Learning to understand and master life’s challenges is usually a matter of finding the right perspective… the viewpoint from which all the pieces are visible and their relationships obvious. Until we gain that proper perspective, we keep on misunderstanding, trying one inadequate solution after another, which of course fail to work.

But what if someone were to hand you one simple story – an allegory – to enable you to solve virtually every problem in the human experience? What would that be worth to you… assuming it really performs as promised?

And what if, further, this little story could spark in you the ability to keep up with all life’s twists, turns and surprises, as you become, over time, almost immune to overwhelm, confusion and even despair?

Well, I’ve got some good news for you. My very good friend, and today’s guest author, Russ Hamel has exactly that story. He shares it with us today as he asks…

So, What Seems to Be the Problem?
By Russ Hamel

I do it.

You do it.

Even that guy who looks like he has his act totally together – you know the one – Mr. Efficiency? He does it, too. Ask him. If he’s honest, he’ll even admit it if you swear to secrecy.

We ALL do it at least sometimes with certain things. Some of us do it far more than others. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t make any person better than the other.

So, what seems to be the problem? I’d love to tell you, but first…

Talk to Me Like I’m Four Years Old

As a private music teacher for nearly 38 years with students ranging in age from 4 to 74, I’ve had to come up with creative ways to explain difficult concepts so that even a child could understand. The funny things is, children often grasp new ideas a lot faster than adults.

The solution you are about to read is so simple – heck, even a two or three year old would probably get it. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity though. Whenever I meet a former student, this is the #1 lesson they remember. It has nothing to do with music, but everything to do with life.

My former students claim that this one piece of advice alone was worth all the years of training as it helped them with their many diverse careers. I should point out that 99.9% of my students go on to work in anything BUT music related fields. The ‘problem’ really is that universal; the #1 solution is more than effective!

Before I tell you about the problem…

It’s All Relative – And We’re Not Talking About Your Uncle

Everything is relative. For a beginning student, whether a child or an adult, mastering eight measures of music is a BIG DEAL. For those of you who don’t know, think of a ‘measure of music’ as a box of notes. Typically there will be four boxes (measures) per line. For a beginner to master eight measures, or two lines of music, is like climbing Mt. Everest.

As the student’s skills develop and progress, those eight measures become eight lines of music. More advanced students can tackle eight pages of music at a time. Accomplished students can play eight songs, each of them eight pages. The best concert artists in the world have repertoires – fully memorized – that can easily fill eight hours of music!

When you think about it, whenever you begin ANYTHING, (even if you’ve done it many times before), the task can look like Mt. Everest. The reason why we go into instant overwhelm is because the problem is universal. Our bodies are hard-wired to seek the path of least resistance.

By now you’re probably very curious as to the name of this ‘problem’. Just a minute…

Feed Your Brain the Way You Feed Your Body

Here is an analogy that explains the #1 solution that all my former (and current students) swear by.

Imagine you have a large party size pizza. Here in Toronto, a party size pizza measures 2′ X 3′. (OK, I’m in Canada, so I’d better put in the metric conversion: 61cm X 91cm).

The question is, “Can you eat this large party size pizza ALL BY YOURSELF?”

Most people I ask automatically say no. A handful may say yes, but mostly to be funny because when I ask them HOW they would do it, they have no idea.

The discussion continues.

I ask, “Could you eat this large party size pizza all in one bite?”

Now of course, everyone agrees that this is impossible.

“So, if you had to eat this large party size pizza all by yourself, what do you think you should do first?”

For some – surprisingly even young children – the lights start to go on. Others still need another question or two before they get it.

“We could cut it into small pieces”, the brighter ones are already offering.

This is obvious, right? Who has ever eaten a whole LARGE pizza without cutting it into slices or pieces first? (I had to qualify the ‘large’ because some of my wiseguy students would cite the personal pan-size pizzas.) You learn things when you teach for 38 years!

I congratulate them saying, “That’s right. You cut it into pieces and have one piece. But you still have to eat the WHOLE large party size pizza. What are you going to do with the rest of it?” This is where 98% of my students get stumped.

