Pathways

All of us have goals in our chosen arts. We want to play that difficult song, to pull off that impressive series of moves, to use tools that take specialized training. So, we practice. We try.

But when is it just not worth it? When does striving for a goal actually limit your growth?

Each of us has our own set of strengths and weaknesses in our art. Perhaps one person has trouble with intricate patterns, perhaps another isn't light on their feet, etc. If my next goal is to play a very fast song but I don't have enough chops for it, then I'll be swimming upstream the entire time. I'll be fighting my own hands and trying to get better but also having to split my resources to learning the song. More likely (and this is what I see happen), I'll find a way to learn the song and then suffer through it because my chops were never up to speed.

Maybe I'll eventually reach my goal, that song, whatever, but I've spent all my resources (time, energy, focus) getting to that point. Now what? I can barely hang, and my skills have only grown a small bit. So what's the alternative?

Let's say you're the person I described above, who's not strong with chops, and your strength is in movement. What songs would suit you best? Look at skill sets as paths. The pathway of "movement" may lead you to four or five songs within reach, while the pathway of "chops" gives you that one song you're interested in. You can spend the same amount of time on the first path and learn those 4-5 songs, or on the second path and learn maybe the one.

Now, I'm not trying to say you should only do what you're good at and never try to better yourself, that's silly. What I am saying is to realize what you are good at and grow along those lines, while recognizing what it will take to focus on difficult areas.

So let's say you really do want to take on that difficult path, regardless of what it is. You can not expect to have it just happen because you want it. I've never seen a class or dojo change how it teaches someone just because that person wants goal x instead of goal y. You will have to make changes that will lead to reaching that goal.

If you want something, you need to take time out of your schedule because you're going to need more resources. And if you're going to ask someone to help you, you have to listen to what they say! You can tell this annoys me, because I see people getting one-on-one time from a mentor (who is donating their time) and only hearing what they want to hear.

This isn't about telling people to "know their place" or to "never try for what's difficult". Everyone who knows me knows that's completely opposite of what I believe in. Don't neglect what comes easy to you; you will still grow as an artist! But if you're going to take on a mountain, you better have the right gear. Leave the flip-flops at home. :)