Here’s What Happens:

Inspired!

I've had a peak experience. I want to be the music. I want the music to flow through me. I want to express myself. I'm really excited!

So I look for guidance somewhere. Maybe I'm finding a teacher, maybe finding something online. And you start that learning journey.

Start learning. Start doing some practice. And the momentum continues for a little while. And then it starts to slow down a little bit…and slow down a little bit…and slow down a bit more.

And then.... crickets.

You've lost motivation. You've lost inspiration.

And these kinds of thoughts come up:

“It's not fun anymore.”

“I'm scared that I'm losing the joy that I had at the start.”

“I feel really self-conscious now, like I'm aware of everything"

"I'm not getting into the flow of the joy of it anymore.”

Resistance sets in. Procrastination sets in. Disillusionment, disappointment.

Doubts about: “Is this really for me? Was that inspiration I had at the start real?"

We hit a wall!

Check out the video below to watch and listen more.

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If you would like a super efficient practice to help you bust through procrastination and lack of motivation in your music practice, you can get the Free Micro Music Practice Cheatsheet here

Trust me, I've been through it myself.

Almost everybody I've ever taught has been through a similar phase. It might be at the start of the journey. It might be a little way in, and it can actually be at many different points. But at some point, we all go through this process of disillusionment.

I want to set the record straight here.

This is not about you and whether or not you should be doing music or whether you have what it takes. More than likely, it also doesn't have to do with your teacher (although it might partly, because there are better and not-so-better music teachers out there.)

But I've seen this so often throughout my teaching career that I think it's really worth speaking to what's usually at the root of this. 

When we have this experience that I just described before – feeling the inspiration and then slowly hitting a wall and getting resistant and procrastinating and disillusioned and disappointed, there are two kinds of conflicting things going on. I want to illuminate that for you.

What Do You Want From Music?

Firstly, there's what we want from music, the inspiration, which is what I was talking about. It's those peak experiences.

It's all the fun, joy, beauty, connection, meaning and expression that we know is possible through music. And these are the reasons why we feel inspired to learn music.

What is Music Asking of You?

And then there is what music is asking of us when we start that learning journey. Because when we're learning music, we're not just learning music, we're learning all kinds of other things.

And music itself will show us things. It will teach us things that are about our humanity, about ourselves, about our personal journey through life.

The universal things that music is asking of every one of us is to be compassionate with ourselves, to be patient with the process of learning, to be forgiving of ourselves, and also the process of learning to stay open, to stay curious, and to bring all of our awareness to the process of learning.

All too often, one of the main issues is the expectations that we have of ourselves, of music, of the process of learning. These conflict with the reality of what is actually being required of us, and also what are the opportunities within the music practice to learn things beyond the music.

Another really common issue which has to do with our levels of self-esteem and self-worth, is that if things don't go really smoothly all the time, we start to think that it's us.

We start to allow self-doubt to come in, to think things like:

“I'm not cut out for this”

“I'm not musical”

“I'm not talented”

“This is too hard”.

This happens because we don't have experience with the learning process of music yet.

We don't have that benefit of hindsight to understand what the process actually entails and that it is a process that we can trust and continue to invest ourselves in and see the rewards over time. Not only do we see rewards over time, but we also have an opportunity to learn how to find the beauty in every moment at the same time.

So I want to share with you just some ways to think about this experience and to navigate it for yourself so you don't allow it to stop you, to discourage you, to put you off or abandon the journey altogether.

Stay Connected to Inspiration

The first thing is that we do need ways to stay connected to the inspiration of why we want to learn music in the first place.

I've explained this many times, and I find myself repeating myself, but it's really important to know what those peak experiences are. These peak experiences give us that core drive. They give us that illumination, and that helps us to see what's possible in music. It's always what drives our inspiration to start learning or to continue learning, or to go onto the next stage of our journey. There are few ways we can stay connected to this.

First of all, we can just write about it.

If you have a music journal, it's a really great tool, but just a regular notebook or anything where you keep notes and just write about that inspiration. Write about those peak experience moments and see if you can define exactly what is the feeling that you want to experience in music. Keep that in an accessible place so that you can just refer back to that and reflect on that at stages throughout the journey.

You can also create affirmations. I call these “true affirmations”, just statements that you can affirm to yourself that you know are true.

It could be something about that peak experience. Like “I want to experience flow in music”, or “I want to experience self-expression in music”, whatever it might be. Just simple statements that help you reconnect to exactly why you want to be doing this.

You can also stay connected to the inspiration through intentions.

This is about making statements - similar to affirmations - but they have a slightly different kind of angle on them. An intention is really what you intend to experience in this practice session, in your musical growth over the next few months, or that ultimate goal that you're heading for.

Show Up to the Work

The second thing that is absolutely essential and cannot be avoided is to show up to the work.

It's really important that we don't do it in a way that's whipping ourselves or being too harsh, but showing up with curiosity, with fascination, with patience and compassion for ourselves, and with an intention to find the beauty in every stage of learning.

There is always beauty and pleasure to be found in the sound itself, and it's up to us to create the mindset and the intention to approach music practice in this way.

Another way to show that compassion to self and create a kind process is to create frequent small wins. A great way to do this is through micro practice.

If you want to get a free resource on how to use micro practices, you can find that here.

There is just no way around doing the skill building work that music requires of us. Sorry.

But, we can create a process and a container for doing that skill building work that is kind, forgiving and patient. And, we can bring as much curiosity and fascination with what music is and what makes up this sound as we possibly can.

I know for a fact that what has sustained me and many, many other musicians through the process of developing skill to a high level is just a pure and simple fascination with music itself, and that thirst to understand more deeply so that the ability to express, the ability to experience joy, the ability to remain inspired, the ability to tap into musical flow becomes more and more profound.

Music requires us to expand beyond limits.

It requires us to manage our expectations.

And it requires us to stay curious, present, and create a practice structure that responds to all the different parts of us that show up in music, the physicality, our thoughts, and our mental dimension, our emotions and our spiritual realms.

And, it's really important to remember that when you are developing musical skills, you are literally hardwiring your nervous system. That is not an understatement!

You are literally wiring pathways through your brain and into your body!

That takes time.

You need to be patient and you need to show up to the work in a way that feels good to you, that feels compassionate. And if you're being too hard on yourself, here is an opportunity for you to learn to be kinder.

Look for those small wins.

Find beauty wherever you can.

Always stay connected to your fascination and your curiosity about music.

Create some true intentions and affirmations that feel good and right to you that you can connect with and come back to frequently enough that momentum can just keep on pushing you forward through your music journey and pushing you through those challenges and keeping you on track.

Love the sounds you make. Always practice the beauty of sound and stay curious.

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I'd love to hear about any aspect of your music journey you'd like to share. And please share if you've found any specific strategies or tips or tools that have helped you break through these moments of deep motivation or disillusionment and resistance in your music practice.

Until next time!