If my 10 year old can do it, so can you.

My one and only daughter is 10 years old and has been learning to play the violin for 4 years now. This has been a learning experience for me as well, as we are doing the Suzuki method and that requires me to attend her lessons as well as practice with her.

I don't know anything about the violin. I grew up playing the piano so I have some musical ability and knowledge, but the violin is a totally different ball game. It has been so fascinating to go through this process alongside my daughter and see the ins and outs of learning the violin.

The most important step to playing the violin starts before the lesson even begins: tuning the violin. Her teacher has her play each of the four strings one at a time, and then they adjust it as needed - either higher or lower. This ability to tune takes a lot of practice and an ability to listen closely. Sometimes the string is barely off and it just takes a tiny turn of the peg to get it just right. But that minuscule adjustment makes all the difference.

How often do we pay attention to how in tune we are? Do we notice when are even just barely off and not at our best? Meaning, not being the version of ourselves we want to be.

Over time if we don't make those small adjustments, we start to get used to being out of tune. We get used to not becoming the best version of ourselves, and in just settling. This often yields less desirable relationships, health, and experiences.

But there are some little tweaks we can make to help us work on staying in tune:

• separate the facts of our lives from the stories: try to separate all the drama from what is the actual truth

• begin to become aware of our thoughts: we have thousands of thoughts a day, but if when we are struggling we slow down and pay attention to our thoughts that will allow us to gain control over them

• ask yourself if those thoughts are generating the emotion you would like to have: it is our thoughts about someone/something that cause our feelings, so we always have the option of picking new thoughts which will generate new emotions

Does that sound too complicated? Let me help! Let me show you the best way to be in tune and create the life you want to have. I promise great things come from making these small changes and observations.