Hard to establish a practice routine

[the-old-coach]

Kinga-

Wow, this is a big subject- LOTS of ways to think about this, and LOTS of threads on this subject– search around here in the Forum– you just may find exactly what you’re looking for in someone else’s thread…….

My own thought is to go back to the start. Re-read your own Profile and GOALS that you posted the day you signed up for TAC. Get all that straight in your head– ****exactly**** what you want to accomplish in the LONG run.

I bet you probably started in TAC with those clear ambitions and goals in your head.

1. Go back and find them. Like a giant “reset button”.

2. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else– including YOURSELF and “where you THINK you should be by now”.

3. Give yourself a break on this– learning guitar is difficult….. Forget about big-guitar-things happening overnight. Enjoy that fact. The best parts of the old movie “Vacation”– BY FAR– where the adventures while DRIVING TO WallyWorld…….. not when they GOT THERE. Enjoy the trip!

4. Always– ALWAYS– have fun with this.

theoldcoach

[MisterBee]

Kinga,

I concur with The-Old-Coach’s advice.

I am studying human behavior in my master’s program in education. Self-beliefs influence our motivation and volition (taking action) more than anything else (Hoffman, 2017). For example, to overcome the obstacle of self-doubt, you need to believe in yourself that you are a competent learner of the guitar. Yes, sometimes it can be frustrating to learn, but all skills take time to develop through deliberate effort and purposeful practice. This infers you need to allow yourself to learn and believe in your ability to succeed. As Tony says, “small wins” makes progress. Your self-confidence makes the difference between success and failure (Hoffman’s Belief Hack, 2017). Motivation is depletable if you do not pursue your goals relentlessly. As my mentor, Dr. Bobby Hoffman points out, “breaks are essential for optimal results” (Hoffman, 2017, p. 97).

I am not here to sell Dr. Hoffman’s book, Hack Your Motivation, but it is an excellent resource for teaching habits or the mind that produce success, as he points out. Go on YouTube, type in Hack Your Motivation, and watch him being interviewed by a colleague about his book. YouTube videos are free, so there is nothing to lose. I am a firm believer in his Rest Stop Hack – Motivation is depletable, breaks are essential to optimal results. The more time passes when you are frustrated in your learning, the more likely your motivation and volition depletes your beliefs in your ability to regulate your behavior to learn, and the more likely you will lose your motivation. The best advice from The-Old-Coach is do not compare yourself to others because we all learn at different rates. Take a break for a few days from playing, do something else you enjoy, then come back to playing the guitar in small increments to earn those small wins. As Dr. Hoffman writes, “Even God rested on the seventh day, and you should too” (Hoffman, 2017, P. 99).

Kinga, please read my profile for inspiration. The Beliefs Hack and Rest Stop Hack work if you are open to new experiences in self-regulation learning.

MisterBee

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  MisterBee.

[Kitman]

Hi @Kinga ,

You seem to feel stuck. The above comments provide great guidance. I will offer another thought or idea. It comes in the form aid a question you ask your self: “what is the one thing I can to such that by doing it all other things become unnecessary or easier. (Note: giving credit to a book called “The One Thing” and its authors. Note 2: I am not advocating for this book, only sharing a helpful practice). Apply this question to establishing and keeping your guitar routine. Be as specific and as focused as possible with your answer. After you answer the question focus your energy of solving that one thing letting all other related things idle at the moment. Once you have solved that “one thing” then repeat the exercise and find a new “one thing”.

A second idea: every day take the first step in implementing your guitar routine. For example it might be “getting the guitar out of the case”. That’s it. Do that every day and sooner or later you will conclude “well it is out of the case and right there – I might as well okay it”!

All the best to you in your guitar journey, Kinga! Have fun!

[the-old-coach]

Nailed it…….

[jumpinjeff]

Hi @Kinga I am really liking all the things I am reading in the topic you started.

There is a little trick I learned from Tony P: Find something that you do every day (for me it was getting up outta bed in the morning) tie your 10 minute guitar playing session to that existing habit. Maybe for you it is a cup of coffee in the morning, or brushing you teeth at night or whatever, you get my drift. Own your choice of whether or not you have played on a given day and if you miss, understand you have bigger things going on. That is a good thing, right? By working your playing time into an existing habit you will not miss on account of oversight. Which gets to that last thing: analysis. Don’t worry about the missed times. Get fired up about today’s session. Take a look at yesterday. Was it a good session or did it get skipped. if skipped why? It is in the answer to “why” where the door to consistency is unlocked.

[the-old-coach]

Again……..Nailed it…….

[jonboyle1]

Here is something you might want to read, might help. Written by a guy just like us who keeps getting discouraged. It’s called Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus, full of good stuff about the science behind how our mind works through music. He started at 40 years old, not a musical bone in his body.

[MisterBee]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the tip on the book, Guitar Zero. I just ordered it on Amazon.

