By Nicholas Anderson
Most guitar players look up to those who have truly achieved greatness in their playing and think one of two things:
- “Man, that guy has so much talent, I wish I could be like that.”
- “Wow, that guy is amazing!”
There is nothing wrong with admiring great players, but do you see what is assumed/missing in both of those statements? What is missing is this:
“Someday I’m going to be that good.”
Crazy? No. Someone once said that the person who says he cannot and the person who says he can are both correct. If you do not think you can achieve greatness, you probably will never achieve it. If you think (read: know) you can, you will. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you believe you are unable to become a great guitar player, you will naturally demotivate yourself. You will find that challenges in your playing become more challenging. You will find that little things that are discouraging become magnified. You will have a looming sense of defeat in every practice session. Let this go on long enough and you will eventually quit.
On the contrary, if you believe that you can and will become a great player, the opposite happens. You will have a much easier time staying motivated. You will find that challenges are easily met head on and with strength, determination, and that they are easier to overcome than they would be if you had a negative mindset. You will find that even when you have a particularly difficult challenge ahead of you, you do not have a looming sense of defeat. You know you will overcome every challenge and become a great player.
Mindset is perhaps the one ingredient that sets great players apart from those who just achieve a little, but no more. The most “talented” people in the world did not achieve greatness through luck or because they were born that way. They knew they would achieve greatness and they worked at it every day, day after day, week after week, month after month until they achieved what they had set out to do.
In order to develop this mindset, you have to think contrary to the way most people think and sometimes contrary to your own experience. You have to take on a long term outlook in your mind. If you practice effectively day after day for 5 years, what kind of guitar player will you become? This will carry you further than thinking you can become great overnight, only to become frustrated that it is taking time to develop your skills.
You also have to believe that even the most difficult challenges you face will be easy eventually. For example, if you’ve never learned sweep picking, you’re probably going to experience some difficulty at first. You cannot dwell this. You need to tell yourself that sweep picking is going to be easy and that you will overcome the difficulty. Remember, unless you’re a total beginner with zero experience, you’ve done this before. For most people, guitar does not come naturally and easily. You’ve overcome challenges in the past and you will overcome this challenge as well.
Be relentless in the pursuit of your goals. That is what you need. Whether it’s shredding up and down the fretboard at 1,000 notes a minute or being a great rhythm player, pursue it with everything you’ve got and believe you will be rewarded. Believe you will be great.
If you do, you will be rewarded. Click the link below to request a free trial lesson