The commitment to the musical life that we value

In this post I will explain what committed action is and how, in combination with our values, it can be the beginning of an expansive and meaningful musical life. A committed action is characterized by being a conduct aligned to one's values, which persists until reaching a goal set and despite the internal and external difficulties that may arise. It can also be defined as the commitment to adopt ever expanding patterns of habits informed by our values.


Suppose one of my values as a musician is the following:

I value being a musician learning new and challenging repertoire.

I could define the action “learning new and challenging repertoire” in different ways. I might choose a challenging new piece in different ways: in its length, the variety of technical elements needed to perform it, the rhythmic precision it demands, etc. If I don't clearly lay out what "new and challenging" means, I won't know when I'm getting closer to or further away from this value. The committed action “lands” a value in observable and measurable behaviors that allow us to estimate if we are being consistent with our values.

Juncos and de Paiva e Pona (p. 173, 2022) recommend asking three questions: 1) How can I make this valued action more concrete? 2) How can I measure this action? 3) How will I know if/when I have reached this goal? Let's see how these questions can guide the transition from value to committed action.

How can I make this value more concrete?

Let's say I decide to embark on a project to learn Beethoven's piano sonatas. If I have not studied any Beethoven sonata, it is, in effect, a new repertoire. Likewise, each sonata is a musical world in itself that tremendously challenges the interpreter. Therefore, this goal meets the conditions of being new and challenging. So my committed action takes the following form:

I will learn Beethoven's piano sonatas.

How can I measure this valued action?

The next step is to establish some metric that tells me if I'm meeting my goal. I can, for example, specify that there are 32 piano sonatas that I will learn. I could also state the order in which I will learn them, as well as the number of sonatas per year. So, my goal will change to:

I will learn Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in chronological order of composition, at least two a year.

How will I know if/when I have achieved this goal?

This question can be particularly difficult to answer when it comes to learning pieces of music. We know that, in reality, one never exhausts a piece of music and it is always possible to approach it from a new angle. However, if I did not establish a criterion for deciding that, currently, I am satisfied with the interpretation of any particular sonata, my committed action would not have an end because I would never consider that I have learned a sonata. For this reason, it is important to establish some sufficiency criterion that indicates that the goal has been achieved. So, my goal could look like:

I will learn all of Beethoven's piano sonatas in chronological order, at least two a year, until I can play each one a tempo and expressively from start to finish in recital or in front of a camera.

Naturally, my mind will present me with obstacles on my way to reaching this goal. For example, I may feel little motivation to practice, I may feel overwhelmed by the difficulty of some sonatas, I may feel too tired to practice, I may want to avoid playing them in public, etc. Hence the importance of values.

Values are like the beacon of light that guides the ships in the dark or, as we saw in a previous post, walking towards the East. As long as I remember the importance of my musical value, I will have an East to aim for. Likewise, by making use of tools that we have discussed in past posts (mindfulness, acceptance, defusion, self-as-context) we can minimize the risk of our mind channeling our attention and energy into trying to control unpleasant thoughts and emotions. The tools we have discussed in these posts are intended to train us to persist in valued goals despite unpleasant and distracting states of mind.

If you want to know more about my work and my consulting services for musicians experiencing anxiety, I invite you to check out my website: alvarochang.com.

Photo by Reza Nourbakhsh from Pexels.

References

Juncos, D. G. & de Paiva e Pona, E. (2022). ACT for musicians: A guide for using Acceptance and Commitment Training to enhance performance, overcome performance anxiety, and improve well-being. Universal Publishers. 

Praxis (2023). ACT Immersion: An introduction to ACT as a process-based therapy [online course]. Retrieved from https://act.courses/signup/






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