Marcus’ argument parallels what I wrote in my response about motivational and volition behaviors that are necessary for self-regulated or self-directed learning.

I am studying cognitive learning theory, which is the direction that Marcus’ argument takes. I look forward to reading the book after I graduate in May.

Thumbs Up to Jon for suggesting this reference resource👍.

Alan

[jonboyle1]

Glad to help, the book motivated me so it’s a good resource if you keep an open mind

[Kitman]

Hi @Kinga – wondering if any of this advice rang home for you?

[Kinga]

HI all… Kitman… in answer yes, it does ring true to me, particularly trying to tie my practise to a regular habit. The last few days I have tied it to when I just get home from my morning run. The problem is, I’ve then taken 1 hour to practice the guitar and I have to get into work at that time. 10 mins of practice a day doesn’t really give me much time. I’m thinking of changing it to the night …. but I often feel tired at night and that is an obstacle to practising. Thanks heaps for all your tips though.

[David_Leo]

Wow, lots of good, well reasoned responses. To be fair, many TACers are retirees. The fact that you are still working does complicates things. I empathize completely. That said I can tell you what works for me. There’s a 1/2 hour show on TV that my wife enjoys and I don’t. So that’s when I target my practice session. Sometimes I go 20 min, sometimes 45. Hope this helps.

[MisterBee]

Kinga,

I am a Pateron member of David Benedict Mandolin. Here is an interesting video David recorded two years ago entitled, How to Make Your Practice MORE PRODUCTIVE.

Although David set a goal to engage in deliberate effort and purposeful practice for two hours per day as a professional musician, he lays out a routine to follow that is applicable to amateur musicians like us.

I hope you and everyone on the forum find this resource to be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9EaAl_5TBQ

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  MisterBee.

[OhWowMan]

Hi @Kinga

I am now into my 2nd year of TAC. As I was nearing the end of my first year of membership, I thought about quitting. I extended my membership another year, in part because I was set-up for auto renew and I didn’t make the necessary changes to my account.

Over the past 16 months, I’ve learned a few licks, had some fun, and shown a little improvement. Give me a pat on the back for that. Tony would call that a win, for sure. But, many times I have struggled, felt lost and became confused. When I have struggled, had questions or needed assistance, it would have been nice to turn to the instructor @Tpolecastro for specific answers. Unfortunately, that’s not possible. Tony doesn’t offer one-on-one guidance, does he?

There’s nowhere to go for support, except to ask for help from fellow TAC members. It’s wonderful that fellow students are willing to help and offer opinions. But, often I have found that opinions vary, issues remain, and as a result, I remain stymied.

I’m thinking of adding one-on-one instruction from a local in-person teacher as a way to supplement my TAC membership and help me along my guitar journey. I dunno… I’m still trying to figure it all out.

There’s value to my TAC membership. I’ll continue. But, something’s missing. That’s my two cents worth.

Best wishes to you, and good luck!

[the-old-coach]

We were recently in Tampa, Florida.

While walking around downtown, we came across a big cast-bronze marker commemorating a Jimi Hendrix concert at that exact location in 1968.

Toward the bottom is a Hendrix quote- (in larger letters)-

“Find yourself first

And then your talent

Work hard in your mind

So it can come alive”

Maybe this doesn’t apply to this thread…….. or does it…….?

Go back to the beginning.

The windshield in your car is WAY bigger than the rear-view mirror– but you still need to glance there once in a while.

theoldcoach

[MisterBee]

I would not be surprised if Tony has a staff member monitoring these forums. Perhaps he might surprise us and post some advice. Meanwhile, it helps for us to fuel our motivation to learn by sharing our knowledge and experiences in pursuing our own guitar journey.

[MisterBee]

Kinga,

Here is a video on self-motivation through discipline that applies to setting goals in your musical life. The principle of goal attainment requires being able to self-regulate or control the factors influencing your learning so you will excel at applying deliberate effort and purposeful practice to playing any instrument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvKeHz9OyV8

I hope you and everyone on this forum enjoy David’s advice.

[Carol-3M-Stillhand]

@Kinga Wow what a great question, and there are some wonderful suggestions here already!! I would add one thing: Have you tried attending one of Tony P.’s 90 Day Progress Parties? That is one of the things that he emphasizes there (in person), which is how to cultivate your daily practice habit. You can raise your “virtual hand” and ask any of your specific questions and issues directly to Tony P right there in the Zoom party.

Also a good idea to try is to use your egg timer and just set it for 5-10 minutes for your daily practice goal. Attach your practice time to another habit you do daily like brushing your teeth. So every time you brush your teeth, grab your guitar and do 5 minutes of practice. Just don’t do both at once, haha. Almost everyone can find 5 minutes a day to practice. And if you are in a crunch for time, a practice log with daily “assignments” that you fill in for yourself ahead of time will help you find some instant focus each day. (This is where the daily TAC lessons come in handy as well but as long as you are practicing every day even for just 5-10 minutes)