Learning and the Noggin

While eating breakfast with a friend this morning, I was reminded heavily of my time in Vienna. I was reminded of the decision to first study abroad, the first experience arriving to Vienna, the unexpected nature of each event, and the sad but fulfilled feeling leaving the study abroad experience. I was also reminded of simple life strategies that I learned and more importantly how to tap into my noggin…?

Okay, so you thought this was going to be a sentimental post, and then I used the word noggin. Well, my friends, today I am going to share a small piece of wisdom about our heads, our brain, our noggin. My piano teacher in Vienna once told me a simple phrase “The human mind is more powerful than you think”. At first glance, one might think that this is self-evident and then that one continues onto Facebook because thoughswithdavid.com is just a poser website. But since you have stayed, I will elaborate.

There is a fine line between being realistic, and then achieving your full potential. In essence, this phrase means that the human can do a lot more than you think. Certain boundaries, whether mental, or physical then get in the way of allowing yourself to reach this potential. In many cases the realistic side kicks in and tells me to not learn two concerti and two recital programs in the span of three months. However, sometimes people, including myself, sell themselves short.  They say “well I can’t learn all that music, but I will try to learn just one movement of the concerti each month, finishing a concerto in the three months that I give myself”. This sounds realistic but might end up stopping someone from realizing their full potential. I many times have found myself wasting time by going over the same small details without making substantial progress. Without larger goals, you can sometimes get lost in the minutia and in the art of being busy.

This of course not only applies to music, but any other field of learning and growth. Think about the last time you might have created a to-do list filled with mostly meaningless tasks. One might do everything on the list, but not have accomplished as much as someone who ambitiously attempted a few meaningful tasks in the same day. If you set out overly-ambitious tasks in the right framework, you might not finish everything, but will probably make more progress than if you gave yourself the whole day to finish one task.

In Vienna, I learned that giving yourself more than enough to handle can be quite beneficial. I did not accomplish everything that I gave myself; however, I finished more than I would have if giving myself too little to do. When my teacher in Vienna told me this phrase, he encouraged me to be more ambitious and take risks. By being ambitious, I was actually being less risky than if not doing everything that I could set out to do. This is definitely something that I will work on for the rest of my life. To speak plainly, I must use my noggin even more to deliberately tackle the larger, worthwhile goals. The noggin is a pretty incredible thing if you allow it to be.

Stay tuned for the next post about great accomplishments of great people!