The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 226 Stuck or Soaring? What Musicians Gain When They Bet on Themselves

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

In this episode, I explore one of the most important (and most avoided) questions musicians face: Is investing in yourself really worth it? You'll hear: How to tell the difference between an expense and an investment The hidden cost of staying stuck Why self-investment often leads to faster, deeper growth Real stories from clients who hesitated and what changed when they said yes The mindset shift that helps musicians build lasting progress If you've been feeling like you're doing everything you can but still not moving forward, this episode offers a fresh perspective and a path toward momentum. Enrollment is now open for The Music Mastery Experience, my signature yearlong coaching program. If this episode resonated with you, MME is designed to give you the exact support, structure, and strategy to stop spinning your wheels and start growing with clarity and confidence. Learn more and apply at www.mindoverfinger.com/mme25.     Book your FREE Music Mastery Experience Discovery call with Renée HERE Book your free consultation with Renée HERE Download the transcript from this episode HERE   Mind Over Finger Click www.mindoverfinger.com/coaching to book your free consultation with me. Visit MindOverFinger.com for my online courses as well as free resources on peak performance. Grab my free workshops and PDF downloads by going to www.mindoverfinger.com/resources. Connect: https://www.youtube.com/@MindOverFinger https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/     THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson.

Are you wondering sometimes why even with all your effort, you feel stuck? You're doing everything you can think of, but something is off. Maybe you're craving momentum. Maybe you're questioning if your hard work is actually getting you anywhere. Or maybe you're starting to wonder if there's something missing, something no one ever taught you. If that's you, this episode is going to shift how you think about your growth and show you why investing in yourself might just be the most powerful next step you can take. You're listening to the Mind Over Finger podcast, and this is episode 226.

Welcome to the Mind Over Finger podcast, where we dive into the world of mindful music making, peak performance, and crafting a purpose-driven life and career. I'm your host, violinist, certified performance and life coach for musicians, and your guide to unlocking your full potential, Dr. René-Paul Gaultier. Well, welcome back to the Mind Over Finger podcast. Today, we're going to tackle one of the biggest questions I hear from musicians all the time. is investing in myself really worth it? I get it. As musicians, we're taught to be frugal. It's a badge of honor. We make do with what we have. We grind it out on our own. And when an opportunity for mentorship or training or coaching comes up, there's that

little voice in the back of our head that goes, can I really afford this? Is it worth it? or worse. What if I invest in this and it doesn't work? But here's the truth. The musicians who grow the fastest land the best opportunities and actually create the careers they dream of. They don't try to do it alone. They invest in their growth. And today we're going to break down the difference between an expense and an investment, the real cost of not taking action, and how to start thinking like a high-level musician when it comes to your career. By the end of this episode, you're going to have a whole new perspective on why investing in yourself is not a risk. It's actually the key to your success. And here's the mindset shift that

changes everything. Investing in yourself is the best place to put your money unless you don't know the difference between spending and investing. Because once you do, everything changes. When you understand that true investment creates future value, you stop asking, can I afford this? And you start asking a much better question, which is, can I afford to stay where I am? Let's break it down. What's the difference between an expense and an investment? An expense is money spent that doesn't create future value. An investment is money you put into something that helps you grow, improve, or something that helps you move forward, something that creates more value over time. Let's look at some example. Netflix that you just watch like this, that's an expense. Fancy coffee

every day, also an expense. This impulse buy on Amazon that you forget about a week later, that's an expense. Now let's talk about investments. A big difference. So a high quality instrument that helps you express your sound more freely, that's an investment. Regular maintenance or repairs that keep your setup in top shape, investment. New strings, reads? Investment. Physical therapy, massage therapy, or any type of body work that keeps you injury-free and playing comfortably? Yes, that's an investment. A great microphone so you can record performances, make strong audition tapes, or share your music with more confidence? You got it. That's an investment. When you buy music, you buy scores, you add that to your

library in investment. Now, private coaching, high-level training, or a structured program that teaches you how to perform at your best and stay mentally steady under pressure, 100% investment. But let's flip the question. What's the cost of not investing? What happens when you deprive yourself of what you truly need to perform at your best? Well, you keep pushing through pain instead of getting the treatment that could help you heal. You keep wrestling with the same technical challenge because your instrument is not set up to support you. Or you keep playing it safe because you don't have the clarity or the support to take risks. You keep trying to self-manage your mindset struggles. Something that a coach could help you shift in weeks instead of years.

Now imagine this. It's 12 months from now. And you're still battling the same performance anxiety. You're still dreading auditions. You're still feeling frustrated in the practice room. You're still holding back. You're still hoping that something's going to magically change. Or maybe you're still stuck in a career and life that is unfulfilling. How much would that cost you? And not just financially, but emotionally, mentally, artistically. And that's the real cost of staying stuck. Think about the cost of another year of frustration.

