Let me tell you about something I’ve observed as a guitar teacher.
Earlier in my teaching career I ran a general guitar studio, at this studio I taught a lot of classes of kids.
A couple of years later I began running Rock Guitar Lessons – a specialist electric guitar and lead guitar studio where my students where made up mainly of teens and adults.
One of the biggest differences I noticed between kids and adults is kids are a lot more willing to try things than adults are.
When showing something to one of my child students, they didn’t care if they got it right or not – they were just happy to give it a go.
As a kid, you’re constantly in a state of learning – you’re not good at anything yet and aren’t expected to be.
Kids tend not to feel any shame when they try something for the first time and aren’t very good at it yet.
But when showing something to an adult student, they tend to be much different.
By the time you’re an adult, you’re expected to be good at stuff. You’re expected to have your shit together.
Because of this, if you try something for the first time and aren’t very good at it (which is to be expected) it can be a knock to your pride and sense of identity.
I’ve had some students tell me they’re so paralysed by self doubt, they’re too intimidated to try new things on the guitar – or to even start playing.
If you ever feel this way, you need to think back to what it was like to be a kid.
Think back to when you were in a constant state of learning and falling flat on your face was OK.
Why should that learning stage stop when you become an adult?
Give yourself permission to learn again, give yourself permission to not sound as good as you would like, give yourself permission to feel silly and out of place.
Give yourself permission to start.
Start small, but start.