When to Persist and When to Reconsider the Goal

The length of time you’ve spent on a goal tells you surprisingly little about why you’re discouraged. A man can own a guitar for six months and struggle with the same song because he rarely practices. He can practice every week and still get stuck on two measures. Those are different problems, and neither by itself settles whether the song is worth learning.

Before you decide, get specific about what has stalled. If you can play every part of the song except the same two measures, those measures tell you where to look. Try a slower tempo or ask someone who plays to watch your hands. If you practiced sporadically and mostly played pieces you already knew, six months tells you how long you’ve owned a guitar. It gives you limited evidence about what a different practice routine would produce.

Sometimes your progress is real and the cost still exceeds what you want to pay. Perhaps you wanted a pleasant way to spend an evening, and it turns out you enjoy playing simple songs far more than you enjoy drilling this one. You can set the song aside with your original purpose intact. If you meant to play it with your son at his wedding, a simpler arrangement might serve the occasion just as well.

Decide what evidence would change your mind before you try again. Two weeks on the difficult passage may tell you more than another season of vaguely trying harder. Then ask whether the ability you are working toward still matters enough to you. You owe the goal a fair hearing. You get to decide how much of your life it deserves.