One Time Isn’t Enough

One Time Isn’t Enough

Two years ago my wife was super excited about getting a piano for our house. She played most of her life and I played the violin for about ten years. Music is important and we needed to get it going for our kids.

We did a combination of, she would teach our kids the basics and they also attended lessons from a teacher.

My daughter LOVES playing and singing and performing and learning new songs and is just super into it.

My son, not so much.

It’s a struggle. 

It’s a fight.

It’s drama.

It’s complaining.

It’s tears.

It’s he wants to play outside

It’s he doesn’t like piano.

It’s not fun, for anyone. 

Like most families we have different strategies in our house to get things done, and piano is no exception.

Before you do this…..ten minutes of piano. 

If you want to do this…..read for twenty minutes.

Just a couple of weeks ago I sat down with my son to play ten songs on the piano. He wasn’t terribly happy about it, but…..with me sitting next to him, his attitude was a little bit better.

He played a song.

I told him to play it again.

He huffed.

But he played it again, and it was better than the first time. 

I told him to play it again.

He huffed even louder.

He played it smoother and better and more clearly the third time.

The mistakes he made the first and second time didn’t happen the third time around

Fourth, fifth and sixth he was really starting to get the rhythm and fine tune where he needed to improve.

And that’s when it really became even more clear. 

One time isn’t enough.

You can’t just do something once and think that you’re doing it amazing. It takes repetition and focus and energy and someone by your side to support, encourage and be there if needed.

The more he played each song over and over again and got better and better he started to enjoy it more and more. 

So if you actually do better at the thing you’re working on, even if you don’t really enjoy the thing that you’re working on, you may start to like it if you are better at the thing.

Magic!

If you play golf and you go to the driving range to hit balls, you don’t just hit one ball and then leave, you hit the entire bucket.

More reps.

More practice.

More chances.

More tries.

More encouragement.

More guidance.

More support.

More help.

More time.

More more more.

I really enjoy running marathons and it’s been a 15 year journey of running and training and tinkering and building a base of miles on my body. 

Those early marathons were TOUGH.

Like it felt that my lungs were going to ooze out of my chest and I may never ever walk again.

But over the years with more marathons it’s gotten easier to prepare, and I know what to expect.

You can’t expect to run one marathon and have it all figured out and feel amazing.

Anything in life, especially when it’s new and challenging and complex…….

It takes time.

It takes patience.

It takes long term planning.

It takes support.

It takes research and learning from others that are already doing what you want to do, and then changing your practice approach as a way to improve.

It takes realizing that you’re not perfect. That you’re not going to be perfect. And that perfection is a myth and you should focus on self improvement and being the best version of you.

One time isn’t enough. The more you engage in the activity, with purpose and energy and passion and other people, you’re going to improve and just enjoy it that much more.

If you’re reading this…..

And you’re a teacher - give kids more chances to find mastery with a subject. Let them repeat a test if they didn’t do so well, because when they do it again and again, they’ll probably feel more comfortable with the content.

If you’re reading this…..

And you’re a parent - sit with your child as they go through the activity they may not like so much. Make them and encourage them to do it more than once, because once isn’t enough and as they make progress hopefully it’ll become more enjoyable. 

If you’re reading this…..

And you’re struggling with starting an exercise routine, or wanting to run a marathon or pretty much anything in life. Just start and stay consistent and try not to make excuses that will derail your goal. Think big with your goal but act small in trying to achieve the next steps. 

I believe in you, and I know you can do it.