Motivation Issues

beaker
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Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:33 pm

When I am too tired to practice or just want to look for inspiration, I just tune in You Tube and watch the many great guitar players that are on there. I have discovered many that are new to me. Also for motivation I just think long term, how will I be playing in 5 years? 10 years? if I can manage to stick with it. To me dreaming like that keeps me inspired. Beaker.


AndyT
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:19 am

It's been a while since I opened this thread, and things have changed at work, but then some things never change.
I've taken much of the advice listed above and worked it into my 'style of Teaching' and have had good results, mostly.

Now, I'd like to ask all of you to put this question to yourselves. Since you've been a member here, what has motivated you into more practice?


willem
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:52 am

AndyT wrote:
It's been a while since I opened this thread, and things have changed at work, but then some things never change.
I've taken much of the advice listed above and worked it into my 'style of Teaching' and have had good results, mostly.

Now, I'd like to ask all of you to put this question to yourselves. Since you've been a member here, what has motivated you into more practice?


SONGS..,,, but I lose all control on which and then many member uploads inspired me to go on the song they upload,,next year,, well you know and i mean it...more whole songs..


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neverfoundthetime
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:10 am

My biggest motivational force is the determination to perfect a particular song I really want to be able to sing and play.
By now, I have realised that nothing is beyond me if I really want to learn it.


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daryl
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:20 am

neverfoundthetime wrote:
....By now, I have realised that nothing is beyond me if I really want to learn it.
I've always believed that anyone can do anything given enough time.


tombo1230
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:24 am

I don't think this has been mentioned, sorry if it has and I have missed it......... Accountability.......When you post your videos to Neil for critique or into the forum, or make arrangements to collaborate with friends, you are making yourself accountable to others. You don't want to let them or yourself down. This along with short and long term realistic goal setting and community encouragement is probably what does it for most of us on this forum, powerful stuff indeed!

So Andy, the lessons have to be fun with realistic goals, short and long. playing songs they enjoy and having specific targets with some accountability, but in a gentle way.

In sport there is no greater motivator than having an event to train for that you want to win or get a personal best in. This can be a motivator, lifting you to new heights. This equates in musical terms to a concert or some other maybe smaller less intimidating event, to fire them up, or bring the best out of your students, or at least to give them something to aim for. Tailor this to their skill level and needs.

That's my tuppence worth. :)

Tom N.


tombo1230
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:33 am

daryl wrote:
neverfoundthetime wrote:
....By now, I have realised that nothing is beyond me if I really want to learn it.
I've always believed that anyone can do anything given enough time.
Chris and Daryl, you both have self belief from experience. A good coach, teacher, motivates his students into this same self belief and having this self belief rooted in your subconscious mind allows you to achieve. The opposite side of the coin is when someone is constantly told they are no good or stupid or some other negative is re-enforced, eventually they are programmed to believe that this is true and they fail because deep down they believe it.

Tom N.


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neverfoundthetime
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:49 am

That is very true Tom. What we believe about ourselves becomes our reality to a very large extent.
To counter-act negative self belief, I get people to adopt a try-it-and-see approach and to challenge themselves at every barrier: just keep going, how far can you go. And then try again, how far this time. Once you have experienced that its your own mind saying no, you can get used to challenging it and moving beyond any previous limit.

The mind attached to the ego is very much out to prove it is right in all circumstances and it will oversee evidence to the contrary but always pick up on any crumb which confirms its own position. that's the natural mechanism in play. But once you have seen it in play, you can choose to think differently and over-ride or better still, use the mechanism you now understand, to work for you. So maybe the best way to challenge yourself is to say, "Why not?!" and then take steps to see if your arm really does fall off when you try to play that riff. When your arm doesn't fall off (shock, scandal, probe) you have another go and after a while you can play the bugger after all! Then you have been rumbled and the sky is the limit. ;-)

PS: There have been experiments done where people are asked to role-play being pilots. They are then administered a disguised sight test which they perform better at than in a real sigh test not role-playing a pilot! How we perceive ourselves does have much to do with how we behave and perceive the world.


tombo1230
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:39 am

neverfoundthetime wrote:
That is very true Tom. What we believe about ourselves becomes our reality to a very large extent.
To counter-act negative self belief, I get people to adopt a try-it-and-see approach and to challenge themselves at every barrier: just keep going, how far can you go. And then try again, how far this time. Once you have experienced that its your own mind saying no, you can get used to challenging it and moving beyond any previous limit.

The mind attached to the ego is very much out to prove it is right in all circumstances and it will oversee evidence to the contrary but always pick up on any crumb which confirms its own position. that's the natural mechanism in play. But once you have seen it in play, you can choose to think differently and over-ride or better still, use the mechanism you now understand, to work for you. So maybe the best way to challenge yourself is to say, "Why not?!" and then take steps to see if your arm really does fall off when you try to play that riff. When your arm doesn't fall off (shock, scandal, probe) you have another go and after a while you can play the bugger after all! Then you have been rumbled and the sky is the limit. ;-)

PS: There have been experiments done where people are asked to role-play being pilots. They are then administered a disguised sight test which they perform better at than in a real sigh test not role-playing a pilot! How we perceive ourselves does have much to with how we behave and perceive the world.
A lot of interesting ideas there Chris and very true.

Going back to what some athletes do, they sometimes dream of achieving a specific goal, that they have actually scored that goal that wins the cup final, or they see themselves picking up that gold medal. This form of seeing or dreaming or visualising your goal has actually happened, is a way of fooling your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind unlike your conscious mind, only works on a positive or negative level. It doesn't relate to 'I will try or I might......It latches onto I can do, or better still 'I have done'. It also can be taught 'I can't do'. This is why re-enforcing the positive negates negative thought. :blink: :)

A fascinating subject indeed.

Tom N.


tombo1230
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Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:08 am

"The mind attached to the ego is very much out to prove it is right in all circumstances and it will oversee evidence to the contrary but always pick up on any crumb which confirms its own position."

If only the world would read and understand the above statement!

I once dated a woman whose brother was a very good guitar player and singer. She said he would be better if not for their mom. She took his guitar away and made him eat, sleep, bathe, study and go to school. Bear hit it: Motivation comes from the fire in the gut.

I am motivated by aggravation. It gripes me that others do things so easily that I can't do at all.

Sam


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