Your vision

Practicing is enjoyable, rewarding and satisfying. It expands your reach and your imagination. It makes you better in all kinds of ways. It's also a lot of work, with slow progress over a long time.

It helps a lot to have vision. Even better - a vision statement.

Think about yourself as the musician you'd like to become through your practicing. Be as clear, as detailed and as optimistic as you can. Think of the music you'd play, how well you'd play it, the places you'd play in, the people you'd play with, the people you'd play for, and the person you'll be when all that comes true. That's your vision.

Now, squeeze that all down into a page or so and write it down. That's your vision statement.

Hints for creating your vision statement:

• Write it down.

• Make it yours.

• Make it detailed, specific, optimistic, imaginative and ambitious. Include plenty of stuff you can't do yet.

• Think of it as a target, not a status report. It's where you're going, not where you are.

• Put in things you're aiming for. Don't put anything you're trying to avoid.

• It doesn't have to be perfect. You can update it whenever you want.

How to use it

• Keep it handy. Read it frequently.

• Ask yourself, “Why am I practicing?” and then read it.

• Ask yourself, “Am I on the right track?” and then read it.

• Ask yourself, “Am I practicing the right stuff?” and then read it.

Why?

Practicing is full of intriguing details and attractive distractions. You can easily get lost in them. Your vision statement helps keep you on track and avoid mission creep. It's based on your dreams and your imagination, but it's also a self-imposed boundary. Most of us want to do more with our music than we have time for in our lives. Creating your vision makes you decide what you really want to accomplish. Working from your vision statement keeps you focused on that.