The importance of great habits

I have an old Roland A90 midi keyboard that I hooked up with GarageBand. My son started mixing tracks like a pro. Enough to inspire me to spend an hour tickling the ivories (actually plastic keys!).

So I pulled out Fur Elise and proceeded to try and play it. Age took its toll and my long forgotten music reading skills let me down. After struggling for some time. I closed the book and played from memory. Surprisingly I did much better, my fingers seemingly guided by hidden strings as I magically found notes, chords and progressions.

Somewhere in my brain lay a hidden map. Although dusty, it was there, chiseled in by hours of repetitive practice years ago.

It reminded me of the importance of building great habits. A habit is a unconscious behavior that is reinforced by repetition. Great habits mean that we do the right thing without thinking. I call it unconscious greatness. Alas it takes practice and discipline but eventually they become an automated responses, great ones.