A new year, a fresh start. But is this really the time to start over or should you just forge ahead?

I’m always tempted to wipe my slate clean at the start of a new year. It feels empowering to choose to discard the habits that are holding me back and to jettison the things that are cluttering my closets. 

There’s always the possibility, however, that in this sudden urge to...

The popular thinking is that New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time and while I don’t fully agree, I understand the reason. Resolutions are usually constructed to fail. In fact, while more than 55% of people believe they will keep their resolutions, less than 10% of people (and some studies say as little as 4%) actually do.

The problem is that although we feel motivated, even...

Music is a necessity of life for me. I’m guessing it may be for you too. Music runs through my head every waking moment, and probably when I’m sleeping. Making music and teaching music, particularly helping others enjoy their own music studies, are the activities that claim most of my time and energy.

Of course, my musical journey has been far from smooth. I have had disappointments...

Everyone needs a dream.

Perhaps you have felt the way I have lately, like we have too many worries and not much to dream about other than getting back to normal. That’s not helpful for creating growth and momentum. It’s not even healthy.

Usually at this time of year, we are excited about resuming school, work and performance schedules after a summer break. This year is...

In the last post, I wrote about why having a plan for any goal you want to accomplish is beneficial. In this post I reveal the three necessary ingredients of any plan.

Every plan sounds like a good plan. But if every plan were a good plan Indiana Jones wouldn’t have been captured trying to recover the lost ark, Dorothy wouldn’t have been swept up into Oz by a tornado and Columbus...

What is a plan? It’s a set of instructions for doing something you want to do. It is the single most important ingredient in your success in accomplishing your task. Don’t believe me? Just try putting a piece of IKEA furniture together without following the instructions.

Sure, you can always wing it. But you’ll be risking the failure of your entire project. 

When it comes...

This might have been a quiet time. 

Generations ago, an epidemic or plague shut people in their homes with no means of contacting the outside world. A yellow quarantine notice kept everyone outside away and isolated those within. Life inside would have been very quiet.

Today, the internet has brought the noise of the world inside even though we can’t go out. It provides a measure of...

Success is an elusive concept. We know that success doesn’t have to be defined in terms of a bank balance or superstardom or awards. However, convincing ourselves that we are indeed successful can be difficult.

This is particularly true in music, when we can feel accomplished one day and feel like we are back at square one the next day. Even when we understand that this is a necessary...

Sometimes it seems there is no way to get where you want to go. 

You practice and practice, but the results you are looking for don’t show up. Maybe you are trying to finish a piece, fix two measures or prepare to play in public, and you’ve reached a point where nothing you do is moving you forward. It may even feel like all your progress is backward and your music is actually...

This is the fourth in a series of posts focused on how to set - and achieve - goals. Be sure to check out the prior posts, Why Being a Better Harpist Isn't Good Enough, Three Disciplines of a Trustworthy Technique, The Most Important Piece You Aren’t Practicing and read on to the end of this post for a special invitation.

In case building a repertoire is on your must-do list for this...