Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!
Written and Published by Nicholas Ambrosino
www.musicsimplymusic.com
director@musicsimplymusic.com

January 5, 2004

Table of Contents:

1. MTIPS Theme
2. Welcome Notes
3. MTIPS Development
4. Notable Quotables

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1. MTIPS Theme

What feelings would get you so excited about starting a new day that you would get up before your alarm went off? What feelings do you want to experience on a daily basis? What feelings would enrich you so much that your excitement would spill over to others and challenge them to do the same with their lives?
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2. Welcome Notes

Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!

Happy New Year to everyone! I wish you feelings of great success, gratitude and joy in 2004.

My goal for MTIPS is to provide you with practical tips and insights that will make your career or education in music, more fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to see a certain topic covered in an upcoming issue of MTIPS. My email address is editor@musicsimplymusic.com

FREE REPORTS! 
http://www.musicsimplymusic.com and follow the links to the FREE report page. This page is only accessible if you are a registered MTIPS subscriber. We have lots of information, and resources you can use. We’re constantly adding and up-dating, so check it often!

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3. MTIPS Development

Every year, around this time, I listen to people set goals for the year and likewise, I do the same. I set goals for my company, goals for my family, goals for my bank book, goals for my investments, and so on and so on. Yet, upon discussing this process during a get together with a dear friend, it began to occur to me that despite my optimistic attitude and my best efforts, at the end of the year, if I did not 100% achieve my goal, I always saw how much was missing. I would focus on the 10% I “missed” not the 90% I accomplished. I got stuck on a number and created a feeling of “failure” in myself. 

It’s a very similar scenario to that which many students create for themselves. They will play an entire piece, make two or three mistakes and remember the mistakes, not the 1,572 correct notes and rhythms they played!

This year I have decided to set my goals differently. I used to set “how many–by when” goals. “I want to loose 10 pounds by February 17.” “I want to create 25 new students by January 20.” The goals were clear and measurable. Yet, what if I only lost 8 pounds by February? How would I feel? Successful or unsuccessful? Most likely, unsuccessful because I fell short of a number. This would create a “why bother” feeling, a feeling that did not motivate me to reach further for my potential.

This year I have decided to set feeling goals. I only want to create feelings of fun, joy, passion and success in my life! My focus is on having more fun making music with my students, more joy in spending time with my family and greater success in my ability to connect with people on a deep, meaningful level.

This feels right. My focus for my students and me is to create feelings that enrich our lives. Feelings that get us excited about who we are and about who we are becoming.

What feelings are you interested in creating in your life? What feelings would get you so excited about starting a new day that you would get up before your alarm went off? What feelings do you want to experience on a daily basis? What feelings would enrich you so much that your excitement would spill over to others and challenge them to do the same with their lives? Whatever the feelings of your dreams are, start creating them now and watch 2004 be richer than any year before!

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4. Notable Quotable

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. 

- Kierkegaard, philosopher


Copyright © 2003 Nicholas Ambrosino. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute MTIPS so long as this copyright notice and full contact information about the author is attached. The author of this issue is Nicholas Ambrosino and he may be contacted at director@musicsimplymusic.com or reached by telephone at 631-863-2069

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