The more things you master, the faster you get better.
Posted by The Wizard Of Shred on Friday, November 15, 2013 Under: Learning Faster!
Do you have a sense that you seem to learn at a faster and faster rate as the months go by? Or does it seem like you are walking up the same steep hill all the time?
If you're not developing at a faster and faster rate, you are not creating the powerful momentum of mastery. And the change you need is a change of focus.
When there's a lot to learn, your brain naturally takes on as much as it can at one time. You end up creating a practice routine that takes you through several activities and exercises in one sitting.
You perhaps start with a warm up exercise, then go on to practicing scales, then you might practicing a picking technique or practicing soloing with a jam track in the background.
You need another focus
You need another focus
While this is the most common way of practicing it is also massively ineffective. It will keep you from creating the momentum you need in order to constantly get better faster. Here's an insight to remember:
The more small things you master, the faster you get better.
And the faster you get better, the faster you will get even better.
This is the key to exponential and explosive growth.
So here's the simple key:
Spend 80 % of your time focusing on one thing only until you master it. Then spend the remaining 20 % on other things.
Instead of practicing several things every day, focus on conquering one challenge almost all of your time. This might be learning one scale in one key across the fret board. It might be learning to play 3 notes on one string as fast as possible.
What ever it is, make it small and manageable. Make sure that you pick something you can master in a relatively short period of time. If you're a beginner it might be practicing playing the same two chords over and over again until you can make the shift between them effortlessly with your eyes closed.
You keep on focusing on this one thing until you master it - or until you are so bored with it that you have to move on to something else. You can always return to the first project later on.
Without this kind of focus you will not bring any of your skills to absolute mastery - To the point where you perform the skill with effortless precision. You will know a lot of things but master none.
Mastery is the key to explosive growth. The more things you master / that become totally easy for you to play - the faster you develop. For each tiny new skill you add to your library of skills, your engine is a little more powerful.
When you go from practicing a lot of things to practicing only one thing (almost) your development stops following a straight line. Instead you build powerful momentum that will make it look like you have an incredible talent for playing guitar.
In : Learning Faster!
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