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How many times have you uttered the words, “I wish there were more time in the day”?

You have 100 things on your plate, due dates are approaching, your eyes are bloodshot, and all you can think about is how fast the hours are flying by without your to-do list getting smaller.

The initial reaction to needing to find more hours in the day is to sleep less.

So you pull some all-nighters and find drinks/pills caffeinated enough to keep you energized and focused to make all of your deadlines. Sometimes that works. Sometimes you make your deadlines by the skin of your teeth. Sometimes the planets align and you’re able to make it all work.

And then you crash.

The problem is that you’re putting all of your energy and time (both of which you wish you had more) into working harder, when you should be using both of those precious resources to work smarter.

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Editor’s note: Pieces of this post first appeared in Episode 43 of The Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast: The Pitfalls of Reaching Your Goals.

It’s not hard to realize why goal setting is so important. Having something to work towards gives us clear direction as well as motivation to take action. It often gives us purpose and keeps us from floating around aimlessly.

When we reach our goals our attitude and mindset shift from doubt to confidence and often set off a domino effect for future successes.

But, sometimes, when we’ve completed a large or important goal, it can have the opposite effect on us. Instead of motivating us to keep going, it can stop us dead in our tracks and cause us to feel confused and lost as to where to go next.

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Olympic medalist Picabo Street once said, “To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits, and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” Cyrille Aimée is improvising her way to her limitless potential as a “rising star in the galaxy of jazz singers,” as The New York Times puts it.

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When we last talked about Adele on this blog, she was saving the music industry in 2011 with the release of her critically (and everywhere else) acclaimed sophomore album, 21. We pointed out a few examples of her approach towards her audience and how she used her music to build an incredible platform to reach them on a deeper level.

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This content first appeared in Episode 31 of The Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast.

Many times, in a desperate attempt to reach our goals, we keep going even when something’s not working in an effort to avoid being honest with ourselves about choosing the wrong path or needing to rest.

We carry so much shame about making mistakes and taking breaks that it ends up costing us, rather than helping us move forward. When we give ourselves permission to do what we feel in our gut is the right thing to do, however, we bring so much freedom into our lives. Here's how you can harness that power as a musician.