I have started reading from the site “The Art of Nonconformity,” written by Chris Guillebeau. It’s giving me lots of exhilirating and terrifying thoughts and feelings. Chris is all about the “can.” I so dig that, man, and it’s scary to think that whatever you dream of doing you can accomplish if you put your mind to it. At least it’s scary for me, because I have some big dreams, and they may very well require me to make some big changes in my life and do some things that are not exactly the most comfortable for me. More on this later.
As a quick note (for realz, yo!), two days ago on 4/6/11 I played eight chords on the guitar without looking at any sort of tablature while doing so. I also was able to identify each chord in my head as I played it, so I know how to play them and what they are as well. This is good stuff. I’ll doubtless be as good as Steve Vai within a week, for sure.
Actually, while there is some question as to the attainment of my Vai/Hendrix/Vaughan/insert-name-of-your-insanely-good-guitar-hero-here status, I can say that it is a leap for me. It proves I CAN learn to play some guitar if I put my mind to it, which is something I used to flat out deny when I was in college, and something that I questioned for many years following college. Seems I was wrong about me. How about that? Maybe there are some other things in life I thought I couldn’t do about which I may have been wrong. Just what in the heck might possibly happen if I stop believing that I’m incapable of things?
What would happen to you if you stopped thinking you were incapable of things? Career change? Taking up pottery? Learning to dance? Forming a great relationship with someone special? Getting out of debt? Running a marathon?
Feel free to list some positive thoughts on achievement in the comments section. I’d love to hear from you.
You know, Tom, I’ve been thinking about my answer to that question for a few days now, and I don’t know what my answer is. It would have to be something I wanted to do as well as felt incapable of, and mostly right now my issues are with fear of taking leaps or knowing that something will take a long time to get anywhere no matter how good at it I am. Maybe further thought will bring up things I’m too convinced are impossible to have even considered them something I might want to do, but for now I’m stumped.
It is interesting that you have been thinking about this fear of learning something new or changing your life, because I was just thinking about this myself. Zach, our amazing 7 year old, received an electric guitar for his birthday. When he took it out of the box, there was not even a question in his mind that he would have any trouble playing it. Now that he has a couple of lessons under his belt, he still has that certainty, but is equally aware that he has some work to do in order to get as good as he wants to be. The think that I find remarkable, is that he doesn’t even consider that he CANNOT be as good as he wants to be, which got me to thinking that I need to be more like my 7 year old son in that respect.