🧠 Two kinds of trust you need to practice

Hey music maker!

Hope you're having a good weekend.

I know this newsletter sometimes lands on Saturday and other times on Sunday. Parenting three young kids leads to pretty unpredictable weekends.

I like to write this on Saturdays to capture as much of the week as possible, but life doesn't always cooperate.

Anyway, let's jump in.

This week felt really good in terms of practicing and making overall progress.

I was downstairs wrapping up my work day, and I grabbed my guitar. My heavier pick with the textured grip was upstairs. I didn't feel like going to get it, so I grabbed the lightweight pick that I stopped using weeks ago.

I started strumming. And wow!

It sounded pretty darn good.

It wasn’t perfect. But significantly better than a few weeks ago.

I had a burst of excitement because I finally saw the progress that I had been hoping for. I've been getting better this whole time without seeing it.

Trust made that breakthrough possible.

There are two kinds of trust you need to lock in a solid practice routine.

Sphere 1: Trust your source

You need to trust that you've found the right teacher or the right material to work from.

Don't do this blindly. Vet your options. Get multiple referrals, not just one. I've trusted based on a single referral before and realized the teaching wasn't that great.

A teacher has to know how to teach, not just how to play. They need to see you for the stage you're in, understand your goals, and have clear ideas on how to get you there.

This applies to self-paced courses too. Check reviews, try a few lessons before committing, and read comments.

Don't judge based on your pace of improvement (I'll touch on that shortly). Instead, look for conciseness, attention to detail over flashy playing, and clear explanations. Check if the curriculum breaks things into manageable chunks and actually covers what you need to learn.

Not every great player is a great teacher.

Meta-learning helps with this. It's like going to a doctor knowing what's going on with your body versus walking in and saying "I have a problem" and letting them figure it out. When you've done the diagnostic work yourself, you get better results.

Sphere 2: Trust yourself

This is the heavier and more emotional piece.

You have to trust your ability to grow.

This is the growth mindset work I'm actively trying to strengthen after last week's assessment. There are spaces where I feel like I can run through a wall, and other spaces where doubt kicks in and I revert to old habits.

The hard part is trusting the process when you can't see the progress.

You have to trust that if you keep showing up and getting quality reps in, the work will reveal itself. It might not happen when you want. It might not happen in week one or week two.

I just wrapped up week 10, and finally seeing visible progress on strumming.

On bass, I tested into late beginner, and it feels right. I'm tightening fundamentals, feeling more creative, and connecting lessons naturally.

I’m also watching my instructor more closely and practicing five days a week minimum.

I'm finally seeing the effects of the work.

This feels amazing, and that's why this week's motivation was higher. Trust is paying off.

One thing that also helped was time-blocking

I carved out an afternoon block before school pickup for practice. My energy for heavy business work fades around that time anyway, so it's perfect for instruments.

This reduced daily stress and planning. I get one instrument in during that block guaranteed. The other happens around bedtime if needed, that’s usually the bass since I keep a practice amp in my bedroom.

That simple structure made a big difference.

10 weeks in, and motivation is ramping up.

The growth didn't happen on my timeline. But it happened.

Quick question: Do you want more specifics about what I'm practicing each week on the instruments? The actual exercises, techniques, and lessons I'm working through?

Hit reply and let me know.