Looking forward/ Looking back

• Posted by Chris Rowbury January 1, 2014 - Filed in Choir Post - 1,408 views

  [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]

   

  Time to look forward to the coming year.

   

  

  with thanks to my lovely assistant Susie Mendelsson

   

  Look back first to realise all the big mistakes you made, make a note of all those missed opportunities and unrealised dreams, then forward ho!

   

  you can ask yourself ...

  What am I expecting this year? What do I hope to achieve? What goals can I set myself? What resolutions shall I make? How can I be a better person/ singer/ choir leader? How can I lose weight and influence people?

   

  But that all seems a little boring and old hat.

   

  or maybe you can ask ...

  How can I have fun in 2014? How can I revitalise my singing world? How can I make a difference? How can I help more people laugh/ sing/ dance? What’s the highest note I can reach without my eyes watering?

   

  two ways forward?

  For many years I used to make big plans for the new year. Usually I failed miserably to realise my goals. I feel bad about that. I had all good intentions, but somehow real life intervened.

   

  If you don’t want to fail miserably, I reckon you have two choices:

   

  1. set more realistic, achievable goals; or
  2. make sure you definitely achieve the goals we set

   

  The first option is a bit of a cop out I feel. You’re simply setting the bar deliberately low so you know you’ll reach it. Even though you might realise your goals, it won’t give you much satisfaction or stretch you or help you to grow and develop.

   

  The second option seems a bit harsh. It might mean being hard on yourself and focusing too much on your goals rather than getting on with life. Most people fail to keep up with their New Year resolutions any way so it’s pretty hard to insist that you stick to them when others can’t.

   

  what are goals for any way?

  OK, setting goals at this time of year is a bit of a cliché. However, I do believe that it’s good occasionally to take stock of where we’re heading and how we’re going to get there, whether it’s at the turn of the year or otherwise.

   

  So maybe you might want to come back to this post when the time is right for you.

   

  • Goals give you something to aim for and work towards. Which is why lots of choirs end up performing. Sometimes it’s not enough to just do something, we need to show what we’ve done or have some kind of result or outcome.
     
  • Goals (whether you achieve them or not) give you a yardstick to measure your own development and improvement over the years (otherwise you might not notice how good you’ve become).
     
  • Goals are an indication to other people that you’re taking what you do seriously. And letting other people know that you have an objective in mind helps you to achieve it (you won’t like letting people down now that you’ve made your goals public).
     
  • Goals are a bit like shining a bright light into the future. You might not end up exactly where you’d intended, but the light illuminates the path for you and helps you on your way.
     
  • Goals focus the mind and help to remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing, and where you were headed in the first place.

   

  maybe there’s a third way (apologies to Tony Blair)

  Instead of watering down your aspirations (option 1) or giving yourself a hard time (option 2), there might be an alternative approach.

   

  Dream away. Fantasise about your perfect (singing) life (it is a singing blog after all). Imagine being famous/ successful/ top of your game/ number one/ internationally respected/ whatever.

   

  Picture yourself exactly where you want to be (which may or may not involve pool sides and lithe, scantily clad gorgeous people).

   

  Now set some goals to achieve those dreams. Don’t worry how unrealistic/ crazy/ daft/ pointless/ arrogant/ scary they are.

   

  Your job is then to go into 2014 open-minded and full of optimism with these goals at the back of your mind. They will inform your journey over the next 12 months.

   

  You may not achieve all of them, but they will help you on your way.

   

  Don’t give yourself a hard time if it looks like you’ll fall short; don’t ignore them entirely, but equally don’t focus on them too much or they’ll get in the way.

   

  share your goals

  Goals are there to help you. And if you feel like sharing them with us, we’ll certainly cheer you on and encourage you on your way.

   

  Drop by and leave a comment with your aspirations for 2014 and you’ll hear our approval from way over here where we live.

   

  Good luck!

   

   

   

  Chris Rowbury

  
  

  website: chrisrowbury.com

  blog: blog.chrisrowbury.com

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