The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 255 Working Hard and Going Nowhere? How to break the cycle that's keeping you stuck.

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

You're putting in the hours. You're showing up. So why does it still feel like nothing is moving? This episode gets right to the heart of that frustration and offers a way out.   In this episode: ·         Why repetition without intention reinforces the problem, not the solution ·         The real difference between practicing notes and practicing performance ·         How the inner critic silently derails your practice session ·         The one thing to write down before you pick up your instrument Are you ready to take your playing and career to the next level and create a life that feels purposeful and joyful? If you're ready to step on stage with confidence, perform at your best, and finally feel secure in your playing, join the Musician's Edge Challenge.   Join the Musician's Edge Challenge 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.

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger podcast. This is episode 255. 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 unlocking your full potential, Dr. Ranipo Gautier. Hello, welcome back to the Mind Over Finger podcast. Before we dive into today's topic, which by the way, I'm so excited to talk about, I have an announcement. And if you've been around for a while and you know my work,

you might be happy to hear this. The Musician's Edge Challenge is coming back from April 27 to May 2nd and I cannot wait. This challenge is for you if you're a musician who's pursuing a solo career. Maybe you're preparing for competitions or maybe you dream of a career in orchestra and you're auditioning for your dream job. Or maybe you're trying to stay artistically fulfilled and thrive in the career you're currently having. Basically, if you're serious about your playing and you want to get to the next level, The Musician's Edge is for you. You're going to walk away with clarity about your strengths. You are going to have a real understanding of what's been holding you back, and you're going to get a concrete next step to take your career further.

Not just vague inspiration, but a real personalized roadmap. Here's how it works. Every day for five days, you're going to get one simple high-impact exercise. 10 minutes a day, that's it. No overwhelm, no fluff, just focus, meaningful work. And on the final day, I'm going to be here live with you to connect all the dots and show you exactly how to use everything you've uncovered to land the opportunities you've been working toward. It's completely free. All the details are in the show notes or at mindoverfinger.com

and I really truly hope to see you there. Now the reason I wanted to tell you about the challenge first is that it connects directly to what I want to talk about today. Because the challenge is really about getting to the bottom of something. Something that a lot of us carry around without fully understanding it. And that thing is this. Why, when we're working so hard, does it sometimes feel like we're going nowhere? Does that sound familiar? So let's start here. Have you ever had a stretch of time, maybe days, weeks, maybe months. When you're in the practice room consistently, you're putting in the hours, you're doing the work, but something still feels off. Maybe your performances feel unpredictable. Maybe you walk into an audition and think,

I've prepared for this. Why does it feel so shaky? Or you work on a passage for days and then at rehearsal, it just falls apart. And you think, what the heck's happening? What am I missing? I hear this so often from musicians. I've felt it myself actually, quite recently, and in ways I didn't expect. And what strikes me every time is that the frustration isn't about laziness. It's not about not caring enough. The musicians I'm talking about, the ones you know, maybe the one you see in the mirror, they care so much. They're the most discipline-driven people I know.

So the problem is not effort. Something else is going on. And here's what I want to offer to you today. And I want you to sit with this for a second. Maybe sit with it for a whole minute. Most of us were taught that more is more. More hours, more repetitions, more pressure on ourselves. That's a big one.

And there's a part of that that is true. You need to put in the time. There's no shortcut around that. You got to practice. But here's the thing. When we just repeat something over and over and over without really understanding how we're practicing, what we're actually doing is reinforcing the process as it is, including the parts that aren't working. Let me say that again. When you do this,

when you just repeat without intention, without presence, you are simply reinforcing the process as it is right now, including the parts that are not working. So think about it like this. If you have a small leak in the foundation of a house and you redecorate the living room, the walls look beautiful for a while, but the leak is still there. And eventually, things start to crack again. So maybe you redecorate and things look good again. and then they crack again so that cycle that's what a lot of musicians are living in and it's exhausting and it can make you feel like something is wrong with you I hear this so much what's wrong with me nothing's wrong with you or maybe you feel like you're not cut out for this level

But that's not true. That thought, that feeling, I want you to hear me on this, is not the truth. It's what happens when you haven't yet been given the right tools. So what are the real culprits? In my experience, both as a performer and as a coach, there are usually a few things happening. The first one is that we don't fully trust our process. We jump around, we try something, it doesn't work fast enough, we try something else. We read an article, we try a new technique. And then another one, we watch a YouTube video. And then the brain never really gets a chance

to consolidate what it's learning because we keep switching tracks. It's like trying to fill a jar with water, but you keep moving the jar. Imagine that. Imagine the kind of work that comes out of this. The second one is that we practice the notes, but we don't practice the performance. And they're not the same thing. Learning to play something correctly in a quiet room at a comfortable tempo, that's one skill. When you walk on stage under pressure in front of people with your performance brain and you're trying to access that same level of clarity, that is a different skill and it requires its own kind of preparation, its own specific approach.

