I never thought learning to play the guitar could lead me to a crisis. Okay, let me tell you how exactly I was in a crisis and how I managed to get out of it in the end.Three months ago, I was offered a gig in one of my college events. Back then, I was just starting out and I had 2 months’ time to prepare. It got me excited and tensed at the same time and so I started practicing very hard every day.
Alas, I was blinded by passion; I stretched myself way beyond limits and took monumental steps at once instead of going slow; after all I had just 2 months’ time.
What happened? My wrist gave in. It was pretty bad (RSI) and my doc told me I would not be able to play for at least a month or else I would risk aggravating the pain to even severe complications.
Fast forward a month and a half and only 15 odd days were left and I wasn’t even good at the basics yet. My confidence hit an all-time low. I couldn’t give up the opportunity, it was too late! I was in a real crisis.
“Let’s do this”, “Deal with it”, “You can do it…” I was telling myself constantly.
It was always my passion to do a gig and in front of my college guys? I mean, come on that would make me the coolest guy among the lot (LOL!)
Without further ado, here’s what happened in those 15 days;
Lucid Dreaming
I envisioned myself doing it. Rocking hard and driving the crowd crazy and who’d be behind all that? Me and my band.
Whoa, that just boosted my confidence a lot, kicked up the adrenaline in me and I enjoyed practice like never before. Fear? It was scared to fight my renewed confidence.
Trust Your Friends
I just cannot thank my band for the support they’ve shown. They sat through my practice sessions, tolerating my slow pace. They never showed any fear on their faces, we smiled and laughed and that just makes you feel so good that you forget your shortcomings and work confidently.
Know Your Limits
This was my biggest mistake; I just tried too hard and made a mess of it.
I realized I had to start slow and work myself up steadily.
I started taking baby steps and progressed gradually. When you do that, you’ll know that you’re progressing at the right speed, learning new moves and that just lifts your confidence to a new high.
Work Your Butt Off
It’s important to know your limits but you gotta work your butt off within those limits. I mean, I just had 15 days left and I had to push myself. When you have rigid and unchangeable deadlines, the best in you comes out inevitably and that will push your confidence levels higher.
Shrug off the Laziness
Laziness is the worst confidence killer. It is much easier for laziness to build over laziness than confidence over confidence. Shrug it off before it’s too late. Luckily for me, my friends made sure I nipped it in the bud.
Patience is a Must
The moment you lose your temper, you’ll blow up things. No matter what we do, mistakes are inevitable. So if you’re just starting out or making too many mistakes, be patient with yourself and learn to correct them slowly but don’t give up altogether.
Self-Belief
This is what determines success or failure.
Many people told me to pass the opportunity as ‘they’ thought I just didn’t have much time. Nope, I realized my limits and I believed in myself and I just went with my gut. I assigned myself the amount of work I had to do everyday and stuck with it till the end.
It was the day of the event and things couldn’t have gone any better. I was surprised with how calm and composed I was, doing my thing. After all, it was just a few riffs, some chord progressions, pentatonic scales and … ah nevermind.
Of course I gotta give it to my friends, they were a great help and I can honestly say I couldn’t have done it without their support. All is well, that ends well.
I rest my case.
Your thoughts?
Have you ever been in such a crisis? Before that, Let me know this - Has confidence always been a problem with you? Has laziness taken over your spirit to chase your passions? Let me know!
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Who's Managing This?
Hola, the name's Aditya Samitinjay. I love talking about health and lifestyle, so that is what I discuss here, Mental Health, Lifestyle, Self Development and Healthy Living. You can read the entire thing in the about page. You can also follow me here:
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