What is the secret to not losing interest in something? I have always said I love music and playing the piano, but I’ve never gotten to a place where I practice regularly. Maybe I should actually make the effort to take lessons.
I think I would love to learn my way around a wood lathe but have only gotten to the point of watching videos about it. And if I did have one available, would I actually use it and refine my skills, or eventually let it sit and gather dust?
What’s the secret to sustained effort? Is reward of some sort a piece of the equation? Positive reinforcement? You’d think so, at least as that applies to seeing progress, actually learning theory and learning to play the pieces one is working on, or finishing a bowl or some other project.
I have no desire to perform. Well, maybe subconsciously I do. But I don’t want that kind of pressure. I want to enjoy it all the time. Otherwise, I’ll probably stop doing it.
I can honestly say that I’ve never really applied myself to any substantial thing. I want to know what it’s like to pursue a passion, to have a strong enough desire to do something even when I don’t feel like doing it. I’ve half-assed pretty much everything, except maybe making the lawn and the yard look nice. So I’ve paid attention to details that don’t really matter, except from an aesthetic point of view—stuff that, in the big picture, is only about looking good to people who walk by. Appearances, window dressing. Yikes.
Actually, some of what I just said is not accurate. I do, in many pursuits, try to “measure twice and cut once,” so to speak. I do tend to the task at hand, I pay attention to detail in a lot of what I do, to the point of distraction and ridicule and inertia, and at the risk of being labeled timid or OCD, motivated by the fear and embarrassment of looking inept and screwing something up, which I sometimes do anyway.
3 Cents' 