Skip the New Year's Resolutions: Make a Musician's Plan of Action (Episode 199)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

New year, new you, new gigs. But hold on. Not just more gigs. The right gigs. In Episode 199 of The Career Musician, Nomad makes the case against New Year's resolutions for musicians and hands you something that actually works: a plan of action.

His reasoning is simple. More gigs can mean more noise and more stress, and none of it matters if it is not helping you build the career you actually want. Resolutions don't usually work. Actions do.

A plan of action, or a plan of attack

Instead of resolutions, Nomad uses a POA. Call it a plan of action, or call it a plan of attack. Don't worry, you're not attacking people.

"What you're actually attacking are the bad habits that keep you stuck. Being comfortable, putting things off, making excuses, doubting yourself."

Nomad, 1:00

A plan of attack is saying you are done waiting and you are taking action. The concept comes straight from his ETHOS framework: Energy, Talent, Humility, Objectivity, Savvy. It is a simple way to remember how professional musicians think and work, and it supports the three big parts of a career musician's path: your mindset, the business you do, and your gigs and studio work.

Step one: tell the truth with objectivity and humility

Objectivity means looking at your situation without emotion. No excuses, no beating yourself up, just the truth. That takes humility, being honest enough to say maybe what you are doing isn't quite working, so let me switch it up.

Ask yourself: what actually paid me last year? What gigs or projects moved me forward? What took a lot of time and didn't really help my career?

"Most musicians don't fail because they aren't good enough. You can play. You got talent. But oftentimes people struggle because they keep doing things that don't work."

Nomad, 3:00

A resolution says you hope things change this year. A plan of action says here is what really happened, and here is how you will adapt your approach. Write down what worked and what didn't. Once you see the truth, you can fix the problem.

Step two: simplify with talent and savvy

Talent is what you are good at. Savvy is knowing how to use it wisely. Plenty of musicians have talent, but not all of them know how to turn it into steady work.

So pick one main focus for the next 90 days. Not ten goals. One direction: live gigs, studio work, teaching or producing content. Pick the lane that makes the most sense for you right now. Then choose three simple actions you will do every week, things you can control. Send emails. Follow up. Practice. Post content. Meet new people.

"If your plan doesn't tell you what to do on a random Tuesday, it's not a real plan."

Nomad, 4:39

Simple, clear, repeatable actions. That is Savvy, and it is the heart of Make Music Your Business.

Step three: energy means showing up

Energy is not being hyped all the time. It means showing up even when you don't feel like it. Think about the gym: you don't want to go, then you get into it. That is the energy.

This is where most people stop. They wait for motivation and the perfect moment. Career musicians don't wait. They schedule their actions: 30 minutes or one focused hour of practice time, studio time, outreach time. Put it on your calendar, because what gets scheduled gets done. That is how small daily actions turn into big results, and it is how Luck = preparation + opportunity stops being luck at all.

Nomad closed the episode at his workbench, which is where he says the real resolutions get made. Do the work, and not just once or twice. Do it every day, consistently, with discipline. The motivation builds on the momentum of the small gains you make, whether your goal is more gigs, more session work or producing more tracks for artists.

The takeaway

No resolutions. Tell the truth about where you are, make a simple plan, and show up every day. That is how you build a career in the gig world, in the studio and on the business side of the music industry. Nomad made a free one-page ETHOS plan of action worksheet that walks you through every step in this episode. Download it, keep it open, and take action. And if an audition is on your 90-day list, start with the free Audition Secrets guide.

There's enough to go around. We can all eat at the table of career musicians.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.