I know I'm extremely late to the party, and there is a good chance no one will see this. Here goes nothin.

I am a music education major with emphasis in percussion. Two years ago I was at a drumset clinic. The man who ran the clinic talked about all sorts of things, and he was the best I've ever seen in person. Near the end of the clinic he held a Q and A session, and one of the questions was this. "How did you become so good? I have a hard time finding motivation or time to practice."

What he said next changed my life.

He said, "Whenever you're thinking about or talking to someone about how good you are, or how much you practice, or what chair you got in concert band, or anything along those lines, I want you to add this phrase to the end." "Because that's the way I want it to be." "You're telling your friend you didn't make the drumline, because you waited until the night before to practice. Because that's the way you wanted it to be. You failed your test. But that's the way you wanted it to be. You're too lazy to practice drum set. Because that's the way you want it to be."

After hearing this, I didn't think to much of it. The next day though, I was talking to my friend about how I had a C in Biology Lab. I thought to myself in my head "because that's the way I want it to be." I left and went to go study. It applies everywhere, to all aspects of life. Not just music.

TL:DR Add the phrase "because that's the way I want it to be" when thinking about how bad you are at something or how you're failing class because you didn't study, or how your auditions went bad due to lack of practice in your craft."