Having longtime- goal while special interests change

[Merete]

Hi,
I LOVE having goals. I have a special interest that have been with me all my life; Piano- thereby jazz, classical and composing. For some years now, I could say that yoga has been a special interest too. I love to learn (like many of us), so I make sure that I always challenge myself and get better in the areas described in piano.
I am a profffesional pianist and a yogateacher, so it`s crucial that I always keep developing myself.

The trouble is, that suddenly I stop practicing because this something special interest catch my attention! I have not lost my interest in piano, but I just forget it because the other one takes more of my attention. Lately, I have been seriously trying to read and figure out how someone on the autism spectrum can reach their goals while the special interests actually change periodically?

I can feel the joy of playing piano under this, but I never get there- because I need to find out more about this particularly thing.

Does anyone else feel like this- having this challenge? And WHAT do you do with it?
I think this also can transpose to creative minds to- I guess their head work like this going from the one to the next?

AND- does someone experience that their intens interest at the moment, disrupts their routines? (that is also a problem, since I have a routine for when to practice). I got thrown out in limbo, I forget to do my routines... That is so frustrating.. It takes a long time for me to get back there..

(Like a philosophical thought, I also think that maybe this natural "pauses" (when something else get my attention) - is what makes me integrate fully what I have learned? That it is OK, even though it doesn't feel OK. It will take me somewhere even though?

Your thoughts?

 

[Tom]

I followed the basic principle of job comes first, special interests second. One must eat, have a roof overhead and pay bills.

So if, for example I was in your shoes, I would force myself to do the piano/yoga practice or work first each day. Then follow your interest in free time.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

Discipline. Putting off the things you enjoy doing in order get the things you have to do done first is a basic part of adult life (unfortunately).

When I'm in a faze of having a particularly intense specially interest which I just want to spend every second of the day on, I wear a hair band around my wrist and snap in every time my mind wanders from my boring essential stuff (e.g. my job) to my special interest. It's painful but effective.

I also have "becoming more disciplined" as one off my long term life goals which I work on consistently (because I'm naturally a pathetic procrastinator with the willpower of a goldfish).

 

[clg114]

I have a lifelong special interest (machinery) that has always been there. I also have always had a sub special interest that changes from time to time. I never completely forget about my sub special interests, I just spend more time on the latest one. The latest is building a off road vehicle.

I do have one big advantage. I have been lucky enough to spend my working career with my special interest. I have spent 50+ years working on equipment and I love it. That is why at 72, I am still doing it.

 

[Merete]

I followed the basic principle of job comes first, special interests second. One must eat, have a roof overhead and pay bills.

So if, for example I was in your shoes, I would force myself to do the piano/yoga practice or work first each day. Then follow your interest in free time.

I think that is right! Offcourse, that is logic speaking. I guess I have to stop making excuses, having a timer - and an alarm for when I should do my regular routine/practice/reading! Or else I think I will just start doing my other interests. And it also makes sense that it should be done first each day. If I have some time off (which I will have if I stick to the routine/plan), I know I will be doing my interest later that day. That is a carrot right there. (eehm like a thing to really enjoy, a happy prize for keeping on track!) Thank you!

 

[Merete]

Discipline. Putting off the things you enjoy doing in order get the things you have to do done first is a basic part of adult life (unfortunately).

When I'm in a faze of having a particularly intense specially interest which I just want to spend every second of the day on, I wear a hair band around my wrist and snap in every time my mind wanders from my boring essential stuff (e.g. my job) to my special interest. It's painful but effective.

I also have "becoming more disciplined" as one off my long term life goals which I work on consistently (because I'm naturally a pathetic procrastinator with the willpower of a goldfish).

Thank you so much for your comment and help. The wristband was a creative idea! I guess that is not all for me, but maybe more like an alarm and a timer for keeping me on track. I found an app which can give an alarm as often as you want, and you can make your own schedules on different activities! It is called "MEDITATION TIMER".

