Conceiving Is Everything

What is your perception of yourself? 

What is your perception of your talent?

Do you continually stumble over a whole-tone scale?

Do you continually slice the ball to the right?

Do you ‘always’ sing flat on that hi-D?

Let’s borrow a brilliant insight from an old book – Pscyho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.

And now … the quote:

“You will act like the sort of person

you conceive yourself to be.”

If, after every flub, misplaced note or sliced golf ball or anything else you may do that needs improving, if you talk with negative self-talk, you will continue in your faults. 

However, consider this.

Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience.  What if you added a bit of “theatre of the mind” as a part of your practice routine?  Imagine yourself performing that action or skill correctly. 

And if you make a mistake, instead of putting yourself down, say “next time I will get it right.”

Act as if!

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

It's Called 'Steps'

A word about this blog site:  It is designed for those in pursuit of some kind of skill development, whether it be music, sports/athletics or some business pursuit.  Just thought you would like to know.

An old joke, revised:  Man on the street asks a policeman.  “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”

His answer:  “One step at a time.”  Ain’t it so.  (The actual answer is “practice man, practice”) and that works too.

My wife teaches 40 piano students.  Her curriculum is based on the student’s abilities, obviously.  Our grandson Eliot takes lessons, and his books are so elementary compared to her older students.  They have to learn the basics first, and then grow the skill.

What steps are you taking toward your life dream?  Are you practicing every day?  Do you touch a soccer ball every day, or your flute, or read a book on law if you are an attorney, or if you write as I do, do you write every day?

That is the secret.  Do it every day.  Do it one step at a time.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

A Word about Mistakes

In our pursuit of developing a skill, one key principle must be kept constantly in mind.  

Mistakes will be made.  

Some people will want to change that terminology for fear it sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy.  They will change the terminology to misjudgment, or some other softer word.  The truth remains, we make mistakes.

However – always, always remember this.

“You make mistake; 

mistakes don’t make you.”

~Maxwell Maltz

That is one of the most significant mindsets one could ever hang onto.  Whether you practice music, medicine, golf, writing, or mountain climbing, you will need to come to grips with this principle. 

And if you make a mistake?  Well, in the words of the great song writing team of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, here is some great advice.

Now you have one more key toward the development of your skill and your life goal.

Happy practicing!

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

Smart Verses Dumb

The “how’ of motivation and encouragement is a matter of using the right words and focus.

We all want smart kids and grand-kids.  However, we think we are doing a good thing when telling them “you are so smart”. 

Consider this thought from Carol Dweck, author of Mindset, the New Psychology of Success.

“After seven experiments with hundreds of children, we had some of the clearest findings I’ve ever seen: Praising children’s intelligence harms their motivation and it harms their performance. How can that be? Don’t children love to be praised?”

Yes, children love praise. And they especially love to be praised for their intelligence and talent. It really does give them a boost, a special glow—but only for the moment.

The minute they hit a snag, their confidence goes out the window and their motivation hits rock bottom. If success means they’re smart, then failure means they’re dumb. That’s the fixed mindset.”

Carol promotes the idea of “you tried your best.  You did good work. 

I like that a lot.  It is recognition for the effort made, and now let’s see if we can find out where we got off track and fix that.

That takes the smart/dumb equation out of the mix entirely.  It is now down to a good/better solution than we first thought.

Consider that as an educator/coach/parent.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

The Art of Engraving

One of the great techniques for developing any skill is this one.  We have to engrave the skill so intensely onto our brains and into our muscles that it becomes second nature.  Even as I type these words my fingers are flying over these keys because of the many years I’ve spent at a computer keyboard. 

Daniel Coyle wrote an amazing little book called The Little Book of Talent.  Here is what Daniel says about engraving.

“The key to effective engraving

is to create an intense connection:

to watch and listen so closely

that you can imagine the feeling

of performing the skill.”

NASA astronauts and pilots in training call this simulation.  You simulate as closely as possible to the real experience until you get it right over and over again.

Denis Waitley, famed psychologist and inspiration speaker and writer says this: 

“The human brain cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience.”

Are you watching your skill?

Are you concentrating on your skill?

Then you are on a good track toward better skill development.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student

A Few Words about Practice Habits

“Practice begins 

when you get it right.”

~Daniel Coyle

And the way to get it right is to go slowly enough to get it right.  Build the muscle memory first, and then add the speed.

This is so easy to say yet so difficult for inexperienced students to understand.  And it applies to all of life.

When in learning mode, go slow enough to get the basics down solidly, and then build the skill.

That is all.

Michael Biggs

Steps and Skips

Tips for the Developing Student