A Coaching Secret

I’m going to share a secret with you that I learned a long time ago.

It’s a secret about effective time management.

Now some of you might already be aware that effective time management is perhaps THE most important skill for ANYBODY to have – whether you are an artist or a bureaucrat – if you use your time well, you do well. If you don’t, you don’t.

This secret time management tool is one I routinely teach to my Personal Success Coaching Clients because it is so simple and yet so effective.

It actually integrates into the E.A.S.E. principles so well that it is almost a part of it.  (You can read about E.A.S.E. in the e-book available on this web site for free when you sign up for the newsletter.)

I discovered this tool when I was a music student in college. I hated playing scales and so I rarely did practice scales. Every music teacher I ever took a lesson from insisted I learn them but I resisted.

I persisted in my resistance until one day a young concert pianist named Dickran Atamian came to town to play a recital and give a master class. In 1975 Atamian won first-prize at the 50th Naumburg Competition in New York City at the age of 19. He was a remarkable talent and wowed everyone with his immense musicianship.

During the master class someone asked him what was the secret of his success and I was shocked at his answer. He said, “Find a good teacher and then DO EVERYTHING THEY TELL YOU.”

I realized I had a good teacher but my resistance was futile. I was getting nowhere. So – I changed. On the spot.

I went out and bought a KITCHEN TIMER. You know – the kind you use to time how long you’re baking the cookies – and I used it in practicing my scales.

I would go into the practice room and close the door. I set the timer for twenty minutes and resolved to do nothing but scales for those 20 minutes.

It was hell at first but I turned my talent of perseverance to good use and stuck it out. The next day it was easier.

If you know the E.A.S.E. principle you know how I varied that time interval, but everyday I did SOMETHING. And as Dan Millman says, “A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing.”