Tips to Prevent Giving Up! Setting Up an Environment for Action

Good evening🌕
I'm Ritz, and I'm frequently troubled by
sleep paralysis, also known as kanashibari.
(Is there anyone else who experiences this?😭)

I want to start something new, but I feel like
I'll just give up after three days.

I started something I wanted to try
with a lot of enthusiasm, but
I just can't keep it up.

I always end up giving up so easily.

For those of you struggling with this,

this time, using habit formation as an example,
I will talk about the tips I used to avoid giving up
when I first started playing guitar 3 and a half years ago,
and how I set up my habits and environment.

1️⃣ Identify factors that cause you to give up through mental imagery

In the summer of 2021, I had wanted to try
what's known as 'hikigatari,' singing while playing guitar, for a long time.
(Acoustic guitar)

My diet reached its target number,
my weight has leveled off and hasn't changed, and in particular, the feeling of
wanting to lose more!! has faded,
settling around 47-48kg,
and since I had a desire to try something new!
I thought, 'That's it, I'll buy a guitar! I'll learn to sing and play!'

With that intense desire to take on a challenge,
I wanted to keep it up for a long time if I was going to do it,
so I made a plan to avoid giving up halfway.

First, I searched on Google,
'90% of people who start guitar give up,'
'giving up on the F chord,' 'fingers hurt and can't keep going,'
I identified the factors that cause people to give up on guitar,
kept in mind that there is definitely a period to overcome,
and that to get to a point where I can play my favorite songs,
it would take at most a year even with daily practice,
that I would feel a little growth after six months,
that after three months I would be bad but able to hold chords,
and that after one month I would feel a little growth,
so I did some detailed mental training.
If you make estimates like this,


even if you don't improve much,
the gap between reality and ideals is bridged,
and the probability of getting impatient or giving up halfway decreases.

2️⃣ Once you've identified the reasons for giving up, prepare the environment

Based on the experiences I researched regarding when people are about to give up,
they were,
'anxious about whether my form and playing style are correct,'
'is this practice method okay?'
'what kind of practice should I do to overcome this?'
'cannot continue practicing.'

Hand size, dexterity, and sense of rhythm
are different for everyone, so even if you watch videos or read books for self-study,
most people seem to give up, and I thought I would be no exception,
so I immediately signed up for a school.

If it's a school, I can have my form checked regularly and
get advice,
and since I'm paying money to learn,
I'll want to get my money's worth,
and I thought it would be clearer what to practice than self-study,
so I joined immediately after the trial lesson🎸

After joining, I immediately researched recommended guitars and market prices,
since many people recommended the 30,000 to 40,000 yen range,
I bought a 35,000 yen guitar beginner set,
and told my family, workplace, friends, and people around me,
'I started guitar! I'll do my best to practice!'
and after declaring it,
I reported my progress every time I saw them📝

In any case, I set up an environment where I couldn't escape.

3️⃣ Lower the hurdle for action

And, to make practice a habit,
I lowered the hurdle for action as much as possible.

To feel your growth,
record your days through video, audio, or a diary,
and look at what you did a week or a month ago
to always compare your past state with your current one.

Take the guitar out of its bag,
and keep it on a guitar stand in a place
where you can pick it up immediately. I kept it in my line of sight
in the places I spent the most time, keeping it as close as possible.

And always practice after eating a meal.
Set it after something already habitual, rather than at a specific time.
Don't restrict yourself to a set time;
even one minute of practice, or just touching the guitar, is fine.
(Because once you start touching it, you'll get into the flow
and can naturally continue practicing for over an hour.)

By identifying the factors that lead to setbacks like this,
preparing an environment, and lowering the hurdle for action
to make practice a habit,
I was able to play the songs I wanted to play from start to finish after a month,
and after a year, I could play over 10 songs,
so my repertoire grew year by year.
Now, three and a half years later,
I can even compose my own music.

When you acquire the knack for consistency and habits,
the things you can do increase,
which can be applied to various things.
Feeling personal growth boosts self-efficacy,
and I've become able to take on more challenges
than I could when I was a student.

If you are someone who often compares yourself to others and feels down,
thinking 'I can't do it,' or if you lack self-confidence,
I recommend setting small, steady action goals
and creating an environment where you have no choice but to act,
because achieving things through habituation
will help you gain the self-efficacy of thinking,
'I can do it if I try.'💡

This is what I was like in the past↓

My self-efficacy has increased compared to then,
and life has become easier.🍵

This year, I will become someone who can support those who want to play guitar,
want to be able to sing and play, or want to build habits
and achieve something.💪

Thank you very much
for reading until the end.♪

See you again tomorrow.🌕