Practice
The amount of time devoted to playing varies, of course, with every person. But playing every day, even if only for a few minutes, is very beneficial. Developing your practice—learning how to work, in effect—is a key to growing not just your technical ability, but deepening your art. Evolving as a player never goes along in a neat straight line, but patience and perseverance will pay the greatest dividends. Sometimes there are unexpected leaps in ability and musicianship. A wider view opens up, and an exhilarating sense of new possibilities.