I recently came across the phrase “the best version of yourself”, which is attributed to the New York Times bestselling author and motivational speaker Matthew Kelly. In his book The Rhythm of Life he discusses the idea as something that is not just based in external achievements, but also a disciplined and daily pursuit of the highest potential one is capable of achieving.

For me, The Lightbulb Moment became especially powerful because it required me to think about not just where I am in my life, but also where I want to be. A lot of questions came up in terms of what my short- and long-term goals are, and also what it is going to take to get me there.  

What’s more, the idea of the best version of myself also forced me to think about who I am not just as a pianist, but also a person, and ask myself a lot of questions.  For example, what characteristics of my personality go into my working daily to become the best artist I can be? 

As a pianist, Kelly would no doubt recommend that I focus my attention on more on aspects of my internal character, as opposed to comparing myself to others like Arthur Rubenstein or Martha Argerich, in order to determine whether or not I am practicing today with a little more concentration and focus than I did yesterday, while always working to discover just how much I can improve.

To apply this principle, the key for me is working on being as consistent in my practicing as I can, while continuously setting small goals to help me move beyond where I am to where I want to be. It might mean, in one instance for example, that I work on varying repeated phrases of a piece as much as possible, as is the case in the Chopin Ballade No. 3 (see my blog post this week on the work). It becomes about going inside of yourself deeply enough to discover what is needed to create really expressive nuance so that each repeat stands out on its own.

At the same time, being the best version of yourself also suggests that one does not arrive at a point where everything has been achieved. Instead, one is always questioning how the version of who one is today, can be made even better tomorrow.