Hello everyone,
I realise that this is probably a very broad question, but here I go anyway.
Whenever I sit down to practice I just feel super insecure about it. I see the progress that I make, but I can’t seem to really shake the feeling of uncertainty when I practice.
Does anyone have any advice on how to work through this? What do you do to silence those voices?
Warm regard Indra
I see you “just picked up” the guitar from your first post. If you have only been at this a few months, don’t be concerned. I felt akward just picking up the guitar off the stand for probably 6 months. The confidence of familiarity should come with experience.
Indra, always look at how far you’ve come instead of how far you have to/want to go. Record yourself. Save those recordings, and compare how you play in a week, month, 3 months, 6 months, and a year, and marvel at your progress. It won’t happen over night. Takes time, patience, and perfect practicing. I’m sure you, like most of us, are a lot better than you think. Post videos for feedback too. That’s always super encouraging, and never a harsh word; just positive feedback to help you and praise for what you’ve done.
Indra
Another thing worth trying is to return to pieces you have learned earlier and allow yourself to enjoy how much easier they seem now, easier perhaps than you would have thought possible only a few weeks or months ago. When you are learning new pieces or new techniques take the time necessary to recognise and eliminate faults and congratulate yourself for having the ability to do that. Every small bit of progress will add to your skills as a guitar player: enjoy the process!
Brian
Don’t put any pressure on yourself, playing the guitar is something to just enjoy, you’ll progress at your own pace and ultimately there is no deadline to meet, There’s a lifetime of learning ahead of you…this last bit of my comment might not help! 
I don’t think you do silence the voices, you just have to learn to accept they are there but not be derailed by them
I’ve heard it said that many people misunderstand confidence. They think there’s people who are just generally confident and maybe for a small number that might be true. In general though you only gain confidence by doing the thing, whatever it is (playing guitar, public speaking etc), and gradually building it up, much like you build muscles in a gym. Your self-talk is important because if you keep telling yourself that you’re no good and you’ll never be good then that will probably be true. It’s not about being delusional, just celebrating the little successes along the way, learning your first chords for example. Remember you didn’t know how to do any of it at the start. Look at what you have achieved rather than being put off by the scale of the journey ahead, because mastering guitar is a lifetime thing
Great advice given already. One of the things I noticed was songs i had trouble keeping up with i started finding slow paced. Playing B7 i really found a challenge, now much more consistent using it in songs.
When i started following Justin’s course i was mainly doing the lessons with not much song practice, now i find a song that has the thing i want to learn in it, works better for me.
Moving between bars cords quickly is an example. Looking backwards is incredibly helpful on a guitar journey i think. Its a many years process not months, so easier to remember what you couldn’t do but now can.
Thank you for your responds. I really like this advice. Do you guys upload video’s on this forum? That might be interesting to do!
Isn’t this the truth?
The thing you have to watch out for is the false confidence that will probably pop up somewhere after you’ve been doing it for awhile. The most skilled will actually be less confident in their abilities than the most confident. Part of that will be some impostor syndrome stuff but part of it will also be the knowledge that they’ll never be finished learning and that there will always be someone to come along who is more skilled.
From the musicians I’ve met (local folks mostly), they ALL have nerves and a lack of confidence at times. Everybody has their thing that triggers their lack of confidence. For some it might be standing on stage. For others, maybe singing. Yet others might be totally confident playing rhythm but they lack confidence soloing. For others, they might get a flood of intrusive thoughts in the lead-up time to a show but once they get on stage all that melts away. Narrowing of focus to exclude those thoughts is key.
In a private setting? That narrowing of your focus is relevant there, too. Others have been saying the same thing (but in different ways). Don’t dwell on how far away you are from a perceived “skilled” end point. There is no end point, just progress. Set goals. Long-term stuff, intermediate stuff, more immediate stuff. Make sure the immediate goals are attainable. Things like “reach 30 A-D chord changes in a minute”. Once you reach that, push it up to 45 or 60 and so on. The very very early part of learning guitar is the most difficult, in my opinion. At first, you don’t know enough to play any songs. Then, you know enough to play a very limited number of songs but it’s not terribly interesting yet. It can take awhile before you know enough (and can actually do it) to make a song more interesting to play. Focus on the small victories. The immediate goals you have achieved. Do the work, because that is what makes it rewarding in the end.
Thank you for your responds. I guess you’re right. It’s probably an experience thing. I hope I’ll get there soon. 
Hello Bee, that’s a good idea! I do tend to want to move forward to new stuff. But it might be a good thing to go back sometimes. I’ll keep this in mind. Thank you!
Oh you are spot on! I do tend to pressure myself when I really want to learn something, but I’m still somewhat new to it.
I do need to chill!
Gosh, that’s actually a good point. I’ve noticed those voices during other activity’s too. But I guess when you really have to focus I notice them more.
Thank you for pointing that out. It’s a good reminder to just keep going.
Thank you!
Yeah, the advice on here is great! I’m happy I posted!
These are really good points. I’m taking them all in.
Thank you!
you can create a learning log where you can keep track of your guitar journey
Just read other logs to see how other people keep theirs
learning logs section is here : Learning Logs - JustinGuitar Community
you can also post AVOYPs ( a video of you playing )
1 video per month is allowed
AVOYPs section is here : Audio-Video Of You Playing - JustinGuitar Community
or you can take part in our Open mics night
its one every 2 months
I am soooo guilty of looking at other who play better. Wondering how they play so well. There probably is no point in doing that.
I just need to focus on what I want to learn now. And, as you said, make sure it’s attainable. I’ve been a star at doing stuff that’s too hard… 
Thank you for your responds. I’ll keep it in mind!
Ooooh! That sounds very interesting!
I’ll go check those out. I might keep up a Learning Log too.
Thank you for the reply.
That’s super helpful!
Trying stuff that’s a bit too hard isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just put that on your “long-term” goal list. work on small parts here and there. Come back later and work a little more after you’ve learned some other stuff and improved on some things.
I definitely have songs on my long-term list and stuff that’s on my more immediate list.
Right now I’m working on learning some songs to play at open mic performances (and getting to where I can play them at a pretty high level - at least for me). Those are on my immediate list.
That’s a good point! I can see that that could help.
I think in my case I was absolutely getting ahead of myself. But it’s good to have a long term list.
Open mic perfomances sounds both exciting and scary. Do you play them on stage somewhere? Or online?
Open mics can vary a lot.
There are absolutely online ones. I attend a local one at a brewery (usually as a spectator but I have performed there before). They don’t have a stage. Just a spot where they push tables out of the way and set up 2 microphones and a small sound system. But I do know of other places with a real stage that host an open mic, too. I live in a town where I could find an open mic night somewhere every day if I wanted. And some days I would have choices.
I definitely recommend checking them out as a spectator before signing up to perform. Get to know the organizer and any regulars. Get a feel for the vibe of the venue and the event. Learn how it’s run. Performing in front of “friends” and knowing the flow of the event already helps a lot with nerves. Recording yourself and sharing in your learning log or the AVOYP section is a great way to “practice” for an in-person open mic.
One of my goals for this year was to perform at an in-person open mic. I achieved that, so I set a goal to do another one, better than the first one. I’m actually working on doing two more - one acoustic and another on electric, but the electric one will be later.