|
By: Craig Bassett
Here's a quick question for you. What's the one biggest thing
stopping you from becoming the guitarist that you truly want to
be? Is it lack of time to practice? How about lack of money to
get guitar lessons? How about a spouse who doesn't support your
guitar playing endeavors? Or what about having to work long
hours to support your family? If you're like 97% of guitarists, you said the wrong answer. The
right answer is YOU. Everyone is their own biggest obstacle to
their guitar playing progress. Before you get offended and abuse
me, let me explain further... I believe strongly that our reality is based not on our
circumstances but our PERCEPTION to our circumstances. This
means that you could have two guitarists in exactly the same
situation who react completely differently to that situation.
I'll give you a real life example...
I have a roommate who works a nine to five job. Nothing unusual
there... a lot of people do. Unfortunately this roommate uses
his job as an excuse not to practice. He says that when he gets
home from work he's always too tired to practice. I suggested to
him once that he could get up an hour earlier each day to
practice. This comment caused him to look at me like I was
insane. Bottom line? My roommate isn't willing to make a VERY
small lifestyle change to pursue his musical dreams. Most likely
he'll go to his grave lamenting the fact that he "never had time
to practice." How sad!
Luckily, not everyone has this loser preception. I have students
who are just as busy (or busier!) but perceive the whole
situation differently. They see their nine to five job as a
challenge. They meet this challenge by getting up early to
practice. They also make sure that they exercise regularly so
that they have the energy to practice after work as well. Bottom
line? They are steadily progressing towards their musical goals
and dreams! Can you see how the different preceptions of the same
circumstance caused two different sets of actions? Let's now look at a simple way that you can perceive your
"negative circumstances" differently. Please follow the
following steps... ***Step One*** Write down a circumstance in your life that you feel is slowing
down your guitar progress. ***Step Two*** Write down exactly HOW the circumstance prevents you from
progressing. ***Step Three*** Write down at least ten action steps that you could take to
overcome the circumstance. Don't stop until you have at least
ten. ***Step Four*** Just do it! Take action and DO the action steps. Do what ever it
takes. Remember...your musical development is at stake! One last thought. I believe that for EVERY excuse you could ever
have, there are guitarists in the world who have overcome
exactly the same excuse.
About the author:
Craig Bassett is a professional guitarist, author and guitar
tutor. To gain TOTAL mastery of the guitar fretboard
notes, please go to: www.GuitarNoteMastery.com.
People searching for the term "Learn To Play Guitar" found this page helpful.
| 
