I do not enjoy yardwork.
I want that on the record.
The raking...
the mower acting up...
bugs lighting me up like I'm the dinner buffet...
No thanks.
So here's what I do.
I stare at the lawn for a week. It gets longer. I get mad at how long it's getting.
Then I check the weather and find my excuse. "Looks like rain." (It does not look like rain.)
I know it needs done.
I know it will get done.
Still, I put it off. Because I do not enjoy yardwork.
Now the truth is this...
When I'm done, I look back.
I finished faster than I thought...
And the yard looks better than I remember.
Every time. (Dramatic pause.) Every single time.
Here's what's going on.
The job never changes size.
But, each day you stare at it, your brain stacks on a little more weight.
By day seven, mowing the lawn feels like building a pyramid by hand.
And we all do this. Not just with lawns.
Take the guitar in the corner. It's been leaning there so long it's basically furniture.
There's a decent chance at some point, there was a bum living under it.
You walk past and think, "This weekend I'll really sit down."
Then the weekend shows up. Your fingers feel tired. It's too late. The strings feel old.
That's the weather app all over again. (The strings are fine. It's not going to rain.)
Your plateau is the lawn. Leave it a week and it's a bit shaggy.
Leave it a year and something is nesting in there.
It has a name. It pays rent.
The guitar works the same as the yard.
When you finally pick it up, it's never as bad as the couch told you it would be. You already found that out with the Zone Cards.
So the fix isn't more willpower. It's making the job so small there's nothing left to stare at.
That's the whole idea behind The FretGrid Method.
Each session is ten minutes, about as long as it takes to pick an excuse.
And every lesson ends with one rep on the guitar.
You're not reading about the yard. You're mowing one strip.
Stop putting off playing the way you hear it in your head.
Do one strip today. Then another tomorrow.
Start your first ten-minute session
The guitar in the corner has waited long enough, and it's going to be happier to see you than you think.
Julio "Mows Eventually" Rivera