“Geez, I had one piece, and I still have to eat the rest of this thing. What am I going to do?”

Major overwhelm!

I’m thinking, “This is so great. When they learn the #1 simple solution AND it’s application, they are going to FLY through life!”

See, at this point most students are thinking they have to eat the whole large party size pizza today… as in right NOW! Scroll back to see if my initial challenge mentions anything about a time limit. Go ahead – I’ll wait.

Things Keep Breaking Down!

Most students will say, “I’ll keep eating until it’s gone.”

I ask them, “Do you REALLY think that’s possible? How do you think your tummy would feel about that?” “Oh…” they reply.

They know it’s not possible, but they can’t seem to get past this roadblock.

Other more creative students will offer, “Hey, it’s a large party size pizza. I can invite my friends to have a party. Then it will be all gone.”

“Nice try”, I say. “But you have to eat this ALL BY YOURSELF.”

Very few people would correctly decide to wrap up the rest of the large party size pizza and put it in the fridge or freezer for another day.

Getting back to the imaginary single piece they have in their hand, I now ask the student, “Could you eat that piece all in one bite?”

By now, everyone seems to be catching on.

“No”, they all concur.

“And when you take that bite, do you just put it into your mouth and swallow it?”

“We have to chew it at least a few times before we can swallow it.”

Ah, now we’re getting someplace.

Let me ask you, dear reader, have you guessed the ‘problem’ yet? If not, keep thinking about it while I tell you about the APPLICATION of the #1 solution.

Applied Knowledge is Power

I tell the above story to every one of my new students during the first couple of weeks of classes. Then I apply it to a carefully planned, step-by-step teaching process, that when followed, produces great results.

There are still those students who don’t (or won’t) practice. They get to hear the pizza story over and over until they either start practicing or I ask them to find another activity. A lot of people don’t do things because… well, they just don’t WANT to. And that’s fine. I encourage them to move on to something more suitable to their liking and talent, with my blessings.

Let’s be perfectly clear that the #1 solution ONLY works if you WANT to do it, but just can’t seem to get over the overwhelm hump.

With my beginner students, I do one measure with them in class. (You remember what a measure is, right?) Then I STOP!

The learning process that I use has seven steps to it. I won’t enumerate them here as they are irrelevant. I make sure the student thoroughly understands each simple small step before proceeding with the next one. Often this requires a few repetitions.

The students are always amazed, “That’s ALL I have to do today?”

“Yup, you just had your one slice of pizza (one measure). You took small bites (seven steps). You chewed each bite thoroughly before swallowing (repetitions). How hard was that? This is how you feed your brain, exactly the way you feed your body.”

Now I ask them, “How many days are there in a week?”

“Seven”, they all say.

“Great. We just did one measure in class. There are seven measures left. If you do one measure each day, you will have the whole song done by next class. Do you think you can do that?”

At this point my students are looking at me as if I had just come up with the solution for world peace!

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

I don’t stop there though. No way, baby. I know people will go home and try to do things their own way. For beginning students, I always insist that they master MY WAY first before branching out into other methods. After all, that’s why they’re paying ME!

So I get graphic on my students. I go back to the large party size pizza and ask them to imagine that they HAVE to eat the whole thing all in one bite right now… they HAVE to. I ask them, “What do you think would happen if you had to eat that whole thing in one bite right now?”

Most of the students agree that they would either choke or get sick and barf.

“That’s exactly right!” I tell them. “Do you think you would want to eat a large party size pizza ever again?”

“NO WAY!” they say, totally grossed out.

“So tell me something, how do you think your brain feels when you try to STUFF this whole song into your head ALL IN ONE BITE?”

I can see the fireworks exploding around my students heads.

“By practicing exactly the way I tell you, piece-by-piece; bite-by-bite; chew-by-chew; you will be able to play the whole song correctly by next week. If you try to do it any other way, you may come back with musical barf – lots of mistakes and stops – it won’t be pretty? Do you think you’ll want to do piano if you keep making your brain barf?”

At this point my students are convinced!

