Tell your students they're pianists often.

I am an athlete.

I am an athlete.

But…I don’t know…I, uh, have yellow socks. Athletes don't wear yellow socks. I wear the heck out of them.

So I can't be an athlete.

For forever, I did not think of myself as an athlete for a list of equally ridiculous reasons. I was always working my way up to becoming an athlete, but I wasn't quite one yet.

Despite that being me in the picture, just before the Danosi Tournament.

It was my doctor during a check-up that got me wise:

She read over my vitals, made some comments, then looked me in the eyeballs and asked, How can I help you today?

I told her I was concerned about this and that, and she said, “Um hm, um hm, well, *rustles papers* as an athlete, you…blah blah blah…”.

Wait, what?

I was astounded, and didn't hear anything after that for, like, a while.

My doctor thinks I am an athlete? What universe are we in? Does she know that I know the intermediate value theorem?

She's quick, so she asked what in the world I was thinking about, and I told her.

She said:

How often do you fence? (Four days a week)

How often do you do drills? (Five days a week)

How often do you crosstrain? (Often)

Tell me about your diet. (Well, my nutritionist…and here's my food journal…and I'm gaining muscle…)

Are you competitive? (I have a tournament this Saturday).

Well, yes, you brainiac. You're in the game, actively and literally.

You are an athlete.

My mind was blown away. Wow!

I am an athlete.

I am an ath-lete.

Now, it may seem obvious to you by definition, right? This is real: I'm going to stretch for a full 75 minutes after I finish this post because I have to stay on schedule to prep for the tournament.

So why wasn’t it obvious to me? Why did it take so long for me to see this?

I had an idea that I had to accomplish certain things (that existed only in my head) before I could be considered an athlete proper.

An athlete has certain characteristics, they live a certain way. I did not have those characteristics. I do not live that way.

What characteristics? What way?

Yeah, exactly. I'm doing all the things that qualify me as an athlete. I get to use the title.

Here’s the thing:

I guarantee you that you have piano students who are thinking exactly the same thing about themselves. They don't think of themselves as musicians, as proper pianists, because [insert some reason that's only in their heads].

Tell them frequently and sincerely, “As a pianist, you…” and “As a musician, you…”.

This will change their lives, I promise you.

I can tell you that it changed mine.