Re:Don’t Benchmark Yourself Against Normal
by ChuckMcM on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @12:38AM
(#4473144)
This is solid advice, and similar to the "Why settle for average?" pieces. Basically if you convince your brain that you have 'succeeded' then you lose your motivation to do more.
Whereas if you don't try to score it, you can keep pushing on the problem.
The challenge though is that you have to also be in the frame of mind that the journey is the reward, not the destination. If you have convinced yourself that you will only be successful if you reach some 'endpoint' you can become lost and depressed when that endpoint turns out to be on the other side of a really wide chasm. I love playing piano, and I suck at it. When I think about how not-musical my efforts at reproducing music can be, I can get depressed. But when I'm exploring all the weird and clever ways that notes and harmonies can interact I have a blast. It just doesn't sound like music to most people :-).
Whereas if you don't try to score it, you can keep pushing on the problem.
The challenge though is that you have to also be in the frame of mind that the journey is the reward, not the destination. If you have convinced yourself that you will only be successful if you reach some 'endpoint' you can become lost and depressed when that endpoint turns out to be on the other side of a really wide chasm. I love playing piano, and I suck at it. When I think about how not-musical my efforts at reproducing music can be, I can get depressed. But when I'm exploring all the weird and clever ways that notes and harmonies can interact I have a blast. It just doesn't sound like music to most people :-).