Subject: How Steve Vai Created His Success
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Hope you've had a good week!There was an interview recently with Steve Vai on Musicradar.com. In the article, Mr. Vai was imparting some wisdom to guitar players. Not really unexpected, since Steve is a prolific guitar player. But he is also highly successful in his professional career. What I found particularly interesting was the wisdom itself. You would expect him to extoll the virtues of diligent practice or suggest you learn the ins-and-outs of all the scales. You'd be grateful for his direction on the best ways to record your guitar or cleaning up your picking technique. What you probably wouldn't expect is a schooling on the philosophy of success, not just applied to a music career, but to anything you might expect to achieve during your time riding this roller coaster called life. Secrets of Success Here are his five suggestions:
These points can really be applied to any career. However, one of them specifically jumped out at me as a piece of advice you won't hear very often. Let's focus in on the first bullet, "Identify the way you feel about what you're doing." This is not a typical "Tips for success" suggestion. On the surface it might seem a bit mundane... "Think about what you're feeling." For most people, thinking about what you're feeling means simply acknowledging that there's some emotion tied to the thought. For example, you might be learning how to play a certain chord - let's say it's the B minor barre chord. You try to play a B minor chord for the first time and instantly realize this chord is harder to play than most other chords. You think to yourself "Hey, this is tough." You struggle with it for a few more minutes and begin to feel like you can't play this chord - or barre chords in general. At this point many folks will drop barre chords and simply play open chords. They feel like they'll never be able to play a barre chord, so why even try anymore. It doesn't take too many other struggles like this to convince them that guitar isn't for them. The feeling that something is difficult makes you think you can't do it, and eventually leads to quitting that activity. The feeling led to a thought, which led an action: This is hard => too hard for me => I quit. Learn From the Master... So here's the process Steve is talking about:
The way you feel will determine what what thoughts you'll have and the kind of action you're going to take. Feeling excited about something? You're going to jump into it and soak up every bit of information you can. You're going to work at it and continually improve your skills. If you're not feeling particularly good about something, you have to get in touch with those initial feelings to see how they're affecting the final outcome. Why are you feeling that way? If you tweaked the thoughts from that feeling into something more positive or constructive, how will that improve your willingness to act? When you think something sucks, you're not really interested in doing it, are you? You've got to think about this stuff because it will affect where you end up. Once you've identified those thoughts, you c an then change them - re-frame the thoughts into something usable that will reinforce where you want to go and what you want to do. Like he says in the article, most people don't do this. We have fleeting thoughts and dismiss them without taking any time to analyze those thoughts. We're usually distracted away from investing the time to think. This tip is about discipline. Not just the discipline to do the mechanical work that guitar requires. It's also having the discipline to pay attention to your thoughts and feelings and to adjust those thoughts when they are not serving you. Fixing negative thoughts will lead to better feelings. Better feelings will lead to more and better actions. Homework Here's an exercise for you. Think about a challenge you have right now. Got one? Okay, now with that challenge in mind, how do you feel about it? I'm excited, I don't want to do it, makes me queasy - you get the idea. Once you've analyzed how you feel about this challenge, what kind of thoughts do you have about it? If you believe (think) that you're going to succeed, excellent! However, if those original feelings were negative and you think you're going to fail, what do you think the outcome will be? Now consider how you can change your feelings about this challenge. Why are the feelings negative? Are you thinking about the discomfort of doing the work or confronting someone about a huge issue? Maybe you can break it down into smaller, less complex components that feel less intimidating? Is there a different approach to the challenge that makes you think you could succeed? The goal of this exercise is to get you to take a small amount of time to actually stop and think about what's going on inside your gut and your head. At the end of the day your brain will guide your body to take actions through the guidance of your thoughts. You can choose to be aware of where your brain is leading you, or you can leave it on autopilot and let random feelings, thoughts and actions take you through life. The more you direct your actions through control of your feelings and conscious thought, the higher the likelihood you will live the type of life you want to live. Or you can continue to just roll with whatever comes along (in your brain and the resulting action you take). Your choice... But one way you'll make the life you want happen. The other life will just happen to you. Food for thought... Peace~ Dave P.S. Read the entire article with Steve Vai here @ Musicradar.com. Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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