Chris Pearlberg

One more thought on standards.

Your goals should be lofty, but not too far out of reach. Putting too much pressure on yourself to achieve huge goals can crush you completely. Having high standards is important, but not to the point of self destruction. I am sure we have all experienced disappointment with something that maybe no one else even noticed (“I sounded so bad because of that wrong note!”……”I didn’t even notice…?”).

Your goals may even change along the way ¹

Try to be as objective as possible when analyzing your progress. The things you may see in yourself today will maybe disappear tomorrow. Yes, with no risk or hardship there is no progress or reward, but if you go too far you may completely kill your productivity. Know you limits, and buckle up for the long journey.

¹ There is nothing wrong with that!