We’re fast approaching the New Year – a time for making resolutions. And even if you tend to avoid making that list, it’s natural to reflect on the year, taking a personal inventory of highs, lows, and all things of significance that fall in between.
We do the same thing around anniversaries, birthdays, and anything else that serves as a marker in time to make us look at where we are in terms of where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
So let’s review what we referred to last year as the seven simple steps to secure success to see how we did and to consider what needs to be addressed in 2011.
Refresh + Refuel + Regenerate
You need the stamina to endure long hours, heartaches, and all internal and external stressors that come with the pursuit of your passion. So, it’s important to make changes in diet and fitness in order to keep things in top running order. If you need to make major changes in diet and exercise, consult your family physician first.
Some simple, safe rules to follow are to hydrate, take long walks, and avoid major meals after sunset and before sunrise. That’s the most basic diet plan for not overloading your system when your body is ready to rest. Walking is great for stimulating creativity while keeping the body in good working order.
So, in looking back over 2010 what lifestyle adjustments did you make in terms of exercise, diet, and overall physical health? What positive results have you noted in terms of your physical well-being? Think of at least one accomplishment in this area that you feel good about.
What do you need to work on the most in this area? What is one commitment you can make to help you continue to improve your overall physical health and well being?
Share your plan and results through the forums here at Singing Success – TV.
Invest + Save Responsibly
It’s key to set up a budget and follow it. The same struggles that come with dieting and exercise also come with budgeting. Stick to your budget so that your financial health will flourish. Think of spending as investing. Always continue the return on each investment.
Reduce existing debt and avoid incurring more debt at all costs. Work with others on accountability. Brainstorm on money-saving tips on wardrobe, gear, travel – everything related to helping you maintain and advance your career.
Unless it’s an emergency avoid credit. If emergencies come up and the credit is needed, set up a plan to pay it off as quickly as possible.
Keep a written record of all expenditures and investments. This gives you power over regulating its distribution and the return on your investments and interest.
Thinking back over this past year how is your financial health? What investments did you make that are generating a positive return? What adjustments did you make to your budget that helped you build your savings and curb spending or avoid impulse buying? Think of at least one accomplishment in this area that you feel good about.
What do you need to work on the most in this area? What is one commitment you can make to help you continue to improve your financial well being? What is one investment you can make in training that will generate results to improve your singing success? What is one cut you can make to build your savings?
Share your plans and strategies with others at Singing Success TV. Solicit tips and ideas on making wiser investments and improving your financial health.
Make Time For Loved Ones
The road to your singing success can be frustrating, discouraging, and quite hectic – and that demand on your time can increase feelings of isolation and loneliness. Plus, our reliance on instant communication through technology allows for very little face time with those who care about us.
It’s critical to honor and nurture your support base that provides love, care, and concern in exchange for those very same needs. Think of it this way, even your most annoying or irritating relative can be a source of inspiration for a song, a character, or a story while gigging.
The other thing to think about is that so much of your social life is involved around pursuit of your career. Sadly, that can create situations where people only show up when the gigs are happening, that new project is about to be released, and things are going well.
But during those times of struggle, frustration, or little activity, you’ll find that many of these people you see as friends don’t return calls and aren’t always around for feedback or support.
But you now have a resource at Singing Success TV to help you build a network of support. So use the forums to create and reinforce circles of support to help you get through the tough times and avoid isolation. Use these forums to reach out and be there for others in their journey.
Thinking back over this past year how has quality time with loved ones improved or changed? Is there someone that you’ve become closer to that offers positive, loving support and care for you personally and professionally? Think of at least one family member and one close friend that has had a positive impact on the pursuit of your career this past year. Think of one person that you have positively impacted this year.
What do you need to work on the most in this area? What is one commitment you can make to help you continue to improve your relationships with family and loved ones? How can you use Singing Success TV to improve communication, provide encouragement and build your circle of support?
Kick The Fits + Nasty Habits
Everybody has their vices. It may be smoking, excessive drinking, too much chocolate, cursing, too much time surfing the web – pick your poison. Whether you’re a singer or not, becoming a non-smoker is probably one of the wisest life-choices you can make.
The overall benefits to your health, career, relationships, confidence, energy, and to your sense of self-esteem for having kicked any habit will dramatically improve your quality of life.
