Psychologist Gary McPherson had a question about children who play musical instruments:
“Why do children progress so differently even when they receive the same lessons?”
To find the answer, he randomly selected 157 children who had just begun learning to play an instrument and began his research. About nine months later, he evaluated their progress and analyzed the data.
What he discovered was surprising: intelligence, hearing development, sense of rhythm, and family income level did not significantly affect improvement. The decisive factor that made a difference in skill level was the children’s passion and interest.
In fact, before their first lesson, McPherson asked each child one simple question:
“How long do you plan to play your instrument?”
The children who answered, “For the rest of my life,” showed noticeable improvement day by day. On the other hand, those who replied, “Just for a little while,” showed very little progress.
The children who loved playing so much that they wanted to keep doing it found joy in practicing, and that led to real improvement.
When we have passion and interest in something, we naturally focus more on it, and as a result, we become better at it.
Are you pouring your own passion and interest into what you’re doing right now, the very thing that leads to growth and achievement?