Who knows? Maybe 2010 will suck and I can blame it on my lack of clear goals. At least it helps with the stress level.

I’ve now heard arguments from both sides on whether it helps or hinders to announce your goals, but not entirely convincing either way. So I don’t know about that. I’ve heard that boot-camp soldiers do better on long marches when they know how long it is and what to expect. But it is an interesting thought… just trying to do your best without setting goals, one may end up exceeding milestones that would have just barely been reached if they had been defined. Maybe in some ways goals are a convenient way of telling you when to stop trying. With resolutions people always tend to fall short, maybe too ambitious or maybe it’s too artificial. Speaking of which I really have to get back to the gym and the pool sometime.

You were pretty driven last year and you obviously still are. Perhaps it’s not about avoiding setting goals at all, as much as not formalizing them. You have always known what you want and who you see yourself as, and that will take you farther than any arbitrary deadlines you’d set yourself to meet. Your bottom line in this post says as much: “I’ll take motivation and direction over goals any day.” You don’t need specific goals, you know what your overarching ones are and you’ll achieve them, because: “I’m a musician.” So far, it seems to be going well.

I think the real title of this blog should be “how it feels to achieve your goals”. You worked hard this year… perhaps even more importantly, you worked smart… and you really reaped the rewards.