Astrid Baumgardner | How to Set Really SMART Goals - 4 Steps to Get You Closer to Carnegie Hall

Inspiring Change | Empowering Success

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Pianist and DMA, Juilliard School

I initially began coaching because my boyfriend, a big fan of Astrid's, saw that I was confused about a lot of things regarding the direction my life was taking career-wise. He purchased five coachings for me for my birthday with the caveat that nothing was binding and that I could opt out any time if I felt uncomfortable. From my very first session, it was clear that Astrid is one of the most insightful and generous people I have met. I walked into this session last fall, thinking that I had come to a dead-end in my music career and that perhaps I would benefit from heading in a new direction. After only a couple sessions, I renewed my sense of love for music and began to see possibilities for myself that I never dreamed of. Astrid is extremely dedicated and focused in each session. One major breakthrough I have had is the idea that being authentic is a major value for me and that I have spent so much of my life trying to please others or do activities I feel like I "should" do. I feel like I have blossomed in so many ways this year, taking on creative projects that I might have been cautious of before, meeting incredible colleagues, and being excited about the future instead of fearful of it. Astrid has a great gift of seeing the beauty in each person and allowing their strengths to come through.

— JC, New York, NY

Composer

Astrid has turned around the way I look at my career in the most extraordinary way. I used to think that the professional part of what I do was very separate from the creative and deeply personal aspects of being a composer. Going after professional opportunities to get my music out there felt to me like a very daunting task--one that I found a little distasteful because it felt like "selling myself." Astrid really helped me realize that building a career has to come from the most genuine part of myself--in the same way as building a piece. With this understanding, the professional world looks much less scary to me now, and I'm able to reach out to my professional network with the courage of my conviction, and with the kind of personal investment and care that makes professional experiences deeply meaningful. Career building is about believing in what you do, and its validity; it is about communication and courage. It only works if it feels true to who you are.

With her supportive and positive attitude combined with her incredible sensitivity and intelligence, Astrid has created for me a wonderful safe space to discover how I want to develop my goals from the inside out. I have found in her a true kindred spirit as well as a powerful ally and coach.

—Hannah L,. New York, NY

Attorney and ??????

There seem to be an infinite number of resources available to people looking to make career changes these days, and I think I looked into most of them before I met Astrid. Numerous books advised me to do what I loved. That sounded good, except that I didn’t know what I loved. A career test provided some insight and long lists of possibly compatible jobs, but ultimately directed me to do what I loved - back to square one. Another career coach, dispensing with frivolities like love, laid out a practical approach to a career path that objectively made some sense, but I knew in my heart that I would hate it. I felt deficient for not knowing what I loved, unreasonable for rejecting a sensible path that didn’t appeal, and in general, completely hopeless about my situation.

When I began coaching with Astrid, I was struggling with a strong feeling that there was some ‘perfect’ thing out there for me to do, if only I could think of what it was. I had a vague idea that finding the answer would involve going through the racks of possible jobs and holding each one up in front of the mirror to see if it might fit, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that we would take a more bespoke approach. There would be no squeezing me into a readymade career in this process - instead, we would be focusing on my strengths, values, work style, etc., to think about what might be right for me. Astrid’s willingness to cheerfully abandon any exercise that wasn't working for me kept me comfortable with everything we did, and helped me to get the most out of the process.

The work we did helped me to form a foundation for understanding why certain things, career-related or otherwise, are a better choice for me than others. With Astrid’s warm encouragement, I have also started to reconnect with the creative, less self-limiting side of myself that I feared was permanently lost. I feel more like myself than I have in a long time, and I have a career direction that I am looking forward to exploring. This may or may not turn out to be the ‘perfect thing‘ that I was looking for, but I no longer feel the pressure of that search; rather, I am hopeful that by taking actions that are consistent with my character, staying open to the possibilities that arise with each action, and correcting my course as necessary, I will enjoy the process just as much as whatever result I reach. I am grateful to Astrid for helping me to readjust my direction and my outlook, and I highly recommend her services to anyone who feels lost, stuck or anything less than wholeheartedly enthusiastic about what they are doing.

— Andrea K., New York, NY

Cellist and music entrepreneur

A good friend recommended I see Astrid because I was stuck. Stuck. Stuck. Stuck, and suffering. She has helped me parse through all the detail in what seemed panoramic hopelessness. She has worked in a distinctly different way than my psychotherapist, more pragmatically, and the combination of the two ... has been, for me, very effective. I have made tectonic shifts in the way I see myself, my place in the world and how I move through it. There have been some very painful changes and realizations, but most important, I have found a source for joy, hope and energy, undiluted by difficulties, so that I actually feel better, and stronger. This is my testimony to Astrid.

