Well, 2009 is almost over. How was the year for you and your music career? Did you reach your goals? Did you even start the year with goals? Did you learn new tips, tricks, and music marketing techniques that took you further than the year before… or did you continue to do the same ol’ same ol’ with the same results as before? Are you looking to 2010 to be a better year where you can reach further, gain more attention, create bigger buzz, and drive more fans to buy your music…. or will you do the same things you did in 2009?

I personally love New Years Eve! Not because I can party it up into the wee hours of the night, rather because it gives me a chance at a “do-over.” Every year on New Years Eve day, before the festivities, I spend the entire day day dreaming about what I want the future to look like, pondering the past years activities, and then creating an action plan to move me away from the previous years mistakes and closer to the new years goals. This is the most exciting time for me in my business. I really dig day dreaming and thinking about the future. These day dreams become my goals for the year.

A goal is no more than a day dream if no action is taken, no plans are created, or no movement towards them is accomplished throughout the year. This was a huge realization for me many years ago. Before I came to this notion that I had to act upon my dreams to make them a reality I would always wonder from year to year why I was no closer to making my living in the music industry. You see, I was always doing the same thing I did last year, no matter the results, and somehow expecting because I had a day dream of everything being different It would be…. no matter the action I took… which in my case, again, was doing the same ol’ same ol’ and expecting different results.

So again, I ask you…. Are you going to change your mindset or continue with the same ol’ same ol’ hoping for something to miraculously to happen?

I want to challenge you this year. I want you to take a leap of faith and consider that what you are currently doing may not be all you can do for yourself and your career. I don’t care how successful you are right now, there is always more you can do. The most successful people in the world know that learning something new everyday is the only way to stay successful and that there is always something they are doing that could be done better. So, with that said, I want to challenge you to reach deeper within yourself and find that little spark of energy that will allow you to sit on New Years Eve day and ponder your past, plan your future, and take the first action step of creating a written plan of how you will move closer to your future and further from your past mistakes.

Here are some steps to get you thinking…

1. Write down all the actions you took last year towards making your living in the music industry.

2. Go through each action you took and and rate the success using the 1-10 method (1 being poor – 10 being excellent) BE HONEST!!!

3. Now again go through the list and next to each action item list why you feel it deserved the rating you gave it.

4. Put your pen down and seriously consider your actions over the past year. How can you do better?

5. Close your eyes…after reading this step… and day dream about your future. Let your mind go as far as it can towards how you want to live your live and what would make you the most happy in the music industry.

6. Start a new piece of paper and write down your day dreams.

7. Now, look at the day dreams and consider what has to happen to get you closer to them. As an example, if your day dream is to perform live in front of 50,000 people all screaming your name… what must you do to get there? First, you must learn who the concert promoters are that put together concerts large enough to attract 50,000 people. So, in this case, you would need to start networking with concert promoters. – very brief explanation, but you get the point.

8. List each day dream as a goal.

9. Under each goal write down as many action steps as you can think of to get you closer to that goal. Money, time, resources do not matter right now, you can figure out all that later. Right now you just want to create an action plan of how you can reach your goals.

10. Look at all your goals and action items and create a step-by-step plan of action to reach your goals. Once you have a plan you will be able to see what you need to do, obtain, learn, possess, etc. to reach your goals. This is valuable. Now you simply have to get your hands or mind on the needed items and act upon your plan to reach your goals!

Sounds too simple to work doesn’t it? That is because it is human nature to over complicate, over think, and over estimate everything we do in life. People, life can be easy in the music industry if you plan for it to be. This ten step plan is the fundamental basis to every successful person you have ever met or heard about in your entire life. In one way or another each successful person follows this path to their success. The difference between those that are not successful, those who are moderately successful, and those that have unbelievable success is how well they follow this ten step program and personalize it to their individual needs.

2010 can be a huge year for you in the music industry. All you have to do is plan for your success. So, again, I challenge you to reach your potential…. oh sorry, i hated hearing that in school, let’s change that…. I challenge you to reach deep inside your soul and find what it is you want to do as an individual, define your desire into words on paper (very important), create an action plan to reach that desire, and then research and learn what you need to so you can reach those desires and have a unbelievable 2010!!!

Need help setting up your music industry action plan?
Step-By-Step Action Plan to Reach Your Goals & Succeed in the MUSIC Industry

Happy New Year!
Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”