Why your guitar playing goal is NOT helping

You decide what you want to accomplish.

You set a goal.

It might be small, like getting comfortable with G, D, Em, and C chords.

Or finally conquering barre chords.

Or understanding the guitar fretboard better.

It might be ambitious. You want to play like Clapton, Segovia, Van Halen, or another guitarist you admire most.

Unfortunately, when you think about your goal, you feel frustrated.

You’ve had this goal for a while.

But your guitar playing isn’t getting better.

Here’s the problem:

You aren’t taking daily actions that make progress toward that goal inevitable.

As James Clear, author of the book Atomic Habits, says, “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”

The system of habits you have in your life will either make accomplishing your goals inevitable or impossible.

How do you fix this problem?

By answering three questions.

1. Why?

Get clear on why your guitar playing goal is important to you.

Maybe you want to play for friends and family.

Or for your church or community organization.

Maybe you want to grow toward bigger performance opportunities.

Or you just want to keep a promise to yourself.

The important thing is to become clear on why you want to accomplish the goal.

Write down the goal AND why it’s important to you.

2. How?

Look for someone who has already achieved the goal you want.

How did they do it?

Identify one habit that led them to achieve the goal.

Maybe it was practicing every day.

Or studying great players.

Or practicing accurately before developing speed.

Write down the one habit that’s most likely to lead to your goal.

Commit to starting that habit today.

3. What?

This is when things get exciting.

Take action.

As soon as you finish reading this article, start the habit you identified.

Play guitar.

Study a great player.

Practice something accurately at a slow tempo.

Do it now.

Then schedule a time on your calendar, ideally early in the day, when you will take action on this habit each day.

This is how you start moving from a goal to a reality.

I’d love to hear what goal you’re pursuing and what habit you’re forming to make that goal inevitable.

Keep making music!