A Couple of Things About Music and Goals

Here are a couple of bite-sized bits of info that may not change your life, but could make you cool at a cocktail party.

Why Music Gives You Chills

Inspiring or thrilling music can evoke many things in people – even the chills. Researchers looked at why music gives some people  goose bumps and determined it’s related to their level of openness.

According to a new study by researchers Emily Nusbaum and Paul Silvia of University of North Carolina at Greensboro, people who tend to be open to new experiences also tend to have the chills while listening to powerful music.

Openness requires curiosity, imagination, creativity. And people who reflected those qualities often played an instrument, regularly listened to music, and said music was important to them in their lives than people who didn’t exhibit an openness to life. They connected to music in a deeper way.

Music has long been a powerful healer and now we can surmise that it serves as  way for us to be more open and engaged with life.

Why Going Easy Could be More Productive

Ever completed a task that everybody marvelled at, yet you sat back and thought “what’s the big deal, this was easy peasy?”   How about the opposite: Ever done something difficult only to realize it didn’t matter all that much to your goal?

Seems we give more creedence to doing the things that are difficult rather than things that are necessary to actually achieve our goals.

Big Wigs arrived at this conclusion after several experiments one of which involved showing students a picture of chocolate. In one ad the picture was blurry and hard to read, yet those who read that blurry ad were more likely to want the chocolates than those who looked at the easy-to-see picture.

These findings suggest that when something is difficult, we tend to believe it’s more worthwhile or necessary to achieving our goals.

That should serve as a warning. Get clear about what you need to do to achieve your goals. Know the motivation (the why) behind it. Don’t just do something because it’s hard and therefore appears more worthy.

Often, when we are inspired and excited and in a flow state, even the hardest task can be easy. That’s great! It’s important to do what it takes and not what we think we ought to do en route to our dream. It doesn’t all have to be hard.

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