuff.

There are actually very specific and detailed goal-setting systems out there, ones that require daily writing and recitals of lists and so on, but that's really too much work for me. I know people who do that and have amazing results. People into the personal development movement like to quote Emerson (Ralph Waldo, not Keith): "Once you have made a decision, the universe will conspire to make it happen." A quick Google search on that quote got a lot of hits on self-help sites, very few on scholarly Emerson sites, so it may be paraphrased or misattributed, or completely fabricated. Nevertheless, personal experience proves that it works for me. It may be a little bit woo-woo for some, but I'll take it.

I prefer one of Stan Karp's memorable sayings, which I believe came from his mentor Bill Green. "People often overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten." I interpret that as taking the path to slow and steady growth. My goal-setting technique is just one more tool to use in making that journey.


Note: I always feel like I'm writing this blog in a vacuum. It comes as a pleasant surprise when someone comments on a post, so I welcome any feedback. And if there is anyone hanging on every word that I write - get a life! - I neglected to hit the "publish post" button back on Dec 12th and now there is another entry in its proper place.