How long does it take

This is a question I get asked a lot. It’s a bit like asking how long it will take to get fit, it depends on how much work you are prepared to put in and how much you are prepared to put your ego aside. As someone once said you can’t learn something you already think you know.

I’m also going to be sexist for a moment and let the guys know something. I hate to tell you but the girls are much less prone to tripping over their egos.

Let me break down the bad process for a bit and talk about some of the things I have observed from poor students.

• They talk rather than do, it feels like the talking is to cover their inability to take on the information, or maybe they feel that it’s so easy it doesn’t require all their attention. Either way the people that talk a lot in class invariably end up lagging behind

• They want to jump ahead rather than focus on getting what is in front of them right

• They are the first to start trying to teach others

• They obviously don’t practice between classes, or maybe they don’t practice well.

• Either way the progression between classes is small or non-existent

• They seem to think that a quick class will give them the skills to get laid. Sorry no one will fuck you for skills especially not bad ones

• The rush ahead when something frustrates them

• They have a it’s good enough attitude

The behaviours of good students that progress quickly I have observed are:

• They are quiet but inquisitive, they ask why

• They are tenacious, they keep at a tie until they have that “Ah ha” moment

• When they get frustrated they ask for help

• They practice as often as they can and they practice within their limits

• They critically analyse their work and work to understand why things are used the way they are

• They, like everyone have an ego, they just don’t turn class into a competition with their teacher or the other students

For me the moment I an doing something for attention, or external factors, my ego is in play and prevents me, so I actively avoid competition. When I’m focused on the person I’m tying or just getting something right my ego subsides. So that’s what I try to do.