Kicking guitar butt when you're 70

  Ode to Johnny Cash 
  Originally uploaded by annikaleigh.

Have you ever been upset with your parents for not giving you the type of lessons you wanted as a child?

My crazy logic is that if my parents had forced me to take piano when I was a little kid, then that would mean that I would have been playing for decades already, and I would naturally be a piano virtuoso by now.

They made me miss my chance! ;-)

It's so tempting to think like that or to tell ourselves that it's too late to learn things, that learning new things is for kids.

Sometimes we get trapped in our everyday, practical lives and forget that we're still allowed to explore, to play, and to be an absolute novice at something even as an adult.

This post is sort of a complimentary post to last week's HowTo become an expert as something you know nothing about. When doing research for that post, I stumbled across some inspiring facts from the field of brain science in Kathy Sierra's post over at Creating Passionate Users.

You see, brain researchers say that learning new things keeps our brains healthy, and we can actually manufacture new brain cells by learning and trying new things.

Looking for some inspiration? Consider this:

Most masters are not naturally gifted. Kathy Sierra states, "According to some brain scientists, almost anyone can develop world-class (or at least top expertise) abilities in things for which they aren't physically impaired.It turns out that rather than being naturally gifted at music or math or chess or whatever, a superior performer most likely has a gift for concentration, dedication, and a simple desire to keep getting better. In theory, again, anyone willing to do what's required to keep getting better WILL get better."

Special sauce not needed. Kathy says, "There is some thought that to be, literally, THE best in the world at chess, or the violin, or math, or programming, or golf, etc. you might indeed need that genetic special something. But... that's to be THE best. The research does suggest that whatever that special sauce is, it accounts for only that last little 1% that pushes someone into the world champion status. The rest of us--even without the special sauce--could still become world (or at least national) class experts, if we do the time, and do it the right way."

An Olympic medal is still within our reach--in some sports. Encouragingly, Kathy reports, "Oh yes, about that never too late thing... most of us can kiss that Olympic ice skating medal good-bye. But think about this... actress Geena Davis nearly qualified for the US Olympic archery team in a sport she took up at the age of 40, less than three years before the Olympic tryouts."

Get out of the cubicle, and pick up a guitar. Kathy advises, "And if the neuroscientists are right, you can create new brain cells--by learning (and not being stuck in a dull cubicle)--at virtually any age. Think about it... if you're 30 today, if you take up the guitar tomorrow, you'll have been playing for TWENTY years by the time you're 50. You'll be kicking some serious guitar butt. And if you're 50 today, there's no reason you can't be kicking guitar butt at 70."

A lot of those tips strike home with me, especially the one about kicking guitar butt when you're 70. Maybe I could be kicking piano butt when I'm 50. ("Kicking piano butt" doesn't sound as cool though) :-).

How would you feel if you knew you still had a chance at an Olympic medal in a sport you hadn't even started learning yet?

I have always wanted to compete in the Trampolene competition, but I think that involves a lot of gymnastics, so I'm pretty sure I don't have a shot at that one. I heard about a 30-ish woman who was competing in the Race Walking competition and was quite a contender. And then there's those Bob Sledding events--it always seems like at least one country just started bob sledding just months before the Olympics and they're already in the competition.

What's the big deal about winning a medal--I don't know. When we're kids, we dream of things. The sky is the limit, and we just go for things not knowing that it's not statistically likely that we'll succeed.

When you're a kid, you don't care about the statistics, you always think, "I'm special. I going to be the one to break that record."

But the real world takes a toll on our morale sometimes and the dreaming capacity of our brain goes into hibernation until we shake it awake. Having a really big goal, like a heroic feat, produces some mighty powerful shaking.

It's healthy to be prowling a really big dream. If the sky were the limit, and you could decide to accomplish one major heroic feat in your lifetime, what would it be?

Comments

[Jay]

I coach SAT Success, as well as QuizBowl, and this idea of "Most masters are not naturally gifted" ties in nicely with the way I've always coached young people.

Yes, YOU can! There are steps to take, but you have to start taking them. You, the individual are in control.

Work hard. Play smart. Have fun.

Know the rules, play the test like a game. Have fun with it. You won't get 'em all right. Find as many of the ones you know as you can, then puzzle over the rest.

Eliminate what's wrong...

Then guess.

1 > 0.

Been planning on studying piano myself. Not to mention wishing my parents had put my fingers to the keys back when...

Know a few guitar chords...

Need to put these big hands on some ivories...

Joy, Jay

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Wow--If you can coach anyone to have fun with the SAT test, you're must have divine powers ;-). Great tips--it's really about breaking things down into steps and just doing them. The having fun part makes it so much easier too!