Record player vinyl by Unsplash, CC0 Public Domain

The critical inner voice is the nagging, negative, debilitating little squeak that appears when we are learning and in the mood for experiencing something new. Examples:

• "You'll never be able to do this."
• "Seriously? Why are you trying so hard? You know you'll fail."
• "You'll lose interest sooner or later. Good luck."
• "Why bother? Just give up."

If you have this voice in your head, chances are that it's wreaking havoc on your enjoyment of guitar. Obviously, we can't let that little dork of a voice win, so we're going to make it obey us and stop being the disgusting little know-it-all that it thinks it is.