Great careers rarely happen by accident, especially in the competitive music industry. If you want to make an impact  or even just make a living you need to take charge of your mind and condition it for success.

The following exercise will help you to uncover your goals and sculpt them into daily steps that will bring them to fruition. If  you are driven enough to follow through, you’ll be amazed at what can actually happen.

1) Make a list of all the things you would like to achieve as a drummer - Do you want to be a session musician? Do you want to attend Berklee? Do you want to be able to play like Vinnie Colaiuta? Do you want to make millions in a rock band? Do you want to be a Grammy Award winner? Don’t limit yourself in any way, just write down everything you would like to happen if there were no limits at all. What excites you the most?

2) Close your eyes and visualize the big picture. Imagine a movie scene that represents all that you want to happen. What are you doing? Where are you? Who are you with?. Try to make this movie as real as possible and make sure that you can see your self having the time of your life. 

3) Enjoy your movie for as long as you wish and need to create those positive emotions. Notice what insights and ideas you get from the images and stories that unfold in your mind. Let great things happen to you!

4) Open your eyes and use the energy that you have created to answer the following questions:

- What can I do today to achieve my goals?

- What can I do better to achieve my goals?

- What’s stopping me from reaching my goals?

- What can I do to overcome it?

5) Take action on all of your best ideas!

Quotes To Remember:

‘The future comes quickly, faster than you might think. Where do you want to see yourself 5, 10 years from now? Ask, answer then get to work on the answer!!’ - Walfredo Reyes Jr.

‘Strive for excellence at all times’ - J.D. Blair

‘Become the best musician that you can be because that is your

product - your own personal musicianship’ - Steve Smith

You can find more lessons and exercises like this in The Psychology Of Drumming