Relativity Revisited

In music class, it starts off with eight measures. Within a few short months, those eight measures become eight lines; which become eight pages; which become eight songs; which become eight hours of pleasure either for oneself or for a packed stadium of 50,000!

Let’s apply the #1 solution to YOUR task now. See the entire project as the large party size pizza. Here are the steps in review:

1. Cut your project into slices/pieces.
2. You take ONE slice. You put the rest AWAY for another time… you decide the time parameters.
3. You take your one slice and take a bite.
4. You chew the bite, fully enjoying the taste. (be sure to enjoy… it’s crucial to your success)
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until your slice is done.

That’s it! You’re DONE… for now. Take a moment to celebrate. Enjoy your favorite beverage. Later, within the time-frame YOU choose, repeat the entire process again until the whole large party size pizza is gone.

Does Your Mommy Have to Spoon-feed You?

Recently I added this element to the pizza story. In spite of the awesome (IMHO) example you see above, there are still a handful of students who can’t (or more correctly WON’T) ‘feed’ themselves at home. Yet, they tell me that they ‘WANT’ to take piano lessons. These are the folks in life who LOVE to show up, but HATE to do any work.

I take this as a sort of compliment. I’m a nice guy; I tell great pizza stories among many, many others. So when my students keep coming back each week, I figure I must be doing something right. However, at the end of the day, Mom and Dad are paying me to produce some type of ‘musical’ results. After all, the sign on my door says, ‘School of Music’ and not ‘School of Life Skills’. The latter is just a benefit, albeit a major one.

So if the carrot doesn’t work, occasionally I have to break out the stick.

Does your Mommy spoon-feed you at home, with the high-chair and the little bibby?” I ask, with a slight edge in my voice.

“No…” returns the sheepish reply.

“Then why do you expect ME to spoon-feed YOU every single week? You KNOW the process. But knowing is not enough. At some point you have to DO it! Now can I expect you to DO it this week? I’m NOT going to spoon-feed you anymore.”

With the proper firmness and authority, this is usually enough to nudge a student over the edge. Lots of people have a willing spirit, it’s just that their flesh is weak.

However, if things continue to slide downhill and you’ve done everything else in your bag of tricks, it’s discussion time with the AUTHORITIES. With my students, this means their parents. With YOU, it could be your boss; a marriage counselor; a trustee for bankruptcy, etc.

What Exactly Is Your Problem?

Now you have the #1 solution. Have you guessed the ‘problem’ though?

It’s PROCRASTINATION! (I put off the reveal as long as I could.)

Do NOT take this simple solution lightly. It will work 100% of the time for things you WANT to do. That’s a guarantee proven over 38 years with my own students. Try it and see for yourself.

All the best from Toronto,

Russ

The world can seem like a crazy place sometimes…
OK, a LOT of the time!
However, no matter what is going on in your life, magic happens when you learn how to choose better feelings now!
You’re Gonna Love That Feeling

All the best from Toronto,
Russ and Maggie Hamel.

Back to Charles:
What’s something in your life that has been hanging over you unfinished (possibly even unstarted) because it just seems so big… so complex… so overwhelming…

Isn’t it obvious that taking one small bite of it at a time would go a long way to neutralizing the fear factor? Seriously now, can you think of ANYthing that can’t be whittled down to size by using this one-step-at-a-time approach?

I’ve written it before – procrastination isn’t the huge, unvanquishable problem that everybody claims. It only seems big because we’ve learned to think it is. We expect it to be hard. We’re sure it’s hard. Everybody says it’s hard. We’ve tried struggling with it before, and sure enough, it was hard.

And you know what? It’s going to stay hard right up until we change our minds about it and finally let it be easy. Then we’ll wonder why we ever let ourselves be conned into thinking it was difficult.

So hey – might as well start now. Repeat along with me (with feeling) procrastination is nothing. It’s a paper tiger. It’s all an illusion. And now I’m no longer impressed. I get things done fast and sure, because I am free to do so anytime I decide to. I’m free, taking one step, one bite, one nibble at a time.

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,

Charles

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