I can recall those times in my development as a musician when I had breakthroughs and felt as though there was no stopping me. The time I was able to play a barre chord, the time I was able to play along with Kirk Hammett's solo to One, the time I figured out Coltrane's solo on Stella By Starlight, the time I made it through E.S.P. in 11, etc.
This moments have continued to some degree over the years, and so has the responsibilities in everyday life. As many of you know, as you continue to develop it takes more and more time to make advances in your playing. This has left me with larger gaps in the realm of making significant improvement. Let me be clear, I am making the effort to push ahead, and yet there are days where the effort to make progress turns into days of maintenance.
When these periods of maintenance occur then I if feels as though I'm on autopilot, and if I'm not careful, this leads to stagnation. Stagnation then leads to Mediocrity.
Mediocrity can easily be the beginning of giving in to the idea of quitting. If you are not being pushed, or pushing yourself, then whats the point. In this state it's easy to fall back on the same songs you've played for years playing them the same way you always have (some may be okay with this, and that's for the individual to consider) and that is not okay for me.
Now, there may be a few reasons for the stagnation, you're on autopilot just playing gigs for money and could care less, you have a family and/or another job that takes a descent amount of your time, or maybe you are ready to call it quits.
The point is to put yourself in opportunities that continue to push you out of your comfort zone, if not, then you may succumb to the relentless force of mediocrity. Not only in music, but in all aspects of life.
