I've been playing for over 30 years and I still wonder this myself...will I ever be really good...and I say that seriously.

[br]I say that not to discourage you, but to show you that this is a "battle" you will never overcome. You need to change your thinking. The world renowned cellist Pablo Casals was once asked why he was so committed to his practice routine. At the age of 90, his response was something along the lines of "I seem to be making some progress!".

[br]I've read the book John mentions and it is quite worth reading. I need the yearly refersher myself. I've also read a book called "The Inner Game of Music". This book I think is targeted more toward advanced and classically trained players, but there were some nuggets I was able to grab onto...such as the notion of allowing yourself to fail, and you will usually succeed.

[br]I see these guys on youtube too and think wow, they are so great, why do I suck so badly :). It is all relative. Some of these guys are pros...this is what they do for a living! If you work a day job, have a family, etc. you may not have the time they do to dedicate to playing. It's an unfair to compare yourself to them. It is also disrespectful toward them to expect that you, after a short amount of time, should be able to play like them. I don't say that to be harsh, not at all...just to show some prespective. These are things I take comfort in to help me accept where I am at.

[br]The only person to compare yourself against it you! Something that is helpful is to record yourself playing solo or over backing tracks. These can give you totally unbiased mileposts of your progress. Often, on playback you will sound better than you think you do. You may also realize that you are focusing on the wrong things. Perhaps your are playing notes cleanly, but the timing could use some work...or vice versa.

[br]It's a journey, a never ending one really. It makes it exciting and demotivating at the same time.

[br]Something that helps keep you focused, motivated, and in a positive mindset is to have a plan...one with some short term, medium term, and long term goals. This plan will change, because as you go through it, your priorities may change...your areas of interest may change. Sports always provides nice analogies for this...imagine you want to train to run marathons.

[br]Become the best player you can be. Find the music within you that inspires you to pick up the guitar. Find what it is that you want to say on the guitar...what makes you want to grab the nearest guitar and start playing along.

[br]This may all sound a bit nebulous and new agey and stuff, but it's helped me.

[br]I think Jeff makes a good point about learning songs. I'm actually refocusing on this myself now. Improvisation is great and fun, but it can't be your only focus...as he said, what you play as you improvise doesn't just come for the sky :). Unless you are Steve Vai, who says he never learned songs. He had a focus though, just not your typcial one.

[br]Keep it fun, keep it enjoyable, and keep a healthy perspective.