— TM, Rhode Island

Educator

Astrid Baumgardner is a true facilitator, and in that capacity she has guided me to discover the values and deeply held beliefs essential to my happiness and fulfillment in the workplace, wherever it may be....Through our coaching sessions, I was able to draw out and fortify my self-confidence, without which my ambitious relocation would not previously have been conceivable. When you are determined to strive diligently for change in your life, Astrid will be there to help you to create a roadmap to navigate and overcome every obstacle you encounter throughout your life-altering transition.

— MH, New York, NY and Tokyo, Japan

How to Set Really SMART Goals - 4 Steps to Get You Closer to Carnegie Hall

If you read my last article on how to set goals for success, you will recall that before you start working on a big, visionary goal like going for the brass ring (in my example it was Carnegie Hall), it is important to make sure that you are going after the right goal. Once you have a goal that taps into the authentic you-your values, yours strengths and your passion-here are some strategies for making sure that your goal setting process is manageable and that it will get you where you want to go. We will continue with the example of how to get to Carnegie Hall, although anyone can use this method to help break down a big goal into bite-size pieces.

1. Set an intention around your vision

Getting to Carnegie is a vision. To make that vision even more concrete, set an intention, which states the date, what you are (written as "I am") and what you are doing. For example:

In 5 years, I am a world-class pianist performing my debut solo recital on the stage of Carnegie Hall.

You will be amazed at how powerful this is. Be sure to write it down because you are more likely to follow a goal through when it is in writing. And don't forget to put a time period because a goal without a time limit is merely a wish.

2. Create a short-term goal

Once you have your long-term goal stated as an intention, break it down. Your intention states a 5-year goal. Where do you want to be in 1 year along the journey? Let's say that you are a piano major at a music conservatory. Your one-year goal involves giving your solo graduation performance that encompasses four different periods and represents the best of what you can offer.

Break this goal down to this semester. What do you want to accomplish this semester that will get you closer to your solo graduation recital? Maybe you do not feel comfortable with the Baroque period and you would like to improve your skills in that area. That can become your goal for this semester.

Where do you want to be on your journey in the next 3 months? Perhaps learning 1 new Baroque piece is what you are aiming for. This can be your short-term goal.

3. Refine your goal with the SMART-goal process

Now you have a 3-month goal that feels doable. It helps to refine it even further with the SMART-goal process:

S: Specific: what specifically do I want to accomplish?

M: Measurable: how will I know when I reach my goal?

A: Attainable: is it possible for me to reach this goal?

R: Realistic: how realistic is this goal in the context of my life?

T: Time-bound: in what period of time will I accomplish the goal?

This is what a SMART-goal would look like:

In 3 months, I will have learned and memorized the Italian Concerto by J.S. Bach.

S: This goal focuses on a specific piece--the Italian Concerto by J.S. Bach.

M: It is measurable because you will know when you have achieved this goal: you will have learned and memorized the piece.

A: It is attainable as long as you think that you can do it-a subjective test.

R: It is realistic if you have considered all of the other things that you are doing in your life-e.g., your other classes, the other pieces you are working on, the circumstances of your personal life-and have decided that you can do it. This reality check is critical in order for you to set yourself up for successful goal achievement so consider your life context carefully as you formulate your SMART goal.

T: It is time-bound because you have set a time period of 3 months.

4. Give yourself a range

The purpose of setting goals is to help you attain success because goals should be inspiring, not defeating. There is nothing worse that creating a goal that you cannot meet and then concluding that you are a failure because you could not reach that goal. One way to help you experience successful goal achievement is to give yourself a range when you set your goal:

- What is minimally acceptable for me as a goal?

- What is my ideal for this goal?

- What would represent a stretch that I can target for this goal?

In our example, the minimally acceptable goal might be to learn all three movements of the Italian Concerto in three months. The ideal would be to learn and memorize the entire piece in that time period. The target could be to memorize the first movement.

Just think! Once you have learned all three movements, you know you have hit goal. When you memorize the first movement, you have hit target. And if you memorize all three sections, you will have reached your ideal.

You should now have a goal that feel manageable and doable. The next step is to set and take the actions that will get you to your goal-the subject of my next article so stay tuned!

Here's to your successful SMART goal-setting!

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Astrid Baumgardner, JD, PCC is a professional life coach and lawyer, Coordinator of Career Strategies and Lecturer at the Yale School of Music and the founder and President of Astrid Baumgardner Coaching + Training, which is dedicated to helping musicians, lawyers and creative professionals take charge of their lives and experience authentic success. In addition to her work at YSM and her individual coaching practice, Astrid presents workshops at leading conservatories and law firms on topics including Career Planning, Goal-Setting, Time Management, Dynamic Communication, Conflict Management and Personal Branding and Networking. She is the author of numerous articles on the various aspects of how to achieve and live authentic success.