Tip: Break it Down

  As a musician, our tasks can seems daunting -even unachievable at some points. Being able to play this huge -half hour solos becoming well-known as a performing, making into the symphony or other ensemble of our dreams. These are all huge tasks to achieve, and many people won't make it to the end. But if there's one thing I've learned from my time as a cross country runner, you need to break it down.

  For those of you who haven't ran cross country, even for the best runners, the courses still seem almost unbearably long. When you first start running many people die out and don't finish the race. The real honor isn't in those who won, but those who finished. The biggest difference between these two types of people is determination and being able to make lots of smaller, easier goals along the way.
  Long term goals, such as getting to the finish line and becoming a renowned soloist, aren't bad. There are what we should be striving for each and every moment. The only thing is, we need to established the other kinds of goals.

• Short Term Goals - These are the ones that make the chase interesting. Whether it's for the end of the race, or the career as a great musician, they are easier to attain and help to give small morale boosts to keep you going.
• Checkpoints - These can one of two things. One option is established goals that are bigger, or harder to achieve, than short term goals, but still break down the long term goal. The other option is once enough short term goals have been met, then look back at them together and see how far you've come.
• Long Term Goals - Now these are the coup de gras. They are extremely hard to achieve, and take the very longest. The thing is though, once you reach this goal, the payout is amazing. You'll be overcome with joy once you reach one of these.

  Now let's look at our running friend, Chester. He's beginning the race and even though the next three miles will be long and tough he's focusing the break out and wants to be toward the front of the pack. Once he's there he determined not to let anyone pass him; he's even going to that chump from his rival school (that always makes you feel good). Now he's got a bit of pride and energy to work with in this long race.

  We'll get back to him, but let's take a minute to meet our musician friend, Emily. She plays the trumpet and wants to be first chair in her band. Instead of breaking this task down, she only thinks about the one big task. She practices the entire etude everyday, but is still discouraged because she isn't first chair yet -even though she is getting a lot better on her instrument. The next time chair auditions roll around Emily jumps up four spots to third chair. Sadly, she can't see the improvement in herself, and gets mopey because she couldn't attain her long term goal.

  That's too bad, but Chester is starting to do pretty well in his race. After concentrating on passing a couple people at a time Chester was happily surprised when he saw the two-mile marker. While some runners have been counting down every step of these two miles and will be exhausted at this point, Chester is filled with energy of the fact that he's only got a mile left. He's pushes through this last mile with energy, but unfortunately comes up a bit short and gets second place. Instead of getting down on himself he realizes he did a great job and that this isn't the end for him. There are many more races left, and if he can keep improving like he today... Well, he'll be unstoppable one day.

  Yes, I know this metaphor might be a bit cheesy, but it's great at getting the point across. If Emily realizes that there will be more chair auditions in her life and if she keeps practicing like she did for this one, then one day she'll get there. It's important to keep a positive outlook on your goals, once you start seeing the glass as half empty it'll be even harder to push yourself to that end goal. You might even give up along the way and never reach that finish line.