Do the groundwork, but keep the vision in mind

“One does not play Bach without having done scales. But neither does one play a scale merely for the sake of the scale.”

Tackle big projects by taking the time to build the required ‘small skills’. But at the same time, keep one eye on the prize.

Merely deciding you’re committed for the long-term vs the short-term makes an enormous difference. [In the study] progress was determined not by any measurable aptitude or trait, but by a tiny, powerful idea the child had before even starting lessons. The differences were staggering. With the same amount of practice, the long-term-commitment group outperformed the short-term-commitment group by 400 percent. The long-term-commitment group, with a mere twenty minutes of weekly practice, progressed faster than the short-termers who practiced for an hour and a half. When long-term commitment combined with high levels of practice, skills skyrocketed.