And the third one, and this one is big, it's the mental and emotional piece, that inner critique, that inner bully at times, right? The comparison, the, I should be further along by now. I should know this by now. I should be better. These aren't just feelings that happen to us. They have a real and direct impact on the quality of our practice because they rattle the nervous system. You can be in the room physically for three hours, but if your head is in a spiral for most of it, you're not really practicing. You're surviving the practice session. you're fighting an inner battle which is a very different thing so what is the alternative well it starts with slowing down enough to ask better questions not why isn't this working what's wrong with me these questions usually just lead to self-blame

Very triggering for the nervous system. Here's what we want to ask instead. What specifically is happening here? Write this down on a post-it. Put it on your stand or the wall next to where you practice. What specifically is happening here? Now that's a good question. What is the gap exactly?

what do i actually need to fix this and am i practicing in a way that addresses that i develop what i call the deep practice model and that is exactly precisely to answer these questions to give musicians a structured methodical way to work that removes the guessing And it's one of the core pillars of everything we do inside my group coaching program, the Music Mastery Experience. But even before you get there, even just developing the habit of asking better questions about your practice will change things. Am I listening or just playing?

Where does it start to fall apart? What does this passage need from me right now? And one of my personal favorites, what else? What else do I see? What else do I hear? What else do I notice? What else can I try? Those are the powerful questions you want to be asking when you're practicing.

And here's what I also want you to know. The clarity that you're looking for is not on the other side of more hours. It simply isn't. It's on the other side of more intentionality. And sometimes it just takes someone helping you see what you can't see from the inside. Which, by the way, is exactly what the Musician's Edge Challenge is designed to do. Each exercise is going to help you look at your playing and your career from a different angle. And piece by piece, you're going to start to see the picture more clearly.

And you start to see what's working and what's quietly getting in the way at times. And that alone can be incredibly freeing. And I want to share something with you because I think it will land differently when I say it this way. When I was preparing for my audition at Lyric last year, Lyric Opera here in Chicago, my dream job, the position I'd been working toward for so long, I had to do exactly what I'm describing to you right now. I had to look very honestly at how I was practicing, not just what I was practicing. Because I know the repertoire. I know how to play. But there's a difference between knowing how to play and being ready to perform under pressure

in that audition room behind that screen. And sometimes I caught myself doing some of these exact same things I coach my clients out of. I did overwork certain passages. I did let the inner critique run the session at times. Practicing what felt comfortable instead of what needed real attention.

Been there, done that. But I caught it quickly because I have the tools. But I have to be honest, I don't always catch it right away. The machine has habits, and sometimes those habits are just very well established. The point is, this is not a beginner problem. This is a human problem, and recognizing it is the first step toward doing something about it. So here's what I want you to leave with today.

Next time you sit down to practice, try this. Before you even pick up your instrument, take 60 seconds and write down one thing, just one, that you want to understand better by the end of that session. Not accomplish, not fix, understand. Not the same thing. something like, let me give you an example. Why does this passage feel unstable every time I get to the third beat? Or what is actually happening in my bow arm when this falls apart? So something that you want to understand. Then at the end of the session, ask yourself, did I get there? That small shift going in with a question instead of just a task list starts to change the whole quality of how you work. When you ask better questions,

you get better results. All right, this is what I have for you today. If you're having one of those days, one of those practice sessions where everything feels heavy and you wonder why you're doing any of this, I hope this episode was a small reminder that you're not alone, that what you're experiencing, what you're going through is incredibly normal and that there is a way through it.

And trust me, you're doing better, so much better than you think. And don't forget, sign up for the Musician's Edge Challenge. If you want to go deeper with this, it's the perfect next step for you. It's free. It's five days, 10 minutes a day. And I'm going to be right there with you the whole time.

So sign up through the link in the show notes or at mindoverfinger.com. We start April 27. And I really hope to see you there. All right. I send you much love. And I say 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.