Subject: Guitar Resolutions or New Habits?
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Well, it's that time of year again. Time to lay out plans to change things in your life for the better.This is the time when everyone resolves to lose weight, to exercise more, to practice their guitar everyday, to spend more time with family, to tell their special someone they love them every day. There is something about this time of year that most people naturally feel a compulsion to reboot, start over, and attempt to create lasting change in their lives. It could be the cyclical nature of the seasons, or simply the annual pressure of society that tells us it's time for a restart. Whatever it is, we learn it very early in our lives, and every year we stubbornly attempt to make our new resolutions stick for more than a week after January 1. Hey, I'm no different. I feel the draw to a fresh start as much as anyone. In fact, this time of year usually finds me reflecting on all the things I've screwed up over the past twelve months. Was there anything I succeeded at? What can I do to make 2014 better than 2013 was? Truth is, I'm both frustrated and excited over the prospect of starting a new year. I do feel like it's a fresh start - that I can remake myself, mend some fences, make new friends, right some wrongs. The frustrating thing about starting a new year is I am going to have to make some internal changes to really make 2014 a great year. I would suspect you can relate to that to some extent. Here's the challenge. Anything can be changed - in an instant. OK, maybe a physical change isn't instantaneous (like losing 10 pounds), but the thoughts about weight can change in a split second. You can go from just thinking you should lose the weight to a definite "I'm losing the weight this time" proclamation. The problem lies in the execution of a plan after that mind shift. Assuming you have a plan... The fact of the matter is, you can have the greatest, most well-laid out plan in the world, but if you never take the first step to execute that plan, there will not be a change. You have to take daily action on your plan. And this is where today's real message begins. Action become automatic when you establish a habit. Turning an action into a habit becomes the challenge that we need to step up to and fight until we win. Here's the deal. It stands to reason that when you can turn an action into a habit, you have increased the possibility of success in achieving whatever goal you attach to that habit. Now I'm no expert on creating habits or being 100% consistent in achieving my goals, but I do know that if I don't even try, I'll never achieve anything worthwhile. I've learned over time (and many, many face-plants), the main key to succeeding is to get up when you've fallen down. And I'm stubborn that way. I keep getting back up after I've fallen (or been knocked) down. I guess it's because I can't allow myself to believe that my dreams and goals are unreachable. I keep going despite my failures and setbacks. Because there is more to life than the place I'm standing right now. I know there is more opportunity and a better life experience than what I have now. Don't get me wrong - I'm not in a bad pace by any stretch of the imagination. I have a great family situation. I love my wife and kids more each day. We have a comfortable life. But I know I can do more. I know I can be more - that I'm not living up to my potential. The work I do in my job is not fulfilling and it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't make anyone's life any better by me going into work (other than supporting our lifestyle), and to me that is a life wasted. With music I get a different sense - that I can enhance others lives by helping them learn about and create music. Not only do I get a sense of fulfillment, but I feel like I am contributing something to the world that no one else could contribute. That it is my unique stamp and if I don't put it out there, potentially everyone loses. The same goes for you. You add a unique 'spice' to life that no other person could provide. If you don't share that with the world, everyone loses. When you share something you are passionate about, there's no way of knowing how your contribution will help or inspire someone else to create their unique gift. To me that is the coolest reason to share. When it comes to playing guitar, most people have a hard time creating a consistent habit that allows them to become the guitarist they want to be. With this in mind, I'd like to help you start a new habit surrounding guitar. My thought is we find 5 minutes every day to invest with our guitars. 5 minutes is not a huge commitment and yet, by taking that small amount of time consistently, we create a habit of at least picking up our guitar. If you're anything like me, five minutes can easily turn into 15 minutes. Or a half hour... Here are more ideas for making habits stick. I will give you an assignment every day for five minutes with your guitar. An assignment could be as simple as picking up you guitar and just holding it - running your hand over the fingerboard to get the feel of the instrument in you hands. Or I may give a timed exercise to improve your timing. You can decide to continue on after the five minutes, or you could stop, but you will get into the habit of doing something guitar related every day. That is the main goal of these exercises. From that you should feel the desire to play grow inside you and you'll learn how to carve out more time for your guitar. What do you think? Is this something you would find beneficial? Let me know. Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". 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