I hope you have had a chance to reflect on 2012 and think at least a little bit about what you want for 2013. You might as well use the collective momentum of the tradition of New Year resolutions to pick at least one worthy goal.

Last year I wrote an article on a book “The Practicing Mind” by Thomas Sterner. Reading this book has been a turning point for me. I now spend a lot more time doing one thing, with deep focus, at a time. What this means for my music practice is that I have some very well defined, simple goals that I practice regularly, only as long as I can maintain focus. Sometimes it is only a couple of minutes. But those couple of minutes are well spent and add up….

The wisdom in this book gives you a way to live that connects setting goals to enjoying the process of reaching for goals. You create clear simple goals and break them down into steps, and you do the steps one at a time, with complete focus. You slow down and enjoy the process of doing each step mindfully. You slow down, relax and focus, your results speed up and increase in quality. It seems too good to be true, but it works.

Slowing down and doing one thing at a time feels weird. It really goes against the grain of the way I too often work and practice: anxiously and all over the map. But the more I use the slow and focused approach, the more I like it. The other thing is that slow and focused leads to fast and focused, as long as you don’t rush it.

The other great insight in this book is that the goal is just a great way to get in the process and the process is the real reward.

I just ran across a quote by 10-time NCAA Champion Basketball Coach John Wooden. When he retired, he said:

“When people ask me now if I miss coaching UCLA basketball games, the national championships, the attention, the trophies, and everything that goes with them, I tell them this: I miss the practices.”

That quote gives me goose bumps. It tells me that the real rewards are right here, right now, when we practice with all of our heart as well as our minds.

That is why I play the harmonica – it is the most direct route for me to feel this deep connection of focused practice.

In 2013 I intend to be much more organized so I can spend more time in this space of slow, focused practice. It is going to be a good year.

Thanks for reading this!