Did you celebrate New Year’s Eve at a big holiday bash or with a quiet evening at home? However you chose to ring in the new year, this is a great time for reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the year to come. With each new year, we have a chance at a new beginning, to change a habit or to try something we’ve never done before.
If you’ve resolved to spend 2014 learning a new skill or working on a creative endeavor, you may be unsure of how to set goals to help you keep your resolution. Here at TakeLessons, we’re big believers in using SMART goal setting. But, if you’re looking for a little extra new year’s inspiration, check out these lists of goals from music legends Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie.
Even the “Man in Black” made New Year’s resolutions. This handwritten list was auctioned in 2011 for $6,400!
One of the interesting things about this list is how delightfully simple some of Cash’s goals were. Numbers 5 and 6 in particular can be accomplished with ease several times a day.
It’s a great reminder to all of us that it’s important to set small goals alongside our larger ones. Achieving our small goals helps us gain the confidence we need to tackle the big ones.
Johnny Cash also included piano practice on this list. Cash was famous for singing and playing the guitar, but this list shows that he wasn’t satisfied with just those skills.
Why not branch out in 2014 and try your hand at something new or unusual for you? The results might just surprise you.
For even more goal setting inspiration, check out a few of Woody Guthrie’s 33 new year’s resolutions from 1942. You may be familiar with his work even if you don’t recognize his name. Guthrie wrote many classic American folk songs, including “This Land is Your Land”. His work has inspired artists from Bob Dylan to Wilco, and his influence continues to be felt in the folk music scene today.
Like Cash, many of Guthrie’s goals are simple. However, he also set the very ambitious goal to write a song a day. At first glance, this might seem like a crazy feat to accomplish, but it’s actually a wonderful goal with a great lesson we can all apply to our own goals.
First, notice that he just set out to write a song every day- not a hit song, not a great song, just a song. If you have a creative goal, you can certainly apply this philosophy when making your own resolutions.
Find a way to get in the habit of doing creative work without putting pressure on yourself to be an artistic genius. The more time you spend on your craft, whether it is music, acting, or dance, the more improvements you will see in your skills overall, even if you don’t see huge gains from one day to the next.
What are your New Year’s resolutions? If you want to learn something new, improve on a skill, or branch out creatively, enrolling in private lessons is a great way to make sure you keep your resolution this year. TakeLessons offers private, one-on-one lessons with qualified instructors in music, performing arts, and academic tutoring. Search for your perfect teacher today!
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–Megan L. TakeLessons Staff Member and Blogger
Photo by hebedesign
Megan L.