by Chris Goslow
Since starting to play piano shows a couple of years ago (and by now I have done over four hundred of them), people have often come up to me after the show telling me how much they wished they could learn to play the piano. “I have always wanted to play,” they say. Or I hear, “I used to play, when I was a kid, but I quit.” I have even heard this multiple times: “I have always told myself something I want to do before I die is learn to play the piano.” Men and women alike have told me these things, and though such statements might seem to be positive, in my experience these people always seem to speak with the same tinge of regret, as if perhaps they have just been reminded of a mistake they have made in their lives, one they evidently think they have no power to change or do anything about now that they realize it.
Now, probably in some cases such statements are not really that serious, and are just momentary longings that will soon pass. Yet in many cases, I’m sure such ideas indicate a real desire that has simply never been listened to. And in these cases, behind these thoughts probably lurks some version of a completely dreadful idea: the notion that “it’s too late.”
Too often, people live as if this faulty, disgusting notion (yes, disgusting!) is reality. And they pay the price because of it. The price of what they could have done if only they didn’t think it were true! This applies for piano playing just as much as for ANYTHING else. I have heard it said time and time again that if you start something, even if you’re bad at it, you’ll be better off than if you hadn’t started at all. Yet, many people seem not to realize this, so rather than even starting something, they default to their negative thinking and don’t even try.
More often than not, “it’s too late” is a complete lie! Usually, it is based on someone believing someone else who told them such a thing, at some point, whether that was for piano playing or for something else. Believing it’s too late is a learned limitation. It is a habit of thought that has crystalized powerfully in the individual to the point that now it seems inevitable that it will stay that way or seems impossible to change. It is not inevitable, and it is possible to change that thinking.
Yet behind that belief is the fact that some people may simply be afraid to try something new. They are afraid to “rock the boat,” so to speak, of their daily habits. Habits can seem difficult to change, especially after years and years of practicing them. Or after witnessing others in your life, especially people who are important to you, practicing them. Because the problem is, if you believe that it’s too late, you’ll inevitably end up taking actions based on that idea. And then, over time, you’ll build all sorts of evidence that seems to support the idea that it’s too late. Evidence such as not getting the results you want in life, not learning what you want to learn, or, sadly, not even starting something you wanted to do. And so, when you think of taking on something new that you’ve always secretly dreamed of, say, learning to play piano, the only references you have are to all those times in the past when you failed, when you fell short, and when you gave up. Because you THOUGHT it was too late. And it may seem easier just to keep following the habitual thoughts you’re used to than to do anything to change them.
Unfortunately, this habit of thought plagues many people, and kills potential before that potential is even given a chance. Let’s end this notion right now! It is not too late! In fact, now is the perfect time to begin whatever it is you have been wanting to begin. There’s a reason we want what we want. Within us is a certain inner knowing, even if it is as faint as a tickle, that if we only gave it a chance, something good would come of it. Yet in order to give that desire a chance, we must put away the notion that it’s too late, or any other such limiting idea that is not allowing us to take action in a particular direction we want to go.
What if you were to live as if it were never too late? What would you be doing right now?
Because is it ever really too late… to change your thinking?
If you are ready to stop waiting and start realizing your dreams of learning the piano, fill out a Lesson Interest Form today to get started. Because it’s never too late.
