Want to know how to make so much progress on your guitar it feels illegal?
Yesterday I invited you to "burn your boats."
Making a decision that removes the escape route.
Committing to something real.
A performance.
An open mic.
A recording.
Something with a date and a consequence.
If you missed that email, go back and read it.
Because what I’m about to share only works if you’ve made that decision.
Now here’s where most people go wrong next.
They go straight back to learning… everything.
More scales.
More theory.
More songs.
More gear.
Trying to cover all bases.
This is what I call just-in-case learning.
You learn things just in case they might be useful one day.
It feels productive.
But it spreads your focus thin.
And it’s one of the biggest reasons people stay stuck.
Because nothing you’re doing is directly tied to an outcome.
Now compare that to a completely different approach.
Just-in-time learning.
This is where you start with the outcome…
And only learn what you need to achieve it.
Nothing more.
Nothing extra.
Everything is focused.
And this is where things start to move fast.
There’s a principle called the 80/20 rule.
20% of what you do creates 80% of your results.
But the reverse is also true.
80% of what you’re doing right now might only be creating 20% of your progress.
So if you’ve set a "burn your boats" goal…
There’s a very high chance that most of what you’re practicing is sitting in that 80%.
It feels like progress.
But it’s not moving you forward.
The shift is simple.
Find the 20%.
Then spend your time there.
Here’s what that looks like in real terms.
If your goal is to play at an open mic…
You do not need to become a well-rounded guitarist.
You need to perform one song well.
That’s it.
So your focus becomes:
Playing that song.
Repeating it.
Fixing the weak parts.
Practicing it start to finish.
That’s just-in-time learning.
Everything else is a distraction.
There’s a great example of this.
NY Times best-selling author Tim Ferriss put himself in the position where he had to learn drums and perform live on stage with Foreigner playing their classic "Hot Blooded" in just 5 days.
He didn’t need to become a great drummer.
He focused on one thing.
Playing that one song well enough to perform.
Different goal.
Different focus.
And it worked.
He even made an episode of this in his TV show The Tim Ferris Experiment
This is how you create real leaps in your playing.
Not by doing more.
But by removing what doesn’t matter.
So here’s how to apply this.
- Step 1: Decide your burn your boats goal.
- Step 2: Write down the exact skills needed to achieve it.
- Step 3: Cross out anything that doesn’t directly help you get there, that you accidentally wrote down (be ruthless with this list).
- Step 4: Focus only on what’s left.
That’s your 20%.
That’s where your results come from.
This is how you move forward so much faster than most people.
Because while they’re trying to learn everything…
You’re focused on the only thing that actually matters.
So the challenge is simple.
Burn your boats.
Then focus.
Charlie
P.S. If you want to watch the episode of the Tim Ferris Experiment I mentioned, where he learns drums & performs with Foreigner in just 5-days, it’s a good watch and will help you really get the whole 80/20 rule. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBjWEwkl_s0
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