The beginning of the year signals reflecting on our past year as well as goal setting for our envisioned path this new year.
Music Can Help You Achieve Your Goals
Creating a playlist can give VISION to our AUDITORY diet.
Music can add meaning to moments…and in this case, I hope it will support you the whole year through.
Setting intentions to achieve our goals through a Purposeful Playlist helps bridge us to something deeper within ourselves – including inspiration.
Create to Inspire
Here are the 3 steps I suggest for making the perfect playlist to inspire your year:
1. Set a Goal, Intention, or Desired Feeling to Take Into your Year!
You may have several whys for using music—to de-stress, to boost your memory, to increase your productivity, or to lessen your anxiety. Whatever your objective may be, just naming it will help. In her book The Success–Energy Equation, Michelle Cederberg puts it this way: “When you set a goal, your attention is naturally drawn toward what you should do next. Your brain starts to look for ways to accomplish that goal and you gain focus, which is an antidote to all the distractions and low-priority tasks that compete for your attention every day.” Cederberg goes on to discuss goals in the most beautiful and musical way: “If your goals don’t resonate with you at a deeper level it will be hard to stay connected to them.”
Start with the Why
So why do you need a purposeful playlist? Here are some of the most popular goals I have heard from family, friends, and clients:
- For comfort
- To reduce stress
- To lessen anxiety
- To improve mood
- To find purpose
- To increase productivity
- To boost creativity
- To enhance focus
- To feel inspired
- To strengthen relationships
- For general self-care
Take time to reflect
Ask yourself “What feeling do you need?”
Take a moment to reflect upon one or more overarching goals you desire in your life. Big goals can help us expand our vision and stay open to possibilities. This mindset will help us move through the music-centred exercises leading to sustainable benefits.
- My feeling for 2022 was ‘DRIVE’
- My feeling for 2023 is ‘FUN’ (it’s amazing how much feelings can change in just a year)
2. Choose your Songs to Match Your Desired Feeling.
Although choosing songs may sound simple, that does make it easy. Our quest with this particular exercise is to choose songs that EVERY TIME you hear the song you feel the desired feeling you want to feel. As I was putting mine together I started to feel guilty letting go of some of the songs I had originally chosen – because I loved the songs – but I had to keep reminding myself that just because the song isn’t on this playlist it doesn’t mean I have to stop liking that song. The song just didn’t fit this particular playlist. I also had to remind myself that there are so many more playlists in Wellness, Wellplayed where they can be used and shared with others. Some of the songs I ended up selecting for this particular playlist surprised me. They are not my regular listening selections but when I focused on my intention – to experience FUN – they did the trick.
I have been working on my playlist all month and I currently have 26 songs (changing all the time). I aim to grow my selection to 40 – 50 throughout the year keeping in mind that if a song stops producing feelings of FUN that I am allowed and encouraged, to replace that song with another.
3. Share your playlist – on Social Media, in a Music HUB (like a book club – read more below), or directly with me!
Mixtapes are meant to be shared!!! Let’s share our playlists on your favourite streaming service or send me your list via social media and tag #wellnesswellplayed so I can find it!
In Wellness, Wellplayed I share another idea – the 6 steps for starting a Music Hub. A place where music lovers are looking to meet fellow music lovers. A place to show off our tastes and learn what others like. A great way to encourage us to pay attention to our current listening habits while also discovering new music. A place to dig deeply into our memories and create new ones. Perhaps you can envision the perfect group of old or new friends you feel would be interested in getting together to talk music and your new year playlist.
By sharing your playlist, it will not only help you gain accountability but also help you connect more often and deeply with others.
Let the Music Guide You
So this year, dream big and use this guide to help you craft an intentional soundscape of your own.
Thanks for joining me on this journey of setting our annual intention using music, and I wish you peace, inspiration and love wherever you are! Happy New Year!
Here is my DRIVE THE DREAM playlist (I will share my Meaningful Fun soon).
I look forward to hearing yours!