 

[Merete]

I have a lifelong special interest (machinery) that has always been there. I also have always had a sub special interest that changes from time to time. I never completely forget about my sub special interests, I just spend more time on the latest one. The latest is building a off road vehicle.

I do have one big advantage. I have been lucky enough to spend my working career with my special interest. I have spent 50+ years working on equipment and I love it. That is why at 72, I am still doing it.

It´s amazing that you have been able to keep on working with your special interest all that time! wow! It´s the same for me- with the piano. But it´s not a regular nine to five job, it´s working in the evenings. So I have to schedule my whole day (which I LOVE, but it is a challenge to keep on track with what I actually should do!)

When do you do you sub interest? When you are off work/after work/ in the weekends?
Since I am working evening, I have to get both practicing- and a bit time for my special interest in the daytime. I guess I just have to be consistent and disciplined to stay on track! Thank you so much for commenting and helping

 

[Pats]

You know, when you read articles about autism and aspergers they make it sound like there's a lifetime special interest, and may be the case with some. But I'm like you and my special interests change. I think it's more that we tend to put everything into it and are so absorbed into things that everything else takes a back seat if we allow it. There are things I've always enjoyed - like rearranging furniture and changing my surroundings frequently and when I decide to do something I have to do it. My son no longer recognizes when I change things around because it's so frequent he can't remember what it was last time he saw it (and he lives upstairs. lol) Sometimes I know it's going to be a big project and I'll tell myself I've got all week to do it, but it'll end up being done in a day because once I start on something I don't stop.
Aside from doing what I enjoy doing, I run across something that I decide I have to learn everything there is to learn about it and I'll not want to stop for anything. So it's more like temporary obsessions. There were times those obsessions turned out to be productive, other times, not so much.

 

[Fino]

When people say their special interest changes, do you mean that the specifics of it change? For example, if I were to say that my special interests are reading and music, would that be too general and a shift in what kind of music or what subject to read would considered a shift in special interest? Or if reading and music have always been the only things I find enjoyable, would that be a static set of interests, despite changes over time in the details?

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

When people say their special interest changes, do you mean that the specifics of it change? For example, if I were to say that my special interests are reading and music, would that be too general and a shift in what kind of music or what subject to read would considered a shift in special interest? Or if reading and music have always been the only things I find enjoyable, would that be a static set of interests, despite changes over time in the details?

Seems like the sort of thing that varies a lot from person to person.
If I'm being lazy I'd say my special interest is fiction, but truth is that's so non-specific it's almost a lie, because my special interests are extremely specific, normally an obsession with a particular book or film, or a particular character.
When I say my special interest changes I mean that I suddenly lose interest in the specific thing I've been obsessing over for months and become interested in some random new topic. For example my special interest recently changed from The Hobbit, to Obi Wan Kenobi. Both fiction related, but such different topics that they have nothing else in common.

 

[clg114]

It´s amazing that you have been able to keep on working with your special interest all that time! wow! It´s the same for me- with the piano. But it´s not a regular nine to five job, it´s working in the evenings. So I have to schedule my whole day (which I LOVE, but it is a challenge to keep on track with what I actually should do!)

When do you do you sub interest? When you are off work/after work/ in the weekends?
Since I am working evening, I have to get both practicing- and a bit time for my special interest in the daytime. I guess I just have to be consistent and disciplined to stay on track! Thank you so much for commenting and helping

I am self-employed so I work when my customers want me to. I am on call 24/7. However in recent years I have been slowing down, about 20 hours per week. I work for one customer most of the time. I repair their electric forklifts. As for my sub special interest, I do that when ever I get a chance. I still enjoy some of my past sub special interests too. I go golfing a few times a year, as well as going to the firing range. Some of my old sub special interests I am just to old for, such as dirt bikes or snowmobiles.

Good luck with the piano and keep it up. I am a big classical music fan, maybe we will see you on TV one of these days.