Here’s the thing about perfectionism

I think perfectionism is most dangerous in the beginning phase of a new pursuit. Adult beginners are often both enthusiastic and inexperienced. Oh, and a bit self-conscious. We aren’t used to being “bad” at something, and pretty soon we start worrying whether or not we have talent before we even give ourselves a chance to really get going. 

Can you imagine how discouraging adding a perfectionist mindset might be at this point in the process? 

When I was 9 or 10 years old, my best friend got a go-kart as a birthday gift. Gas powered, shaped like a formula one car. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, and when it was finally my turn to try it out, I was exhilarated just sitting in it. The right foot controlled the gas and the left foot controlled the brakes. 

I took off, and after one D-shaped lap around his semi-circular driveway and the sidewalk, I stopped next to him and he said, “hey, don’t ride the brake”. 

As I was pressing down on the gas I had been instinctively putting equal weight into the brake. The go-kart had been struggling against itself because I had been nervous by how much power I had under my right foot and I was pumping the brakes against my own acceleration. 

That’s how I see perfectionism as an adult beginner, especially on the cello. It’s easy to get so fixating on doing everything “correctly” from the start that you forget to let go and just try letting yourself learn through tryings. Bad habits aren’t formed instantly, so there’s no need to continually pump the brakes to make sure that everything looks correct. 

You also run the risk of pumping the brakes on your enthusiasm for learning your new activity. 

If you’re a perfectionist and starting out your cello journey, I have a challenge for you. Try “letting go” for one week. Don’t throw technique out the window, but just focus on going for things, seeing if you can free up your bow arm, pull richer sounds, care a bit less about the results (especially if they aren’t instantly better). You have my permission to sound great today! Take that left foot off the brake and step on the gas.