You Can't Out-Buy Practice

I've been noticing something a lot lately, and when I see it popping up a lot- that stirs up a blog post!

I'm a dancer and I love many, many creative pursuits. I've tried my hand in painting, pottery, macrame, and more. But dancing is and will always be my first love. I try to spend a minimum of 2 hours per week practicing, more if I can!

Before I fell in love with the process of practice, I struggled with something- something I'm seeing a lot lately:

People are getting so caught up on "optimizing" the tools that they're undervaluing practice.

What do I mean by this?

Becoming so focused on getting better and better guitars that they spend hours and hours researching guitars, traveling to guitar shops, trying out guitars, budgeting for increasingly more expensive guitars rather than simply practicing with the guitar they already have.

I see it in the dance world too, it looks like: seeking the perfect song, the perfect outfit, the online course that teaches a specific piece of technique (but sits unopened in their Google drive), there's a relentless pursuit to find things outside of us that create the goal we want to hit.

I want to be clear: I'm not maligning these practices. A fun new outfit, a new program, or a great new guitar strap is not only functional, but they can also help us feel more confident and inspired.

I think the problem comes when we begin to over-rely on these external things.

We think we can buy our way out of the discomfort of practice.

I'm going to be honest with y'all: practicing sucks.

I find myself thinking: "damn, why can't I just know this already?!" (ummm because if I did, I wouldn't need to learn it?!).

Practice feels clunky, clumsy, awkward, and sometimes frustrating. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming: am I even getting better at this?!

This is all so normal. This is not a bug of learning, it's the feature. We have to go through these trials and tribulations to learn, to embody a deeper understanding of what we're practicing. And in the long run, I promise you, that's what we really want.

I don't want to mimic a dancer, I want to be a dancer. I want to have a deep, embodied sense of where my body is in space and how to tighten or loosen the correct muscles to portray the artistry of the song.

Similarly, guitar players want to have a deep understanding of the chords, they want to understand melodies and how songs are constructured. They want to understand musicality and more. They don't want to just play the same opening to "People are Strange" on a loop*.

But to get there- we have to get messy. We have to get awkward, uncomfortable, and weird. We have to practice. We have to practice again and more.

And this is where I think people often overlook the mental component of practice:

It's not just "dedication" or "motivation", it's believing that you are lovable, even when you're in practice mode.

It's believing that you are worthy, even when things are clunky or don't quite look or sound "right".

It's believing that YOU are good enough, regardless of what skill level you're at.

I do not believe you will be a successful** artist if you don't address these mental blocks. To be a successful artist, you have to practice A LOT. You have to get messy and trust yourself. Trust your process.

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not happening. Your willingness to get dirty in the practice process is the catalyst for the magic that unfolds.

So before you run and buy another "thing" to make you "better": ask yourself- is this a tool to avoid the discomfort of practice? If I practiced a few times, would I still want this thing?

Proceed accordingly.

Need help implementing these practices? This sh*t ain't easy. If you want help dodging creative blocks and finally seeing your own worth, book a free consultation today.

Book a free consultation even if you're not sure you're an artist (I assure you, you are).

Unblock Your Creativity

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*I took 3 guitar lessons in college and all I could do was play the opening to "People are Strange". So this is me!

**Successful = whatever TF you want it to mean; not necessarily professional