You don’t have to be ✨influenced.✨

Hey, so you know you don’t have to do what your favourite influencers tell you that you should be doing - right? I mean, it’s the turn of the year, and I’ve been seeing some new year new me/goals/self improvement content that seems really pushy, and a bit much, especially for people who haven’t pushed themselves that hard before. This is in music-influencer content too.

I can see it now - someone who hasn’t pushed themselves really hard before, or isn’t in that great of a headspace right now trying to start a new hobby or set a new goal, but they set the expectations high. Then when it doesn’t work in the time span they’re expecting in their ultra-high expectations of themselves (hi, I can relate) they get frustrated with themselves, and discouraged, sometimes even injured (repetitive strain, for example).

Sometimes they rage quit and feel bad about themselves.

Sometimes they don’t rage quit and just feel bad, and end up hating the activity because of all the negativity and stress they’ve built into it by doing it that way. And that’s the opposite of what anybody wants. We want people to feel good about what they can accomplish.

So I think if you’re setting some goals and new habits for yourself this new year, please set something achievable and build on that. Easy wins and then work with the momentum. Or small, bite size, achievable goals with a time frame. Whatever you know works for you, because you know yourself best.

If you’re intrigued by these things people are telling you, perhaps dip your toe in…try a little and go from there. If we’re going to improve upon anything - music practice included - we go a little bit outside of our comfort zone to create new boundaries for our comfort zone. Then a little bit outside of that, and so on. Not going from not practicing for a month and then trying to squeeze in 4 hours a day of practice and 2 hours of score studying, etc every single day. Just remember your limits, that we’re all human, and you don’t have to do what other people (including the influencers) tell you you should be doing.

As always, you’re doing great.