I know that this seems rather strange, but for quite a while now I have thought that there is a number of similarities between learning to play the piano.
Both learning to play the piano and getting fit are goals that people can set without knowing what the process is going to be or how challenging the journey can feel at times. It is also often a goal that success is hoped for but never guaranteed. Both goals are definitely achievable if you are persistent and don’t give up.
In trying to do something new, like a new stretch is a lot like learning a new piece of music – the first time you give it a go, it might not work but with a little time, effort and practice (whether it’s a new piece of music or a new yoga pose) you can eventually master it.
Learning to play the piano and getting fit are achieved in the shortest possible time frame when there is daily (or almost daily) commitment to your goal. With either goal, not much is achieved by putting in 2 hours worth of effort and then absolutely nothing for the next two weeks.
With both type of goals, success is achieved if you don’t take on too much to begin with, but rather start slow and then gradually build up time, effort and skill level.
The hardest part for both getting fit and for learning to play the piano is when you are genuinely putting in the effort required and you don’t see any progress for a while. This would have to be the number one reason why people give up on their goal to be fit or to be able to play the piano.
Another hard part to getting fit and also learning to play the piano is that there are no short cuts. Yes there are always products and programs for both that promise you a quicker and easier way to achieve your goal (I’ve seen many of both sorts on my Facebook feed!). The truth for both is that if you want to achieve your goal you are going to have to put in the work.
It is fairly obvious that when people are trying to get fit, they need to make sure their body is in the correct position or follows the correct movement, in order to prevent injuries. It may surprise you to know that if your hands or wrists are not in a good position, or that they are held too stiffly then injuries can also occur.
In pursuing the goal of getting fit, is very much like learning to play the piano in that if you are going to be successful, you cannot get impatient and you will need to learn to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.
So learning to play the piano is very much like trying to get fit – it takes quite a lot of time, patience and effort.