lizardengland

what's a headline???

if you keep your expectations low, we'll all get to be pleasantly surprised


I’m only making one resolution and it’s the same one I’ve had at the top of my list every single year for the last twelve years: “play more piano”. How much more? Well at least once more. Do I have to get better? Absolutely not. When is it fulfilled? When I feel like it.

For eleven (11!!) years I tapped out every time with Jingle Bells because playing with both hands doing different things at the same time is only a skill you learn by making a deal with the devil. But I enjoyed it every year, and I resolved to play more the next year. Last year - my twelfth year! - I made huge progress (thank you pandemic and/or the devil) and blew through my lesson book, and I’m doing proper exercises and learning my scales and arpeggios. But thankfully my resolution hasn’t changed and if I don’t get any better or even get worse then it’s fine. Can you imagine if I made a goal like “learn to play X piece” and then didn’t achieve it?? I’d probably never touch piano again cause it would just be a reminder of how much of a total failure I am.

Anyway philosophically I’m a big fan of resolutions that are:

  • zero stress
  • impossible to fail at with minimal effort
  • uncapped goals that last as long as I want
  • things I already like doing
  • did I mention zero stress? why do people do this to themselves every year?

I highly recommend it.

PS. I originally wrote eight years I’ve been learning piano. And then I did the math. I have now come to the conclusion that time is a lie.


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in reply to @lizardengland's post:

I'm not a fan of new year's resolutions in general because I've already repeatedly proven to myself that any day is a good day to change your life. That said, my resolution for next year is to move all my newsletter subscriptions to a single email address. I imagine this would fit your criteria. 💌