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I've realized something lately.
No matter how much I committed to a long term goal, it seemed like it would always slip away from me, no matter what. It seemed like I couldn't get good at anything.
Then I opened my eyes to what I was good at - and I noticed something in particular. I had somewhat of a long term goal, but there were more short term goals and more processes that were involved. But the most important part was -
I enjoyed the simplest action of whatever activity it was.
Back when I played Halo, I didn't care about winning. I just loved blaining people with snipers or getting off 4-shots. I loved teamwork and moving around. I loved calling people out and having awareness, and I loved spending time with my best friend. I got decent at the game. But I sucked when I tried to get tournament level.
When I was learning how to dance, I didn't want to become anything special - I just wanted to do it because it was hella fun. My friend challenged me to learn a dance for the 8th grade promotion - and I ended up doing way, way, way more than just that lol.
When I tried to be fit, I wasn't fit.
When I started to do parkour/freerunning/tricking + Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu because flipping over/climbing onto/jumping off of shit is really fun and so is rolling around with sweaty men, I didn't really think about it too much. I mean sure I'd like to be a black belt, but honestly at this point I don't really care. I just want to learn all of techniques, but more importantly I want to be out on the mat sparring with someone because just the fundamental action of that is so enjoyable for me.
Parkour was stressful when I held myself up to a standard. Parkour was awesome when I just had fun. Parkour was amazing if I had a loose standard and played around with it.
And parkour was the best when I played with and challenged myself.
[Speaking of parkour...well technically tricking...I LANDED MY FIRST BACKFLIP TODAY! :D:D:D]
I've decided to get back into Starcraft, and maybe it's because I'm older, but I'm having more fun than I ever had playing the game - I used to get really stressed because I cared about losing too much. But now, I honestly don't care, because the action of microing against someone, or pressing all the buttons I have to press, or microing 3 drops at the same time, making that correct decision [or a wrong one and laughing about it] is amazing to me. And I have a feeling this time I'll go a lot farther - but I don't really care I'm just here for the fun XD.
In other words, keep it playful!
EDIT: I'm not saying dgaf; I was wayyy too far on the perfectionist side and I realized I need to have fun
 
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Netherlands5193 Posts
I remembered your nickname in the blog section. What happened to playing piano? Did you finish practising all your études for today yet? 
You can try your hardest, but you'll never be able to perfect your skills. I like to think it is possible, yet every time I ever feel I reached a certain level perfection I just find new flaws. It is a never ending struggle.
Where did your idc attitude come from? When do you finish playing around? Life is not a game.
I remembered you as a perfectionist, but scrolling through your older blogs I'm thinking your teacher is.
So... How did your Liszt competition go?
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Woah, like freestanding, Lacoste-ad back flip or Matrix off-the-wall back flip? Nice either way!
I liked your blog! It resonated with me because I too want to get back into the game, but also want to avoid the mental pitfalls of such a stressful experience. We'll see about my getting back into it as well, but I'd love to hear about your journey more.
And... Liszt competition you say? Not the Netherlands 4 year one perchance? Either way, fast fingers and mad props dude! 
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On April 14 2015 19:52 Peeano wrote:I remembered your nickname in the blog section. What happened to playing piano? Did you finish practising all your études for today yet? You can try your hardest, but you'll never be able to perfect your skills. I like to think it is possible, yet every time I ever feel I reached a certain level perfection I just find new flaws. It is a never ending struggle. Where did your idc attitude come from? When do you finish playing around? Life is not a game. I remembered you as a perfectionist, but scrolling through your older blogs I'm thinking your teacher is. So... How did your Liszt competition go?
Haha I guess I should clarify. Because I had always been on the perfectionist side of things, I forgot to enjoy myself. Technically, you do need both, but right now I am exploring the having fun side of things. In other words, having fun...seriously.
I discovered the idc attitude through piano actually. I ised to get really stressed out whenever I made a mistake and it would affect my playing later on but my teacher told me I had to focus on each individual moment and make it special - and if I was doing that, how on earth could my brain handle being stressed about a previous mistake at the same time?
And this made piano really enjoyable, and I realized that I needed to enjoy myself a bit more, albeit seriously haha.
And it went okay, I had the usual performance jitters, made a few mistakes, played a stellar Rachmaninoff cadenza, but didn't place (not that I expected to for my first competition lol). Was a good experience though.
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JuiceBox, this is something that I realized recently, as well. You can try your ass off, and if you've been gifted naturally you can become the best at any one thing. However, if you spend all of your time trying to be the best at that one thing, you're not doing other things. Instead of doing 4 things at a good level, and getting more enjoyment for that, you're stressing about that one thing. If you're trying to go professional at that one thing, then it may be good to struggle with it. If you're just looking for enjoyment, then skip the diminishing returns, and do what is enjoyable.
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I think when you're doing something you like you just spend more time on it.
You get good at things you spend time on.
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EPT
