Developing A Winning Mentality

By Jeff Vivrette

One thing I know to be true for every person on the planet Earth is that we all struggle with something at sometime in our life. If you are breathing air you will struggle with something someday, if you haven’t already. Struggles are perceived differently by each individual person. One person may perceive a struggle to be no big deal while another person may perceive the exact same struggle to be almost paralyzing.

One person may allow the struggle and it’s affect on them to overwhelm them and make them stop doing what they were doing that brought on the struggle in the first place just to rid themselves of the discomfort it has caused them. They make a conscious decision to put whatever it is behind them so they don’t have to deal with that situation again.

Another person may recognize the struggle and it’s affect on them. They may even allow the struggle to overwhelm them for a certain amount of time. Yet, for some reason they don’t allow the struggle and its effects on them to make them stop doing what they were doing that brought on the struggle. They make a conscious decision to stand their ground and weather the storm. They make the decision to not allow the struggle to push them too far away from the direction they want to head in and instead continue to steer themselves back on course even when the struggle seems to be getting stronger at times.

Now, for this discussion, lets assume these two people are the same age, same financial status, same health status, same responsibilities, same everything except they are living in two different bodies. Let’s assume this in order to eliminate any factors that can possibly separate them from having different circumstances that would make it easier for one over the other.

If then they are equals in every way, what is it that makes the struggle unbearable for one and not the other? I’m glad you asked that!

What sets one apart from the other is their mindset. That’s right, the way they think about whatever situation, struggle or issue their dealing with at the time will set one on a course to sail through a storm and the other on a course headed right into the rocks!

Now keep in mind, it doesn’t mean one person is going to have issues and the other won’t! What it means is that one will have developed a mindset that says “I don’t care if this is difficult for me; I’m going to keep at it until I get it. I’m going to continue to work through this thing and I’m not going to take my eye off the goal I started with. If others could do it, than so can I!”

Yet the other will have allowed a mindset to take over that says “This is just too hard. I don’t like not being able to do this thing right now and I really don’t think I am cut out for it. I know I would like to be able to do it. Others have done it but it just must have been easier for them.”

The greatest tragedy of the mindset of the second person is they were probably so much closer than they ever realized to making it through their particular struggle just at the time they decided to call it quits. If they had just hung on a little while longer they would have seen for themselves the sun was just about to rise and their struggle was about to get much easier. They would have realized they do have what it takes and they can do it. And even better, they would have been well prepared for their next struggle, knowing they just need to stand their ground and push through and soon that struggle will be defeated as well.

Guitar players go through struggles all the time. The ones that learn to develop a winning mindset, stand their ground and push through their struggles go on to achieve their goals. They become better and better and enjoy playing the guitar more and more. The ones that allow the struggles to overtake them give up on their dreams and are left with a guitar tucked away in a closet or under the bed collecting dust. They talk about how they tried to play for a while but they just weren’t cut out for it.

Which one are you going to be?

Are you going to begin developing a mindset that says “I may struggle with some things for a while but I know if I just stand my ground and stick to it I WILL get past the issue?” Are you going to begin to develop a winning mindset that will empower you to beat down the negative thoughts that creep into all of our thoughts at one time or another? A Mindset that gives your strength and courage to overcome?

The good news is you don’t have to do it on your own!

If you are taking lessons with a competent teacher, they will teach you how to develop a winning mindset. They will be there to work through your struggles with you and give you solid direction and shortcuts that will bolster your confidence and quickly bring about results. Although you will struggle at times, everyone does, you will not have a mindset that dis-empower’s you but one that gives you confidence and allows you to move beyond the struggle and closer to your goals.

It’s yours for the taking. All you have to do is begin and stand your ground!