Indie music blogger Bob Baker asked his readers for their feedback on things that keep them from reaching their musical goals.

They’re all things that I could relate to, and they’re probably things that most musicians can relate to.

Here are the ten that jumped out at me:

10 Things That Keep You From Reaching Your Musical Goals

1. Not setting goals to begin with
2. Lack of time
3. Not planning well enough
4. Procrastination
5. Not prioritizing my goals
6. Lame but convenient excuses
7. Not knowing where to start
8. Perfectionism
9. Fear of failure
10. Facebook

What’s interesting about the list is that almost all of the reasons that musicians come up with for not reaching their goals are things that they/we control.

There are a couple of things that didn’t make Baker’s list, but probably should have:

• not sucking;  and
• not finding an audience.

Not sure who controls that, though.

Let me know what you think of Baker’s list. And – is anything holding you back?

Image; Caesar Sebastian

Oliver Chesler

There are only rare moments where you will feel the fire of a great song coming on and get into the studio fast enough to get it down. However, all your great songs are inside you anyway. Whether or not you’re hot or cold they are there. You have to get into the studio and warm yourself up. Sit and make a crap dull song, erase it, get frustrated and then viola the good one starts to creep out.

I can’t tell you how many times I went into the studio with a sterile mind and came out with a song I was proud of only because I stayed long enough to make it happen. I also am ashamed to tell you I wasted too much time in life waiting for inspiration, full of self-handicapped exuses instead of sitting in front of Ableton Live.

Anything holding you back?

Image:|subma®in|