Setting Family Music Goals

I am writing this on New Year’s morning. It’s a very natural time to be looking ahead and making goals.

It’s not the only time to think this way though. The start of a new school year or the start of summer, or any other new season in your family’s life are all good times to re-evaluate and make new goals as a family.

Why goal setting is so powerful:

It’s easy to lose sight of what we are trying to accomplish when we get busy with the details of day to day life. Taking time every so often, I love to do this once a quarter, to step back and evaluate where we are headed and why can be a powerful way to stay focused and motivated.

All it takes is a few minutes of picturing yourself a few months, or even in a year in the future. What do you hope you will have accomplished? What do you want to make progress toward? What do you hope will get easier?

As the saying goes: it’s the things we measure that we improve on.

How you can set music goals as a family

Take a few minutes as a family to fill out the goal planning sheet attached to this blog post or create your own.

1. Ask your child(ren) to come up with three goals for themselves on their instrument over the next few months or year
2. Come up with three goals that you, as a parent, want to set for your family. Maybe they include seeing live performances together, or setting up a more consistent practice routine, or making practice a more positive experience for the whole family. I am sure you can think of many ideas that fit your family best.
3. Make a list of ideas that will help both your child and your family reach their goals. 

Sometimes the best solutions in our family have come when we brainstorm together. Having a short conversation about what everyone thinks will help meet these goals can really help make these goals happen.

You child may come up to a solution for their own goal that they are willing to stick to, but that if we had suggested as parents they might have resisted doing. When it’s their own idea, I’ve found the buy in is much better and I’m often surprised what my kids would come up with.

This whole exercise might only take a five or ten minute conversation but it can really help make the next few months, or year, more focused and productive.

I’d love to hear what your family comes up with!

You can download a printable version of the goal planning sheet by signing up to have emailed right to your inbox for FREE below.

Happy New Year and happy goal setting! h