Are you resolute?
Yes, I think you are.
Maybe you’re not resolute in the sense of “I’m going to practice piano for 5 hours every single day for the next year,” but yes, you are resolute.
Very resolute.
You’ve resolved to care for your family. You’ve resolved to help your friends. You’ve resolved to do well at your job. You’ve resolved to eat lunch every day, provided food is available.
Have you thought about what all these things have in common? There’s an emotional element to each of them. And they satisfy a real need.
When we make a “pie in the sky” New Year’s resolution and later find that we can’t keep it, the problem is that we don’t feel the emotional need for keeping it on a daily basis. We briefly feel the need at the time we make the resolution, but we don’t stay connected with this emotional need on a continual basis.
This same logic that shows us why we don’t keep our New Year’s Eve resolutions can show us how to follow through and keep them.
If we want to become a better pianist, for instance, then the way to achieve this is simple. While it’s not enough to say “I’m going to practice piano every day for the next year,” it is enough to say “I’m going to establish an emotional connection with my love of music every day for the next year.” Once we do this, we’ll find ourselves sitting down at our piano to practice far more often.
For some of us, the way to establish this type of emotional connection is to listen to our favorite musician every day. For others, it’s to take piano lessons and be inspired by a teacher. For still others, it’s to join a band. Still others can benefit by imagining themselves playing at a more fluent level. The key is to do anything it takes to establish a connection with our love of music on a continual basis for the next year.
You love music. Be resolute in making a connection between this love of music and your piano playing. Then your piano playing will improve like you’ve always dreamed possible!