Stefan–
I’m new to the forum, so I’m late to this thread and don’t know that you’ll see this…but I’ll say it anyway.
The subconscious mind is very powerful. Everything you program into it your conscious mind takes as one-hundred percent true. So if you tell yourself things like, “Why bother with this? I won’t be good enough…”, and you do it often enough, there will come a time in the not-too-distant future where your subconscious brain will say, “Message received!”
If that happens…if you convince yourself that you’ll never be good enough…then you will act in a manner that conforms with that subconscious thought. Your conscious mind will want to practice, want to improve, want to feel the joy and satisfaction that comes from the work you put in; your subconscious mind will say, “Not so fast. We’re not good enough, remember?” And now your conscious thoughts and actions are swimming upstream.
Think of a kid that wants to play basketball. She practices every day, and every day she tells herself, “Man, I just can’t shoot free throws!” She spends hours on the court, and an equivalent number of hours beating herself up mentally because her free throws “just aren’t good enough.” More practice, more bad free throws…a vicious circle if there ever was one. She shouldn’t be surprised. She told herself over and over that she isn’t any good at free throws, told herself until her subconscious believed it to be completely true, and now her conscious efforts are working to make that vision a reality.
No more programming yourself with negative thoughts. Starting today, Stefan, right now, tell yourself this:
“I am a musician. I am a bassist. I can and will use my instrument to increase the amount of beautiful music in the world.” If you don’t care for my phrase, come up with your own along a similar line. One caveat–no negativity. This is key.
It doesn’t matter that you took a two-year layoff. It doesn’t matter that progress is slow. It doesn’t matter that you don’t think you’re good enough. I don’t care if you picked up your first bass yesterday and have only played an open E. You, Stefan, are a bassist.
Believe that, right down to your subconscious. Tell yourself that, every day, because it’s true. You’re here, talking to your fellow bassists. You have a learning path to follow. You followed it before and you’ll follow it again because that’s what a bassist such as yourself does. You’re a bass player today, and with time and effort you’ll be a better one tomorrow, and an even better one the day after that.
No negative thoughts, sir. You’re a bassist. Onward, forward.