It's Monday, First name / friend!
Ever feel like you lack the discipline, willpower or motivation to achieve change? So many of us (especially us classical musicians) take on goals to improve our playing, lives and careers. When we struggle or “fail", we think it's our fault. We even may go so far as to say that if struggle is involved or if we're lacking motivation, we just don't have what it takes.
First of all, repeat after us: there is nothing wrong with you if you don't feel motivated!
Our culture is obsessed with motivation, but really, it's just not all it's cracked up to be. Professor BJ Fogg, one of the leading experts in human behavior at Stanford University, talks a lot about the motivation wave: motivation goes up and it goes down just like our mood, energy and anything else that changes in life. The problem is, we often make our plans for huge goal domination at the peak of the motivation wave - and then we wonder what is wrong with us when our motivation decreases.
Instead of relying on motivation, here's our recommendation for the week: rely on small daily actions instead!
Rule #1: Make it easy
- We have a tendency to assume that if it's easy, it isn't worth it. 5 minutes of long tones? How could that possibly help? When it comes to human behavior, particularly our health and improvement, we think it has to be super hard in order to “count”. Our workout has to be total punishment, our practice needs to be 8 hours a day.
But - let's do a thought experiment. What if we said, “Okay, go drink a can of soda for 5 minutes straight three times a day.” Imagine that! You can probably feel in your body right now how terrible the sugar highs and lows would be… you'd probably stop sleeping as well, and your teeth would feel like you've been traveling for 30 hours and haven't brushed your teeth. 🤢
Most of us would never deny that 5 minutes of pounding soda 3X a day would have a negative impact on our minds and body. But somehow… we think that 5 minutes of a workout, 5 minutes of breath-work, 5 minutes of nature, or 5 minutes of meditation won’t have the same impact. BUT IT ABSOLUTELY WILL! Good habits build up in exactly the same way as bad habits - even small, easy, bit-sized actions add up. Understanding this and living it can change your life.
Rule #2: Piggyback your new habit on the back of an existing one
- If you always make coffee in the morning, and want to establish a mobility routine, start with 5 minutes of mobility while your coffee is brewing. Picking a habit you already have, and attach a new behavior to it can be effective, easy and fun!
Another way is to combine a new habit that you aren't super excited about with something you love to do. An example: if you love to listen to podcasts, but are having a hard time getting down on the yoga mat, promise yourself you can listen to a podcast while you're doing the yoga.
Now that we've convinced you that even 5 minutes can make a big difference, and you've got some tools for following through, here's a sample menu of 5-minute activities you can do this week. Try them once, or, many times. Dr. Rangan Chatterjee wrote a book called Feel Better in 5 based on the idea that “health snacks” done throughout the day can be transformative - we love it!
PRACTICE OPTIMIZATION
Take 5 minutes to record one minute of something you're working on. Listen back and write down 2 positive things you hear and 2 things you want to work on tomorrow.
MIND
Many of our students mention that they have trouble focusing. Take 5 minutes to do distraction audit - how distracted have you felt lately, what is likely causing it, and how you can combat it this week for 5 minutes at a time? Acknowledging these points can act as a reset with refreshing results!
BODY
Getting some mobility going to start your day, start a practice session, or to wake you up afternoon is almost guaranteed to make you feel better.
This mobility routine is 5 minutes, it's fun, and it's awesome!
HEART
Write down 3 things you're grateful for - nothing you write down is too small. Practicing gratitude is scientifically proven to make you happier and healthier!
BUSINESS/CAREER
Take 5 minutes to investigate your next step. Is it an application, a video recording project, an audition, making a website, contacting someone? Write it down. If you do another 5 minute career snack, then take 5 minutes to take the first very tiny step to start!
If you made it down here, thanks for reading. Keep it easy out there, friends!
Much love,
