Happy New Year to you all! The holidays are always the most hectic time of year, and time really does just fly away. With that said it’s unbelievably already January 2nd, and if you haven’t come up with New Year’s resolutions for 2014, you may think you’re off the hook; think again!
There’s still plenty of time to come up with a plan to better yourself and sharpen your skills this year. After all, we have 363 days to work with here.
Creating New Year’s resolutions for yourself is a way to start off a brand new year with attainable goals that will help you become the best you that you can be. In order to avoid disappointment, you don’t have to change your life with each resolution; think small, but effective. To help, we developed some important points for you to consider as a singer and performer, and some possible resolutions for inspirations.
Health and Wellness
As singers and performers, our bodies are our instruments; an instrument you must take care of, polish, tune and break in. With that said, if you haven’t been paying as much attention to your body as you should, now is the time to create wellness, health and fitness goals for 2014.
- What you put in your body is just as important as the physical effort you exert, so resolve to build a healthy diet plan and stick to it.
- Endurance is incredibly important for performers. Develop a workout regimen that will help strengthen your heart and lungs. Great (and fun) activities include swimming, karate, yoga and martial arts, playing team sports, biking or using aerobic machines like an elliptical.
Mental Strength and Confidence
Having mental toughness and a strong sense of self-confidence is also going to play a key component in not only performing, but all areas of life; especially when it comes to reaching your goals (whatever they may be). Like the rest of your body, your brain must also be exercised.
- Make efforts to dismiss the “critic” voice in your head and tune in to the confident voice that knows your strengths and capabilities and isn’t afraid to let the world see and hear that. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? Teaching yourself to block out your negative self-deprecating thoughts will allow you to prosper and sell yourself as a performer.
- Meditation is another technique that will greatly benefit your mind. Meditating on a regular basis can have the ability to reduce anxiety by slowly breaking apart the tight-knit relationship between the part of your brain that focuses on you (your thoughts and ideas) and the part of your brain that produces fears and sensations. In this way, you can effectively reduce performance anxiety and give yourself the ability to to think more clearly and rationally.
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Relaxation and Recreation
There can be a such thing as working too hard; and often times working yourself too hard can lead to more harm than good. If you’re overworking yourself, you’re risking exhausting your voice and body as well as mentally exhausting yourself.
- Make a resolution to get an adequate amount of sleep. This is crucial to preparing yourself mentally and physically for a performance. In addition, you’ll have the energy to power through all you need to do throughout the day – optimal productivity!
- Reward yourself with fun. Don’t restrict yourself from having fun, that’s part of enjoying life! If you’re working hard, reward yourself for the hard work. Whether you’d prefer to indulge in a food you wouldn’t normally allow yourself during your healthy diet, have something special you’d like to buy for yourself, or would just like a night out with friends – whatever you feel is an adequate reward. Set a goal for yourself and once it’s been completed, it’s time for your reward for a job well done.
No matter what your goals are for this year, understand that change takes time and anything worth doing, is worth doing well. Be patient and don’t get discouraged by setbacks. Things won’t always go according to plan, but if you are consistently moving in a positive direction, you will get closer to achieving your goals with each passing day. Enjoy your path to a better you!
