Right your story

When I was 10 years old I loved the guitar.

Of course, I desperately wanted an electric one like my rock and roll heroes, but was happy to do my apprenticeship on an acoustic. Diligently going to lessons, practicing the Cat Stevens playbook and doing quite well.

Until it happened!

My older brother, who’d shown no interest until then, asked if he could have a go and within 5 minutes was playing better than me. After a year of lessons!

Any number of beliefs could have formed as a result of that incident. Sadly, I chose to believe that I was no good at the guitar and not at all musical.

The fact that my brother went on to play professionally is a clue that I needn’t of been so hard on myself. Just because he was gifted didn’t mean I was crap, but the story that I created guided my actions and pretty soon I stopped playing altogether.

We all have stories about the things that happen in our lives, and some of them have a profound impact on who we think we are and what we believe we can achieve. 

This is great news, because it means we can take those ones that aren’t serving us (you probably know which they are) and rewrite them so that they help us grow rather than hold us back.

Shine the light of objectivity and reason on them and free yourself from their grip.

I’m off to pinch my son’s guitar!