It can be very affirming and empowering because kicking any habit is impossible without you taking the initiative and following through. You can certainly be encouraged by others, but no one can make you kick a habit. You have to do it yourself. So eliminate anything that is clearly interfering with your ability to give your very best as a singer, singer-songwriter, singing musician, or performer. In fact, whatever you do to improve your quality of life off-stage or outside of the studio will generate positive results for you in the creative arena as well.
What changes did you make in this area over this past year? What hs the been the pay-off? How is the change being positively reinforced? How can you use the forums at Singing Success TV to address bad habits, make positive changes, and reinforce the positive results that are generated? Think of at least one habit or lifestyle change you made that you feel good about.
What habit or behavior pattern would you like to change? Maybe it’s an issue of time management or commitment. What is one habit to kick or practice to engage that will generate results to improve your singing success? Use the forums at Singing Success TV as a resource for feedback, accountability, and positive reinforcement for kicking bad habits and making positive lifestyle enhancements.
Make Necessary Shifts + Moves
If you don’t like the material you’re singing or the image you project, take a closer look at what you’d like to change, and change it! If the band you’re with isn’t working out, voice your views first. Then, do what’s best for you if it looks like your concerns or ideas have fallen on deaf ears. If you don’t like the venues you’ve been playing – look for new ones!
Tap into your circles of connections for others that are a better fit in terms of partnerships or creative support for moving forward in your career. Use the resources at Singing Success TV for brainstorming and gathering information and resources to help you make any necessary adjustments.
What is one major change you made this year that you feel good about in terms of material, image, choice of venues, or training? What specifically has this change or changes generated? How can you build on it?
What is one positive creative or artistic change – big or small – that you can make and commit to in the coming year that will help you advance your career?
Ready, Set, Grow
Never stop learning and never grow up. Keep your mind open to new ideas and new concepts.
Explore new material. Play around with other styles and genres. Educate yourself on trends in the music business; and the, put your spin on it.
Invest in training with Brett Manning’s Mastering Mix. Use the forums at Singing Success – TV to focus on special interests that will promote artist development in some specific area.
As you grow more confident and comfortably with your voice, you will naturally attract new ideas, a wider audience, and a stronger desire to step up to the microphone and strike chords that hit home in the heart of your listeners.
What is something new you learned this year that has a significant impact on how you approach your craft as a singer, singer-songwriter, singing musician, story-teller, communicator, and performer? How has it changed your perspective?
What is one subject you’d like to learn more about this year? How can Singing Success TV be used to help facilitate this process?
Never Stop Giving
In tough times there is a tendency to pull back because of financial struggles and possible plateaus in the career. But that should never stop you from reaching out to others.
Singing, songwriting, and musicianship are all gifts. Granted, you want to be able to make a living out of the giving, but it all starts and ends with the loving.
Ask yourself how your gift can be used to make a difference in your community. Look for places such as nursing homes, social organizations, senior citizen centers, hospices, schools, and children’s hospitals. Then, volunteer your services, even if the work falls outside of the realm of music.
Never underestimate the value of reaching out for the sake of giving love – period.
What is one effort at reaching out this past year that impacted you personally the most? What projects or activities did you support or participate in on some level that now makes you feel good when you think about them? What opportunities are there for you to reach out and lend support in the coming year as a singer, singer-songwriter, or singing musician?
Make a commitment to continually networking through service. Think of your gift as an opportunity to share and to serve. The more you give, the greater the return in the long run.
This is an area where you can make many long term connections and life-long friends because the area for investment is deeply rooted in things that touch the heart and things that engage your faith and beliefs.
What is one commitment you can make in this area in the coming year? How can you use Singing Success TV to reinforce your commitment and even shore up some support?
Stay Tuned To Singing Success TV
So, there you have it: seven simple steps to sure success. Every single one of these areas has a resource for support through Singing Success TV. Use the forums and product offerings to stick to your commitments, make positive changes, to make 2011 your best year for opportunity, improvement, and accomplishment.
We hope the year brings you grander gigs, wilder dreams, greater confidence, and a clearer sense of the truly unique voice you bring to life’s ventures and venues. Your commitment to realizing the full potential of your unique voice is vital to your real singing success.