The One-Hour Principle — The Autodidacts
I play the violin. I started when I was about six, but didn’t get serious until I was nine, when my parents gave me a new instrument as a birthday gift that was sized for my hands, and wasn’t a hand-me-down from my older brother. I was very excited, and worked hard to get good enough to join the family Celtic band, eventually gaining a toe-hold and performing with my siblings and father at local events, markets, and dances.
I love the instrument, and still play it almost every day. But it can also be tricky. The violin is a hard instrument to play well, and man, if you’re out of practice, things can get screechy. Sometimes I think I’m pretty decent, and other times I think I suck. Occasionally, when I haven’t played for a while and have fallen out of practice, and pick it up, I’ve been really discouraged, and my inner monologue has started promoting the terrible idea of quitting.
But I’ve noticed that these thoughts go away once I’ve gotten back into practice — as long as I don’t let myself get discouraged and stop before that happens. As a result of these observations, I've developed the One-Hour Principle.
