The Smart DJ’s Guide To Planning A Successful 2018

Successful people from all walks of life realise that goalsetting is the vital first step to achieving them – but super-successful people pick goals only after they’ve assessed where they are today. It’s a simple exercise that can reveal a lot about your DJing, and what better time to do all this than sitting at home, stuffed full of turkey and with a bit of time left before 2018 kicks in properly?

Take out a sheet of paper or create a fresh note on your smartphone and go through these four steps:

1. Look back on your achievements

The first thing to do is to take a look back in the year that’s gone and to list five DJing achievements that you’ve accomplished: maybe it’s playing your first DJ gig, putting out a mixtape that got thousands of listens, or even uploading your first production to SoundCloud. Whatever they are, list five of them down – dig deep and do your best to come up with five.

They all don’t have to be game-changing – even something as mundane as finally tidying your messy “Downloads” folder will do (this was one of my achievements for 2017, by the way).

2. Figure out how they’ve helped your DJing

Beside each achievement, write down how you think they have affected your DJing. Did you get the momentum and confidence you need to start gigging beyond your bedroom? Maybe you started growing a small community of listeners and fans who love your mixes and productions?

Write what you think the positive effects are, and how they have made you a better DJ.

3. Look forward to what you want to achieve

Now that you’ve taken stock of what you’ve been able to do in 2017, it’s time to look ahead to the coming year: what goals would you want to accomplish? List up to five of them, and then write down how you think they’re going to affect and improve your DJing. The idea here is to get you excited for what’s to come and to give you goals to aim for.

4. Arrive at your own definition of success

Lastly, come up with a one sentence answer to this question: “What is your definition of success?”. Think on a more macro level here – maybe you’d want DJing to supplement your income, or to become the main way that you put food on the table. Perhaps it’s touring around your region or continent on the back of a production that you’ve released. Whatever it is, have a proper think and write it down.

Finally…

DJing can become a lifelong passion that brings artistic and monetary fulfillment if you let it be that – one of the secrets is to enjoy the process of evolving as a DJ and adding small wins and techniques to your arsenal every year because they all add up and bring you closer to the “success” that you seek.

Being successful has different meanings for different people – the sooner you find out what yours is, the sooner you can begin to measure your DJ achievements based on your own terms.

What were your achievements this year, and what do you want to achieve in 2018? Go through the four steps and share your answers with us below.