I’ve talked about this phenomenon before in a few sessions!

It is a common occurrence amongst harpists I find.

You are learning a piece, working away, making little steps of progress. Then suddenly – you hear someone playing…oh, just the most beautiful piece!! You must learn it! You simply have to have the sheet music instantly. As soon as it arrives, you are working on something else. A few weeks later…..

Before you know it there are 5, 8, 10 pieces on your music stand and even more on your ‘one day’ list.

Sound familiar!?

I know I’ve been there!

Now, before I get into the real meat of todays message. I want to make it clear:

There is nothing wrong with playing music you love. Of course you want to play pieces you feel moved by. Pieces which touch you. After all, our music is here for us to enjoy and bask in!

But…

It is important to find balance in our playing. We want to be moving ourselves forward, slowly and methodically. We need to finish something to have that real embedded feeling. We need to go through the process of have struggles and overcoming them to help us in our learning. We need to have the commitment and focus to see something through to the end to really reap the rewards.

So, how do we do this?

This week I am planning. I am planning for the start back of the Conservatoire in 2 weeks. I’m planning for returning to my own studies in Education in 1 week! And I’m planning for the final quarter of the year for all my one-to-one, group, membership and community students. How can I help them (and myself!) really achieve something special to finish 2022 with a bang!

Goal setting is a fantastic tool we can use to help us keep focus, maintain energy and avoid that ‘shiny object syndrome’.

I will be spending the next week considering my own goals for the coming months, but also goals for my students. This will help to guide and align our focus. Improving in anything in life isn’t easy, but it is a lot more difficult if you aren’t sure where you are trying to get to. A lack of direction in our practice can be frustrating and lead to us feeling….I play a lot, but I never seem to really improve.

I would encourage you to have a think. What would you like to achieve by Christmas? Where would you really like to be? How are you going to get there?

If you aren’t sure, or you would like some help or support, drop me a line!