At the universities I teach at, I get to see the development of a student over the course of three or four years. Here’s a recurring pattern I’ve noticed:

A student will undertake a project that’s very challenging. For example, they might learn a huge transcription, or write a seven-minute solo guitar piece that heavily features harmonics, or they might call a musician they’re in awe of for a series of gigs, and so on.

The interesting thing is that after successfully tackling one really challenging project, their overall musicianship improves in many ways. They seem to take a huge leap forward.

So, if you want to move everything along, instead of thinking about ALL the many things that you need to do, start thinking, instead, about doing one really challenging thing. One big win. What would be a huge thing to focus on right now?

Make it a good one.

Tell me about a challenging project you’ve done. How did it affect you? What changed?

I’d love to hear about it.