Since I lost my guitar instructor after only a few weeks, my goal is to move on from where I was:   working on stretching my hand, practicing warm-ups, and a few chords he gave me to work on.  I want to play (not practice) every day and feel like I accomplished a small step to a bigger goal, and I want to enjoy the ride.  Before working with the instructor, I had already started teaching myself with the help of a book and got through the first book and about halfway through the second when I could not do the chords.  My hand would not stretch over the neck. My instructor helped me too understand that my problems are common and with time and practice I would get it.