Baby Steps is a best-selling book that I really want to read.
If only it were real.
In the movie What About Bob?, Bob Wiley (Bill Murray) is a distressed, divorced man who is terrified of…well, everything.
Germs. Water. Dying. Elevators.
But then his therapist, Dr. Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss), gives Bob his book called Baby Steps.
This book is all about making little decisions throughout the day so you can move through life without totally falling apart.
Baby steps out of the office. Baby steps down the hallway. Baby steps into the elevator.
The movie makes this funny.
But there’s also an important lesson here for us part-time musicians.
Why Baby Steps Are The Way Forward
Imagine where you want to be as a musician.
For a lot of people, that’s overwhelming to think about. There are so many steps in between here and there, it can be hard to keep going.
The ladder of your success seems too big to climb.
Unless you just take it one rung at a time. One step, that’s all you need to focus on.
Take one, little, itsy-bitsy baby step. Then take another one tomorrow. Soon, you’ll have accomplished some great things.
But this only works if you’ve planned out your big picture.
You can’t take steps unless you know where you’re going.
How To Take Baby Steps As A Musician
In order to start taking baby steps toward where you want to be as a musician, you need a game plan.
You need a picture of success, clear goals, and a list of things you can do today and the next day and the next.
Plan out your career
The first step is to come up with your ideal picture of success.
If you could wake up tomorrow and do music knowing money wasn’t a concern, what would you do?
Don’t worry if you think it won’t make money. There are plenty of ways to make an income from music, so I’m sure you can find a way.
This is where you can dream big.
Set your goals
Next, it’s time to figure out what goals will move you toward your ideal picture of success.
What can you accomplish that will get you closer to waking up and doing what you want to do all day?
Your goals should be clearly attainable and measurable. And track the goals you’ve completed so you stay motivated.
Do one thing a day
The next thing to do is break up those goals into smaller bites. You know, into baby steps.
What small thing can you do today that will move you toward your goals?
These “things” need to be ongoing tasks.
They could be things like:
- Work on writing a song
- Contact a venue manager
- Make progress on producing that song
The idea is to have a short list of tasks you can choose from on any given day.
And each one can take as little as 15 minutes if that’s all the time you have.
But how do you do this in a clear and organized way?
You use my free worksheet of course…
A Free Worksheet
The One-Thing-A-Day worksheet is something I made for myself after getting frustrated.
I was overwhelmed by the big dreams I had that I didn’t know how to bring to fruition.
And it has completely changed my music career for the better.
This worksheet can help you:
- Figure out what you want to do in music
- Set attainable goals for yourself
- Learn what you can do today to move toward your success
- Stay focused and avoid giving up
I wholeheartedly believe in it.
And I want you to have this worksheet for FREE (scroll down ↓ ).
The baby step you need to take right now is downloading this frickin’ worksheet.
Start taking baby steps
Grab The One-Thing-A-Day worksheet below for FREE