As regular visitors to my blog know, every January 1st I pick a Japanese word to be my yearly “theme”, a word that will be the guiding principle to help me move forward with all the different aspects of my life: career, spiritual, financial, whatever it may contextualize and improve. Last year I felt I needed a reset, a “getting back on track” kind of approach to things after having had my life radically altered by COVID protocols and so on. Thankfully I was not personally affected by the COVID-19 virus, but it is not fun to constantly be wearing a mask, social distancing, sterilizing one’s living space, and so on. But since it is now a personal and social habit, why not build (or rebuild) all the other habits that can keep us moving forward in Life as the virus seeks to hold us back.
Thus, this year’s word will be shuukan (習慣): habits or customs. The iconic choreographer Twyla Tharp wrote an entire book about developing the right kinds of habits to be maximally creative, and everyone should read it. But before one can build and keep creative habits they must have already become successful habit builders in their regular Life.
The key to success is starting so small it is practically impossible to fail. If one wants to do something at the highest level, they have to do it at the lowest level first then build from there. It is much easier to do laundry for example if your clothes are in the hamper: you just have to take the hamper to the washing machine. But if you have to pick up and sort your clothes, then put them in the hamper, then take them to the machine it is harder to do as one activity.
So automatically doing little things all the time means you will never have to build any large, difficult habits. It is like eating one French fry. Once you have one you want to keep on going with a whole series of events: eating more French fries, drinking a milkshake, and eating a hamburger – a whole fast food meal. In jazz college I used to practice saxophone for at least 7 hours a day. This is because I liked practicing the saxophone for even just 5 minutes, and would not feel like putting the saxophone down. I had organized a full seven hour plan for practicing, but even just a couple of minutes set the whole process in motion. Every day I practice the drums for two hours, and the practice pad for another two hours. I feel terrible if I don’t, because it is such a deeply ingrained habit.
Every day only requires small starts: the habits that lead to greatness only require “showing up” more than others do, staying in that activity longer and more productively. Poet Robert Okaji has his work published all the time, because he submits his work for consideration all the time. But he only does one simple thing habitually. He submits one poem to one publisher or magazine at a time. That is easy. Then all you have to do is repeat that tiny habit a million times.
So it is not that a habit requires great concentration or commitment, but rather doing a small thing in such a manner you end up doing it all day and night. If that is the case then the great habits are the ones that produce the best results. Planning, organization, efficiency, and all the other things that go into a great plan must then go into a great habit. Working out all the different exercises that lead to proper growth as a drummer can be done before one begins to make practicing habitually, so you don’t have to be held back by a lack of planning or inefficiency.
A great habit is born in a lot of planning and thought beforehand, then begins with one small step. One doesn’t have to practice for seven hours. You just have to practice for one minute and let the momentum carry you for another six hours and 59 minutes.
So this year will be fill with great shuukan-s: tiny acts repeated a million times. And it won’t be hard, because I will only be engaging in one little shuukan at a time. Why not join me and start doing tiny little things for a couple of seconds a day? They will turn into habits that will produce huge results, for sure.
Happy New Year… and good luck!
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