It’s hard to sustain growth as a musician.

But it’s easier when you approach it with the right mindset.

Here are a collection of daily habits to help you figure out how to grow- and enjoy- your practice, teaching, or career.  

Consider experimenting with one or two. Set a reasonable goal, such as 7-30 days, and notice the difference it makes. 

Daily Habits For Musicians

1. Practice—even if it’s just for 10 minutes.
2. Record something (memorized, written, or improvised) and listen back.
3. Create something.
4. Share or post your creations,  recordings, or writings somewhere.
5. Journal.
6. A morning routine that prepares you mentally and physically.
7. Sleep 8 hours.
8. Reach out to one person.
9. Set boundaries—say no to something.
10. Throw away something.
11. Stretch.
12. Plan your day the night before.
13. Keep your word to yourself on one thing every day
14. Breathing, meditation, or emotional regulation exercises.
15. Walk or exercise.
16. Drink more water.
17. Practice deep listening.
18. Learn something completely unrelated to music (e.g., cooking, drawing).
19. List three things you’re grateful for.
20. Show appreciation by giving specific, genuine compliments to one person.
21. Keep a daily log of how you spend your time.

For Music Teachers

1. Combine your practice with your teaching time.
2. Reuse, repurpose, or automate your teaching to save time and energy.
3. Record yourself teaching and listen back for improvements.
4. Ask your students or colleagues for feedback.

For Music Entrepreneurs

1. Dedicate time daily to sales activity.
2. Spend time on marketing activity.
3. Reflect on and revise your vision, goals, and action plans.
4. Know your numbers—track and collect data.
5. Optimize one aspect of your evergreen marketing assets.

Habits to Let Go Of

1. Alcohol, substances, or foods that may be a detriment to your performance.
2. Meetings or projects you don’t want to take on.
3. Perfectionism—stop doing extra revisions and ship the project.
4. Comparing yourself to others.
5. Saying yes to projects that don’t align with your goals.
6. Clutter.
7. Social media, news, or entertainment that doesn’t bring you joy.
8. Self-doubt—celebrate small wins instead.
9. Interrupting people.
10. Reacting defensively.
11. Speaking before thinking things through.
12. Chasing shiny objects.

Add or subtract one or two habits from this list and see what happens.

And bear this quote in mind from Claude Hopkins:

“The love of work can be cultivated, just like the love of play. The terms are interchangeable. what others call work I call play, and vice versa.  We do best what we like best.