4 of my 6 kids are playing soccer this season. This last weekend, each of them scored a goal in their respective games. Immediately following their goals I noticed a drastic increase in their energy and enthusiasm. They ran harder, went after the ball for longer, and were more determined than they had been at any point during the game. This pattern really resonated with me. Success begets success! My youngest daughter is normally on defense, so when she played on offense and scored the first goal of the game, she looked at me with delighted surprise–it worked! She listened to her coaches and tried hard and it had worked!!
Sometimes we find little evidence of the effort we are putting into something–nothing is more frustrating than trying and seeing no results. But, just like the book, “Atomic Habits,” teaches us that the energy expended to get from 28 degrees to 31 degrees, although it will not melt an ice cube, is still working toward that effect. Reaching 32 degrees will then show the difference in temperature, but is no less important than going from 28 degrees to 29 degrees. No step can be skipped.
My 10 year old son demonstrated this to me again just this morning as he practiced the piano. He was having a particularly difficult time with 2 measures in a new piece that he’d been assigned. I told him to just focus on those 2 measures instead of taking the song as a whole. He was playing the whole page up until the difficult part and then struggling through those 2 measures. After I suggested that he focus only on the part that he found challenging, he sat and played through each part in bite-sized pieces. Practice the right hand. Play it slower, more deliberately. Practice the left hand. Put them together. Take just 4 notes at a time together. I sat at the piano and realized anew that this part of practicing something difficult cannot be skipped. These are the things that make people great at something. When we watch Olympians we see the amazing feats that they are able to perform with what seems like ease. We rarely get to witness the weights lifted, the stretching sessions, the early mornings and the failed attempts–all the specific parts of honing a craft. As I sat next to him I watched as before my eyes those 4 notes that he repeatedly messed up became cleaner. His fingers hit the notes with more confidence. His head nodding to the beat of the song as he played those 2 measures accurately ended with his turning to me and beaming as he said, “I DID IT!!! Finally!!!” This motivated him to continue practicing long after the timer for the end of his practice time went off because he had caught a vision of what he could do. Success begets success.
Let us remember as we seek to improve our own talents, relationships, and set our own goals that sometimes we have to take it 2 measures at a times, or even just four notes before we get it right. But once we get it, that feeling of accomplishment and seeing success is truly priceless and will be just the motivation that we need to get after it again!! May we encourage our kids to do the same!!
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Kayleen
