The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was once asked why he continued to practice at the age of 90. “Because” he replied, “I think I’m making progress”.
It is an extraordinary acknowledgement from a man widely regarded as one of the greatest ever cellists. Let’s be clear – Casals was a colossus in his world. Fritz Kreisler (himself a brilliant violinist) called him “the greatest musician ever to draw bow”. He played for English Queen Victoria at 22 and the American president John F. Kennedy in his eighties. And yet we find him, in his nineties, still committed to making progress.
The same question confronts all of us, in any field, who aspire to do something well. We mediators are no exception. The challenge we face is not “Can we improve?” but “How do we improve?”. Casals could (and did) practice incessantly, for hours a day. And as the saying goes “Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong”.
