Stop FORCING progress! Do this instead....

Nov 03, 2025

When I teach piano, I joke that I’m a “lazy pianist” who aims to do the least amount of work for the greatest results. I often say this when I see students forcing something to work, only to have their effort backfire.

Have you ever caught yourself doing this? It's like trying to FORCE a key into a lock over and over. Because of the force, it's not going in, even if it's the right key. This can be quite frustrating. Sometimes, I see students double down on a strategy that isn’t working, only to push themselves further from their goal. Sometimes what you need is less effort to get the key to slide in with almost zero friction.

The key insight? The strategy itself isn’t necessarily wrong—it’s just being used in the wrong amount.

In general, more effort = more muscle tension. Dr. James Loehr, a great Psychologist and performance coach, knows that unnecessary tension can sabatoge even the most carefully prepared performance.

He suggests that telling yourself not to do something doesn’t really help. Instead, try telling yourself to do less! When you do less, you actually get closer to your goal, and doubling down pushes you away.

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Stop FORCING progress! Do this instead....

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