Julie is a certified musician/music lover. She plays the piano, the guitar and the violin marvelously, plus she sings like a nightingale and is a talented songwriter. In fact, Julie is deeply in love with music such that music has crept into almost every aspect of her life. She can only study if she’s incessantly listening to her Ipod. She is inseparable with her earphones—and she even sets her goals music.

Set goals with music? That’s right. It’s part of Music therapy. And I’m not kidding here—there is such a thing as music therapy. So what is music therapy and how do you set your goals music? Here are a few pointers:

• Music therapy is the set use of music and music-related strategies to aid and motivate a person to achieve specific, nonmusical goals. Music therapy is geared towards effecting change in the cognitive, physical, communication, social and emotional skills of a person by altering unproductive learning patterns.

• Music therapy makes use of the appeal and therapeutic characteristics of music (it captivates and maintains attention, structures time, sets up a social context, encourages movement, taps into memory and emotion, and is success oriented). It does this to establish the difference between isolation and interaction and is proven to be most helpful in situations such as depression, anger, pain, autism, stress, grief, loss, time management, motivation, growth, change, procrastination and improving communication.

• Research suggests that music can increase patient’s motivation and positive emotions.

• Music therapy tools include.

1. Affirmation – an integration of words, rhythm and melody that gives the person the ability to think positively by eliminating barriers to prosperity, decrease stress and generate pathways to love and confidence.
2. Mind quieting – helps you gain control of your thoughts, and thus maintain your control on your life.
3. Breathing – breath is life, its depth, smoothness, sound and rate mirror your mood.
4. Mantras – their magical sounds stimulate, activate, motivate and rejuvenate.
5. Chanting – it strengthens the mind and develops concentration, patience and determination.
6. Toning – it is the basic process of letting go.

• How to set your goals music?

1. Find a 10-15-minute worth of songs that match your present mood.
2. Find another 10-15-minute musical selection that mirrors your present internal state and the state you want to achieve.
3. Find a 10 to 15 musical selection of songs that match the desired state you want to achieve.
4. Record these and go over the musical selections as many times as possible.

That’s how music can help you set your goals. Goal setting can be as simple as setting your goals music but it boils down to utilizing the great power of music not just to entertain but to heal the mind, body and soul. And, remember, you don’t have to be a musician or a music lover to practice music therapy or to set your goals music — the only criterion is that you have this great burning desire to achieve success and make the most of your life.

Teacher Stephanie instructed us to jot down at least five of our goals for the next five years. After which, she requested us to evaluate each of our goals if it was ’smart’.

Hold your horses, smart goals? What the heck are they?

And as if she saw right through that big question mark on my face, Teacher Stephanie began explaining about SMART goals:

• Smart goal is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals.

• Specific. Your goal must be detailed. You must know the Who, What, Where, When, Which and Why of your goal.

• Measurable. Your progress in your goal attainment must be concretely measured. When progress is measured, one stays on track. And as you reach your target dates, the bliss you experience will motivate you to work harder to achieve your goals.

• Attainable. Identify goals important to you. This way you can figure out strategies to achieve them. Plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame. Goals need to stretch you a little so that you will have real commitment to them.

• Realistic. Goals ought to represent an objective you are WILLING and ABLE to do. No, realistic here is not synonymous to easy but rather to ‘doable’. Aim high, but make sure you have the right attitude and skills to reach big goals. Always having small goals is not exactly advisable either as they limit your potential. A realistic goal pushes and stretches the individual, but it does not break him.

• Timely. A goal should be anchored on a time frame—otherwise there is no urgency in accomplishing it.

After learning about smart goals, we evaluated our own goals. Most of us, myself include, found out that our goals had tidbits of the elements composing smart goals but not all of them. And, as what Teacher Stephanie said, “Make the necessary changes to make your goals smart”. I will.