It is sometimes the case that you get disconnected from an activity for a period of time. This could be playing the piano, attending classes, reading a certain book, or calling a special friend weekly. Although at the time of disconnection, you may have thought it would be easy to continue later on, you then find that it is very difficult to continue where you left off. Here I will discuss why, and what you can do to reconnect with your past activity/routine.
Problem
One of the big issues with disconnecting in the first place is the loss of momentum. Momentum is a very finicky quality; it can disappear in a negligible amount of time. It provides a foundation that can be relied on when getting stuck, which translates to phrases like “I’ve already gone this far this fast, so I’m still in good shape.” When this type of motivation is lost due to disconnection with an activity, you have to switch to other modes of sustaining effort.
Problem Example
An example to use is the practicing of the piano. A person that stopped playing piano at a certain point, but who now wants to continue where they left off, will then have to deal with some tough concepts to handle. Some of their peers didn’t stop playing the piano, and a couple might already be playing piano for public events. This is demotivating because they start to think “Even if I practice steadily for a year, I can’t catch up to him, and people will still rank me below him in piano skills. This is an unconstructive line of thinking. If everyone thought this way, worldwide activity would come to a halt. This thought process ignores
1. the piano skill gains you would make in that time
2. effect on some people around you that might build off of your newfound strength
3. improvement to your sense of discipline
4. positive example you are setting for others
and the list goes on. These items are just as relevant, if not more, than catching up to the piano player that hadn’t stopped playing routinely yet.
Solution
The key to reconnecting to a past activity that you gave up on is to seek the items of reconnection that present themselves most clearly. For this piano example, this could mean discussing with one of your peers that didn’t quit playing about how to get back into the procedure. It could mean using one of your current achievements as leverage to getting back into piano.
1. A public speaker could tell his next audience about his goal to return to piano playing, which could provide motivation due to making a public goal, and could also result in advice or piano lessons arriving from someone in the audience.
2. A dentist could ask each of his customers if they have musical interests, or if they know someone that tutors.
3. A student could ask their classmates this same question, or seek out someone in the classic music department.
An Alternate Solution
However, another method of reconnecting doesn’t involve others. A more introverted person might want to take this route. This method first involves analyzing why the process was halted in the first place. This is useful to prevent it from occurring again. It could be that interest in it isn’t there, or that one section was too difficult, which is where assistance would be the item to seek this time around. The second part is to find a way to rationalize the reconnection in your mind. If you have the mindset that there is an empty 2-year block between when you stopped and when you want to continue, it will be harder to explain to yourself and others. On the other hand, if you can make linkages from when you stopped to:
1. successes during that time
2. musical people you have met since that time
3. reasons why now is in fact your optimal time to get back into it
4. and people you now know that will appreciate your reconnection to your past interest
you will have an easier time of getting back into piano playing at your past level, and improving/continuing from then on.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Armen,
I followed you here from Celestine’s site and liked your blog name. I have reconnected to playing the piano on and off over the years, so this post was very relevant for me. What brings the connection back is usually hearing beautiful piano music, or seeing my piano keyboard and just itching to get those fingers moving again. So my triggers have been personal – auditory or visual reminders.
Hi Daphne.
I like that you described what brought you here. That is informative to me. Also, your gravatar is quite appealing due to its simplicity and blank sections. It is good to hear that the piano example was fitting. Your triggers are certainly ones that people will be able to relate to, as we tend to have triggers that lead us to perform actions we would have otherwise left for a later time. Experiencing enough of those reminders can signal to us that we should revisit a past interest. At the same time, occasional ones would represent a fleeting desire.
Hey Armen
Great topic on reconnecting where we left off. I face that issue the most with learning how to rollerblade. I often stop blading for a long period of time because I don’t get connected with my earlier sources of inspiration. Your post makes me more conscious of how to regulate my blading practice. Thank you! 
Celes: This point you have brought up makes me wonder if it is an issue that comes up that cuts off an activity we were performing, or if it is that we lose interest in that activity. It could be the case that an obstacle that comes up derails our efforts, but it could also be true that enough interest would provide motivation to handle such obstacles.
It happens, though not a good thing, that someone loses a link to what he/she has been pursuing with great interest. It becomes too bad if that connection is the one that is too difficult to rebuild. A disconnection may come as result of competing interests, where it can be impossible to take both at the same time. Reconnection is possible, but not always.
Lizwi: Competing interests might be the right way to look at the reason why some items get disconnected. A new priority comes up, and the old activity becomes less relevant to one’s continued success. People don’t tend to return to disconnected activities unless their life either returns to a past state, or provides more opportunity to excel in the activity of the past.
Often times, people are in a completely different phase of there life when restarting a past hobby. Usually, an older person has added maturity that helps in the motivation process.
Dan: This is an added point to bring up. It turns into a whole new view of the same thing that was stopped long ago. What once seemed like a simple task, which then became very difficult to imagine doing again once disconnected, becomes a new type of obstacle when trying to reconnect with it. It sure doesn’t have the same feel as it once did, but it can still be managed to be continued upon in a new way.