The cost of another gig you didn't go for, another gig you didn't get. the cost of playing small when you're capable of so much more the cost of practicing day after day but not seeing the results you want so most people only think about the price of investing but the musicians who truly grow they think about the cost of not growing and they choose action because investing in yourself that's not a luxury. It's a decision to stop spinning your wheels and start moving forward. And here's another truth. What you gain from investing in your growth, whether it's better tools, better support, better strategies, that pays you back in clarity, in opportunity,

in confidence, and in results that last. So imagine what your life and career could look like one year from now if you start now with the structure and the strategy and the support that makes real growth not just possible, but inevitable. Think about it this way. Your brain is the most valuable thing you have. When you invest in nourishing and training it, you unlock the ability to create anything you want in your life and your career. And that's why investing in coaching, in mindset work, and strategic support is not a luxury. It's essential. It's an investment in your brain and in your future. You don't just need more practice hours. You need a brain that's clear, that's focused,

that's confident, and a brain that's working with you, not against you. Because when your mind is strong and supported, everything else becomes possible. Let me tell you about one of my clients. When she joined the Music Master Experience, she was in a place, a lot of musicians can relate to. She was working hard. She was practicing a ton, but she was feeling stuck. I hear that so much. I'm stuck, right? Her confidence was shaky. Her performances were unpredictable. It was really uneven. And she never really knew how things were going to go. In our discovery call, she was saying things like, I'm not sure I can justify spending this on myself. But we spoke and she decided to go for it. And after just a few months, things started to

shift. Her practice became more focused. She started showing up to performances with more clarity and less panic. She wasn't just going through the motions. She was finally connecting to her playing again instead of just trying to survive the performance. And recently she told me this is the first time I actually feel like I know how to keep growing. I'm not spending any more. And that was not magic. It was just the right structure, the right support, and the right tools to help her move forward. And that's what I want every musician to understand. It's not about the cost. It's about what's possible when you finally get the support you need. and there's another client whose story really stayed with me when we first connected she was

also stuck she felt like she was doing everything she could but nothing was changing she was practicing constantly but she was still feeling lost in auditions there was a lot of doubt and not a lot of direction and when coaching came up she hesitated she wasn't sure if it was the right time or if it was worth it, if it was worth the investment. But she said, yes, we started working together. We worked on how she managed her mind. We refined her approach to practicing. And we looked at mental strength training for performances. And over only a few short months, her playing leveled up. She felt grounded. She felt more confident. She stopped overthinking everything and she started trusting herself again. And then she won a dream job she'd been hoping for

for years. And she told me afterward, I almost didn't do this because I was scared to invest in myself. I was scared it wasn't going to work. I was scared I wasn't going to make it work. but I'm so glad I didn't let that stop me. And that job and the confidence she built to go after it was worth so much more than what she paid. This is definitely a situation where the cost of the program was nothing compared to the opportunities she gained. And that's the shift in the lesson here. Successful musicians don't ask how much does it cost? They ask what will this help me achieve? And if you feel scared by investing, I get it. But I'm here to tell you that coaching can change your life. Coaching has changed my life. Every time I invest in a personal

trainer, I get in great physical shape. Because I invested in tutoring, I was able to be very successful in my doctoral degree without going crazy. It really helped me focusing in the right place. And it helped me learn so much faster. While I was studying for the comprehensive exams, I was writing my dissertations, and I was gigging all over the place and raising my family. Then I started hiring coaches. And because of coaching, I had the courage to move forward and start presenting at conferences. Because of coaching, I overcame my introverted personality. I stepped wildly outside my comfort zone and I started my podcast. Because of coaching, I got the knowledge and the nerves to start my coaching business. Because of coaching,

I have the strength to move forward. And I won my dream job in my dream orchestra. Every investment I've made in coaching paid off many times over. So I can tell you from experience that coaching is one of the most valuable investment in my life. And it's always a part of my budget. Again, if you look at top musicians in the world, the ones with major careers, big opportunities, and total confidence, you're going to notice something. They don't try to figure it all out on their own. They have a team that helps them. They work with coaches. They work with teachers. They invest in support that helps them grow. And they understand that success isn't about saving money. It's about saving energy,

saving time and getting results faster. Now, I'm not saying that you need to spend without thinking. You need to use your money wisely. And before you invest, you want to make sure it's the right thing. But here's the truth. You're either paying in money or you're paying in time and energy or pain and failure. And that is true every single time. there's always a cost. So if you try to do it all alone, it's going to take you years to figure out what actually works at times. But if you get the right training, the right mentorship, the right system, you fast track your success. And that is a great investment. So here's what I want you to do today. I want you to think about where you want to be in six months. What's your bigger goal?

Then ask yourself, am I on track to get there? Or am I just hoping things are going to change? And if you're serious about leveling up, find one way to invest in yourself, whether it's time, money, or mentorship. Because the musicians who grow, they just don't want success. They take action to make it happen. And if you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start seeing real progress,

you're ready to save time, this is exactly what we do inside the Music Mastery Experience. mme is a step-by-step system that gives you the tools the training and the personalized support you need to reach your next level without wasting years trying to figure it out alone our next cohort starts soon and spots are limited so if you're curious about what's possible for you head to mindoverfinger.com and book your free discovery call with me we're going to talk about where you are, where you want to go, what's getting in your way, and if MME is the right next step to help you get there faster. So I hope today's episode gave you a new perspective on

investing in yourself. Because the truth is, success is not about being the most talented or the most lucky. It's about being the most willing to take action. All right, my friends, Much love going your way, and à bientôt. And there you have it. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you'd share with your friends and colleagues. Take a screenshot, post it on social media, and tag me. I'm mind over finger everywhere.

I always love hearing your favorite takeaways. And if you're ready to take your playing career to the next level, I'd love to invite you to join the Music Mastery Experience. This is my signature group coaching program where we're going to dive deep into building your confidence and mastery and set you up for success and fulfillment in your life and career. You can find all the details at mindoverfinger.com. While you're there, check out the free downloads and online courses available to support your journey even further. And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter so you never miss an update or a tool to help you thrive. Again, thank you for being here. Until next time, much love and à bientôt.

Thank you.