Move Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Over the years there is one thing I have patently avoided, especially where my playing is concerned. It’s allowing myself to feel that I’ve ‘arrived’.

For me it’s the very kiss of death. In my observation of others, you begin to see it first in the eyes. The ‘hungry’ look is replaced by the ‘satisfied’ look. After a time, however, the ‘satisfied’ look is inevitably replaced by the ‘resigned’ look. Not long afterward, the ‘tired’ look peers out. The downward spiral is almost complete.

Is this inevitable, no, ‘tis not. Not for me. And not for you.

It’s all about our thinking. There is nothing wrong with taking note of your accomplishments. In fact it’s important to do so. There IS something wrong, for a committed violinist, with feeling, ’I’ve become the best I can be.’

If there is one thing I learned from Milstein, he was 79 when I first met him, it is to never stay in your comfort zone. ALWAYS have your focus out in front of where you find yourself. The game is about figuring out how to get what you can see there.

It’s the fun, and the reward. But you must be continually creating new challenges for yourself. That’s where the real creative action is.

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. Speaking of creative action, reserve one of the few seats remaining at the violin Masterclass/Seminar and you will initiate a growth spurt of life transforming dimensions. It will be as if the incandescent headlights lighting the musical path before you were replaced with 500 watt xenon headlights. Oh, what insight.