By Marcus Reid

The following will do more for your training progress than any other super secret drumming technique or exercise:
Think on paper: Only about 3 percent of drummers have clear, written goals. These people accomplish five and ten times as much as people without written goals!
Step 1: Decide Exactly What You Want.
This will allow you to prioritize so that you are spending the most time on high value tasks that move you closer to your goals. If your goal is to play drums in a rock band, there isn't much point in using up a lot of your practise time by practising jazz fill-ins!
For hand speed and coordination skills, the best form of practise are the 26 drum rudiments (please see our drummingdrums site if you don’t know them.
Good Drumming books and videos are a great form of teaching, but, these cannot be matched by one to one teaching from an experienced drum teacher.
So once you have decided what EXACTLY it is that you want to do as a drummer, move forward to step 2.
Step 2: Write It Down.
Again, think on paper. Written goals are a powerful thing. They have an energy behind them that helps you move toward them that unwritten goals just don't have. In fact, you'd do even better by writing down your goals every day.
Daily writing of your goals is an enormous boost to your self-discipline, and will help you keep focused on your goals and stop your mind wandering off on a tangent, thinking about other things that are happening or may happen in your life.
Never be afraid to write down even the craziest of your dreams, as they are YOURS on that particular day of your life. It well be of great help to you when you look back at these goals, to see how and why you got to where you are today.
Yes, every day. It will only take a few moments and will help you tremendously.
Step 3: Set A Deadline On Your Goal.
Create a sense of urgency and positive pressure.
Without a deadline, you will procrastinate and do the little things that may damage your short-term goals
If you wish to learn a particular technique or rudiment, set time scales on this and keep your mind focused on the deadlines which will encourage that ‘sense of urgency’ to complete.
Set time scales for joining a band, getting a play list together, record deals.
These will help you to FOCUS your mind and actions on getting to wherever it is that you want to get to.
Step 4: Make a List of Everything You Can Think of That You Will Need To Do To Help You Achieve Your Goal.
Leave nothing to chance. The more planning you do ahead of time, the more likely you will stick to the plan and achieve your goals.
From your drumming lesson books, you can establish a list of lessons that you need to be able to achieve for you to be able to complete a certain goal – for instance, you would need to reach a certain level to be able to play in a band, whereas you would need to achieve a higher level if you wish to play in a band with record deals available.
Playing in an orchestra would require a much higher skill level than that of playing in a punk rock band for instance, and hence your list would be relevant to the dreams and goals that you have previously set in the earlier steps.
The more prepared you are, the more success you will experience.
Step 5: Organize The List Into A Plan.
Organize your list by priority and sequence.
By doing this seemingly minor action, without realising it, you are actually organising your mind.
If you can keep your mind organised and focused, the actual drumming part of your goal achievements, will be much simpler.
Step 6: Take Action On Your Plan Immediately.
Do something. Get started. Start building positive reinforcement and momentum RIGHT NOW.
The sense of urgency that you should have created in step 3, then having planned and prioritised your goals and actions, will now get you to the DESIRE test.
How much you actually DESIRE to reach your goals will be tested by your sense of urgency.
The more you desire, the quicker you will want to enact your plan.
You should not waste time thinking about other possibilities, projecting in your mind what might or might not happen, you must put your plan into ACTION.
It is only ACTION that will ever get you towards your goals. Dreaming, organising, planning, making lists will NEVER get your goal achieved. It is only ACTION that will achieve them. The previous tasks are merely ways in which to enable you to make ACTION and this is what you must DO!
Step 7: Resolve To Do Something Every Single Day That Moves You Toward Your Major Goal.
And with Drumming, you have to, don't you? Whether it is your rudiments, listening to tapes, reading drum instruction manuals etc., you should always be doing something that moves your forward toward your goals.
It should be in your plan to do something every day. An hours drum practise six days a week, yields FAR greater progress than doing one 6 hour practise session.
Having one day away from drumming a week, is also recommended, as rest should be part of your training program, and helps to build and maintain that DESIRE. That is essential for achievement. Desire does wane, especially if you are working TOO hard.
Rest allows you and your mind as well as your body to recover, take stock, and move forward. It also helps to keep you in balance and harmony, which in the long term will make your drumming so much better.
If you continue to focus on and perform these 7 steps, you'll be amazed at the results you'll see with your drumming skills, speed and techniques.
If you want to learn more about drumming visit http://www.drummingdrums.com Where all the tools for YOU to SUCCEED are there, whether it is equipment recommendations, drumming tips, even setting your drums up correctly, the resources are there to HELP you.