Test Your Limits and Your Beliefs

You are not an unmoving stone. Your body and mind cannot and will not always be what they are right now. They will change.

If this is true, then why assume you can't accomplish exactly what you want on your instrument? Why not believe you can play any song you'd like to play, or to write your own beautiful music?

The fact is, you must test your limits and test your beliefs. Eliminating false and negative beliefs will motivate you to keep playing and practicing. The number one reason a student stops playing music is because "it's too hard" or "too much work". If music wasn't too hard, or too much work, would you keep doing it?

How to Test Your Limits and Your Beliefs

Here are some tips on how you can change your mind about what you're capable of accomplishing.

Notice what negative beliefs you have, and what kind of limits you place on yourself: What kind of thoughts do you have that are negative? "I can't do this" and "I'm not good enough" are just two examples of thoughts you might tell yourself that simply aren't true (or at least, they don't have to be). Write them down if it makes it easier to remember them.

Here are some negative beliefs that I used to have:
- 6 notes per second is fast
- playing the intro to Thunderstruck is impossible (which is about 9 notes per second!)
- writing songs is difficult and I'll never a good song
- learning songs by ear is difficult

Ask yourself what you'd really like to do on your instrument: Now comes the fun part. Make a list of what you'd like to accomplish on your instrument. Write it down, record it on your phone or tablet, or just keep remember if you've got a good memory.

I wanted:
- to play more quickly (I'm not sure exactly how fast)
- to play Thunderstruck
- to write a good song
- to learn songs by ear whenever I felt like it

Now to start working on those goals. Here's how...

Close the gap: Sometimes students think that either can play something, or they can't. And that is true in the sense that they can either play something really well, or not. But what many students don't realize is that there is a whole range of how good or bad we are at playing something. There is a spectrum of skill and you're somewhere on it!

We "close the gap" between where we are, and where we want to be, by realizing there is this broad range of skill and ability that we can cross, on our way to musical excellence. The easiest way to close this gap? Read on...

Find a way to measure your progress, then measure it!

I just wrote a post about this, which you can read here. Basically, find a way to keep track of your progress, so you can see you're getting better, and keep your motivation and energy levels high!

I used to pretty consistently practice with a metronome, so I would know exactly how well I could play something. While I don't do that as much anymore (for various reasons), it is an effective tool and one you should use at least occasionally (especially if you want to see that you're getting faster at playing something).

Nowadays I write music, and I usually find some way to challenge myself by doing that. I record my music and track my progress by listening to how good my playing really is (I've also written about recording yourself here).

Test Your Limits, Change Yourself

There is a great musician within you. It's up to you to bring him or her out by testing your limits, and challenging your beliefs. You can do it!