PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Performance Science
Goal Setting for Thriving and Sustainable Success in the Performing Arts: Taking Inspiration from Nature
1. Hochschule Luzern Musik, Lucerne, Switzerland
2. Independent researcher, Munich, Germany
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract
Goal setting has been studied extensively across domains such as sports, business, and education, but rarely in the performing arts. In this perspective paper, we explore how nature and its synergistic processes can serve as a metaphorical heuristic to inspire goal setting in acting, dance, and music. We do so by drawing on studies of ecosystems and recent literature reviews, discussing different goal-setting approaches, and providing insights from a qualitative case study with performing artists. Goals may enhance self-efficacy and performance by focusing attention, supporting self-regulated learning, or fostering flow. Effective goal setting depends on the task, situational constraints, and the type of focus required, and should ensure self-concordance, that is, alignment with one's values, and adaptability. Our thematic analysis of ten performing artists' goal setting during a coaching intervention illuminated the value of written goals and ways of setting long-term goals and showed that participants were aiming to be natural, spontaneous, and present. Further research is essential to deepen our understanding of goal setting across artistic domains and its potential to foster thriving creative practices. While using nature as a metaphor for long-term goals may be anthropomorphic, the principles of adaptability and synergy in natural ecosystems offer valuable insights for understanding how to thrive and cultivate a sustainable, fulfilling artistic life.
Summary
Keywords
acting, dance, goal setting, Music, qualitative analysis, SMART Goals
Received
03 November 2025
Accepted
27 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Lubert and Peters. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Veronika J. Lubert
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.