How My Son Teaches Me About Consistency
Watching my son expand his vocal range from C4 to G#4 taught me something profound: 10 minutes of daily practice, done consistently at the same time, can be really powerful.
It was 10:30 pm, half an hour before my son should crash in bed. He hit his first G#4 note without much effort. His voice was so clear and loud that I had to close every window and door to make sure that our neighbours wouldn't call the police.
Two months ago, his music teacher at school announced that the final exam would be singing a song on stage. My son is an introvert, showed no interest in pop music, and rarely sang. So it was a tough one.
We tried our best to pick a song that he liked, not too hard, and was popular enough that people would be able to resonate immediately. Yet it was still hard for a boy at the stage of a changing voice who had never sung regularly. I measured, and the highest note he could hit was C4. He'd lose his voice after that.
So what did he do? He started his 10-minute routine before bed every day: following a 5-minute voice warm-up video, and then singing the song.
Until the day I'm writing this, he has only missed once. And it was because we arrived home past midnight. He has expanded his range significantly. The song is now a breeze for him.
It's not the first time he has applied this strategy. He won second place during a Hakka recitation contest as someone who couldn't really speak Hakka, passed the volleyball exam in his PE class, and that spelling bee… somehow he has developed this effective strategy based on consistency to conquer whatever challenges he isn't good at: just do it 10 minutes per day at exactly the same time, every single day.
Last night, when he hit that G#4 note effortlessly, I could see the sense of accomplishment radiating from him, and that strong affirmation behind it: "See? It works out once again.” Upon noticing that, I couldn’t help but felt overwhelmingly proud of how he figured out the power of consistency on his own at this young age. It's going to be a powerful tool that serves him for the rest of his life.
Now it's my turn to answer: what can I accomplish by committing just 10 minutes per day?
I don't have an answer now, but I will.