Although it might seem like classical musicians never experience ‘slow’ periods, we at FOCUS on You believe it’s important to slow down from time to time and pause to reflect on your previous season. While we understand that summer can be just as busy and challenging as other times during the year, we encourage you to take advantage of the slower pace of these months and think about what happened in your career (and life) in the past couple of months.

Summer offers many lively experiences. It is, however, also a time to (preferably) slow down and take some time to rest. Even musicians might find themselves in possession of a bit more free time as the season ends, so it offers a great opportunity to reflect on what happened during the season. As life changes constantly, it’s wise to re-evaluate your career goals regularly to make sure that you are still on the right path.

There is no one right way to reflect on your previous season, but we have gathered a few key points that you can focus on when reflecting on your career.

Mistakes You Made

Mistakes happen all the time. There is no use in letting them discourage you; you have the opportunity, however, to learn from your mistakes. Encouraging you to learn from your mistakes might sound like a cliché, but there is a reason why it became one. Mistakes are a natural part of both our everyday life and our careers. It’s also natural to feel discouraged by your mistakes on occasion, but make sure to turn your mistakes into learning opportunities.

Your Achievements

While focusing on your mistakes is very beneficial, don’t forget to also think about the positive aspects of the previous season. We often forget about our successes because we tend to view them as the “normal” way of things, whereas mistakes are often seen as the opposite of normal. Make sure to remember the things that made your previous season special and celebrate your achievements; there might be things on this “list” that you only wished for a couple of years ago.

Time Management

Time management is often a struggle, although it is not specifically a “musicians only” challenge. You might have already cracked the code on time management, but if not, it can be very beneficial to regularly re-evaluate your time management strategies. Consider making a pros-and-cons list; this way, you can assess both the positive and negative aspects simultaneously. It is also worth noting that time management can be a highly individual task: what works for others might not work for you. Try to find an approach that suits your needs.

What Needs to be Changed

This point might seem obvious, but it is an essential step in reaching your career goals. After recognizing your mistakes from the previous season, try to create a list of things that you can change. It is always a good idea to make both short-term and long-term goals. If there’s something that can be changed immediately, start there – while also thinking about changes that will take more time.

Use our free End of Season Reflection guide to help you in evaluating your previous months.