5 Tips on How to Meet Your Musical Goals in 2025

If you come across a few examples about jogging routine in today's article, it isn't a coincidence. In my family, we regularly discuss how the world of music and the world of sports relate to each other (or don't). While these two universes often seem very distant, sometimes unexpected parallels emerge.

1. Set realistic goals

Quite unsurprisingly, running magazines often talk about goals. At the beginning of the season, we set goals. For example, to run a race. Or to run a distance at a specific time or break our personal record. We'll adjust our training plan to that goal. We train, we race, and we either meet our goals or we don't. If we don't, at the end of the season we evaluate why we didn't meet them and draw lessons for the next time. It sounds simple. But of course, the reality is not so easy and involves lots of running in the cold, dark and rain, sore feet, sweaty t-shirts, and the need to push oneself.

To us musicians, all this may seem too rigid, not creative enough, somehow too rough and forceful. We are artists, so we don't need to organise anything or make any plans, we just create when we feel like it... But the truth is that sometimes we should get inspired by the focus of the athletes and rather than thinking about the individual details in the form of futile resolutions like "I'll be on time for rehearsals", look at the big picture – where do we want to get to as musicians in the upcoming year?

How about releasing a new album? If you already have an established band and a few songs written, it might be doable. If you're just starting out, maybe a single will do... Or maybe you shouldn't release anything at all, because you're much more into playing and jamming, instead, you could look for a bunch of musicians who feel the same way. Setting a realistic goal and writing down the steps that will lead to its completion is the first step towards looking back in a year's time with a feeling of a job well done.

2. Same old song

To understand how to set realistic plans or resolutions, start by looking back. Don't be afraid to look into the distant past, or at least as far back as your memory goes. What resolutions did you set last year, the year before, and even a few years before that? And how did you manage to keep them? If you find that at the end of each year, you resolve to practise your instrument more, and after a few January evenings you always fall back into your usual habit of practising only before a concert, maybe it's time to change something.

It doesn't even have to be a resolution per se, but perhaps an inner need or deep desire that you have had for years. Your friends might have a story to tell – maybe they've spent years listening patiently to you raving about how you'd like to play in a band, record your first EP, or maybe start a music club, and they're thinking, "Well, why on earth aren't they doing something about it already?" A friend of mine once told me how he woke up every night and told his wife he wanted to make music for a living... I'm sure she was thrilled. For several years, I also regularly confided to anyone who would listen that I "really really really wanted to get serious about making music."

Understanding what your true and deep desires are, not only in music, is much more important than scheduling half an hour of practice a day. Because if you do what you really want to do, then you'll probably be much better at practising that too.

3. Know what motivates you

Just like jogging training, the journey towards your musical goal will likely require some self-discipline. Even when following the deepest desires of your heart, at some point you'll find that you're tired, you don't feel like it, you're too busy, and overall, it's much more appealing to binge-watch your favourite show than it is to practise bass or fill out registration forms for summer festivals. It's good to know yourself and set your "resolutions" to help you in these situations, not to wear you down even more.

For example, let's take the widespread New Year's resolution "I will spend more time practising my musical instrument next year" – there are countless ways to reach this noble goal. I have a friend whose goal was to record a short track every day, make a video for it, and post it on Instagram as a reel, knowing that if he missed one day, the whole "challenge" would be over. He stuck with it for about two and a half years! I wouldn't last a week. Someone gets motivated by these types of challenges. For others, it's totally intimidating.

The important thing is to know what motivates you. Practising with friends? Sharing your experience and seeking encouragement on social media? Taking videos of your progress? Scheduling a gig as a deadline that you just have to meet? Dating someone who also plays the guitar? Getting recruited into a band with a despotic frontman? Does terror or positive motivation work for you? And when do you actually enjoy practising the most?

4. How about inviting friends?

If you're having trouble forcing yourself to go running, the most common advice you'll get from experienced runners is, "Then start going with a friend." Similarly, if you repeatedly fail to keep your musical resolutions, try asking your musician friends if they have similar resolutions. Wouldn't you work better together?

Firstly, just talking about your plans in front of witnesses creates a certain degree of positive pressure not to give them up so easily. But even more interestingly, if you involve other people in your musical endeavours, unexpected things can happen. In fact, friends who just get together to practise can easily form a new band. Or you ask someone to teach you how to record music at home, and they will later mix your first record. You might go to a music teacher for some advice and it turns out that they're someone worth going to every week for encouragement and motivation. If there's someone waiting for you at a specific time, you're much more likely not to put off your musical moments for "another time".

At its core, music is about sharing and experiencing emotions together. Even if you're a solo musician or an introvert, playing with another musician, or just talking about music, or enjoying a concert together will always give you a boost and encourage you to keep going.

5. Step out of your comfort zone – at least once!

If you only want to make one musical resolution for next year, I suggest this: step out of your comfort zone and try something completely new at least once. I often think of that old joke about the person who prays all his life to win the lottery and nothing happens. And then when he goes to heaven after death and complains, the Almighty tells him that he could have at least bought the lottery ticket. It strikes me as a great illustration of how often we long for something, want it really earnestly, tell everyone about it, but figuratively speaking – we don't even buy that one lottery ticket.

I know from my own experience that if you are determined to leave your safe space, even one small step can set off an avalanche of big things. After many years of trying in vain to "do music seriously" COVID came along and I couldn't do music at all. For a while, I wondered how I was ever going to play with anyone, and eventually, somewhat out of desperation, I joined the online music community The Recording Journey and shared my first recording with them. I made a great group of friends and got motivated to keep going in music.

Two years later, I was scrolling through band ads, unable to find anyone looking for a guitarist. After a few weeks, I came across a start-up band looking for a female vocalist. I decided to give it a shot, even though it was completely new to me since I had never been in a band as a frontwoman before. There were a lot of situations outside my comfort zone, starting with the first rehearsal, the first gigs, the videos... But yes, I'm finally "doing music for real" and I'm enjoying every step.

Even a small challenge that you can handle will boost your confidence and give you the strength to be a little braver next time. There is a lot that we can't control on our journey, but I believe that if we find the courage to try new things and not be afraid to take the untrodden path, we can get closer to achieving many of our dreams. I wish you all great musical adventures in the coming year!