Motivation and important practice tips

"If you are looking for motivation, or inspiration, change something." It doesn't matter what.

Well, first and foremost, I was in a terrible rut recently, for weeks. I had no desire at all to play guitar and was somewhat depressed and what now, but it has come back and I am loving to practice yet again. I have also killed my facebook addiction which probably had a huge impact on my practicing habits.

A big part of practicing and learning is also not practicing and de-learning. When you are learning/practicing something, your subconscious mind absorbs EVERYTHING you are doing, whether or not it is correct or incorrect. As a result it is important to do things slowly and do the best of your ability so that you learn more correct than incorrect. Regardless of how well you practice, you will learn both good and bad. That is why it is good to stop practicing at times. You need to give your mind a chance to absorb what you have learned and sort through what is good and bad. Your mind will also lose the bad habits, aka de-learning, which will in effect make you much better at what you do. I have experienced this many times and continue to do. It is also a good way to break through plateaus.


Another subject I would like to touch upon is standards. So many times I have been criticized that my standards are too high, and that goes for pretty much anything I do. First things first, if I did not have high standards, I would never be anything "special" and I would just fit another common mold like everyone else. The obvious benefits of high standards is for self improvement. The harder you judge yourself, the harder you will push yourself. Standards are the foundation to goals. Holding high standards is also how prized objects gain more significance. The higher your goal, the harder it is to obtain, the more you will have obtained by the time you reach it. It is the difference between reaching 100% and 50%. It will be quicker to reach 50%, but 50% really isn't a large value. It will take a very long time to reach 100% and that encompasses everything that you want. Which is more worth it? Well for some it might be the 50%, but not for me. Upwards towards 100% is where I lie, that is what I shoot for, that is what makes my self as well as the things I obtain unique.

uninspiration

I have gone through and am still going through a long period where nothing is inspiring me. I am not sure what to do about it. I asked Ken the librarian and he suggested to change something. That sounds right, but what should I change? I need to get my ambitious self back. Metaphorically i see myself on this huge ocean or sea with stepping stones in front of me and I am slowly walking across the stones. It is very clouded and i can not see ahead of me. There is an impenetrable mist. I am starting to write a lot more. I have been foolin around with short stories. I seem to have something in my head that I want to get out in words, perhaps what my music is not explaining. Not imagery, but more concrete situations, themes, and descriptions. I have been leaning towards combining the two to make my work even more dimensional. I haven't practiced guitar in a long while, I have barely been playing and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Perhaps I just needed a break from it. I really don't know how to account for these periods in which I don't want to play.