The entitlement mindset. This is possibly one of the largest roadblocks that can hold you back from guitar learning success. Unfortunately many guitarists have this mindset. And it’s robbing from them any possible chance of reaching high levels of guitar playing. So what on earth is this mindset? And what on earth does it have to do with guitar membership websites! All is revealed below…
Recently I launched a guitar membership website. This is a website where I teach people the exact system that I use for mastering guitar scales. I take them by the hand and show them exactly how I do it. It took me hundreds of hours to create and it definitely cost me quite a few dollars to set up. And here’s the really scary thing…
Just after the launch I got an email from a guy saying something like “I’m not in the habit of paying to join websites”. Now that’s fine with me…I didn’t expect everyone on my email list to join. But let’s take a closer look at this…
Why does this guy think he should gain access to the guitar membership website for free? Why does he expect me to hand him my hard-earned guitar scale learning methods that took many years to develop for free? Why does he think he is entitled to this high-quality information for free?
The answer to these questions is simple. It’s the entitlement mindset! He expects something for nothing. He wants to get something without giving something in return. In this case a few bucks.
This is a very dangerous mindset to have. In fact, if someone has the entitlement mindset chances are they will never become a guitarist who plays at a professional level.
Let’s now take a look at two areas where the entitlement mindsets holds guitar players back…
1. Guitar practice.
If a guitarist has the entitlement mindset they expect to progress without putting in the required practice time. They often admire guitar virtuosos and on some level expect to play like their heroes…without having to do huge amounts of practice. Because of this unwillingness to put in the needed effort they will NEVER play like the people they admire.
2. Information.
The best guitarists that I know have often invested large amounts of money to learn their craft. They buy books, DVDs, CDs and other resources that they think will help them learn. They may also pay good money to go to the best guitar tutors or music schools that they can afford. The guitarist with the entitlement mindset has an unwillingness to spend money on the best information. They try to make do with free information. Ironically, they “pay” for free information with their time by spending countless hours looking for it!
At this point a guitarist with an entitlement mentality will say something like “why should I pay for information when it’s all out there for free?” I respond to this question by asking them this…
If you were dying, would you be willing to get heart surgery from doctors who had taught themselves from free information available online? If the answer is no…why wouldn’t you?
OK…it’s a bit of a silly example. No one in his or her right mind would do this! It would be a matter of life and death. But
isn’t your guitar progress really important too? And wouldn’t inaccurate information, written by people who aren’t professional guitar tutors, slow down your progress? It’s worth thinking about.
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