Eric Bourassa shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Eric, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
The first 90 minutes of my day is a cup of coffee and practicing guitar. I have a guitar in my hands within the first 10 minutes of being awake. I started doing this because I found this is when I am most alert, the most creative, and the least distracted.
At 5 or 6 am, my family is still asleep and the world needs nothing from me. It also frames my day with a win and knowing that I started off doing the thing I love most. But if I wait to do it later in the day, I’m mentally exhausted and thinking about all of life’s demands. One of the best habit shifts I’ve ever made.
Occasionally I will have a season where I work on my guitar lessons business instead of practicing guitar first. But I definitely prefer to just start my day with guitar.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a professional guitarist and teacher. I perform with other artists and also write and record my own instrumental rock music. I teach guitar online through my YouTube channel and my website www.UnlimitedGuitar.com
What makes my music unique is that I love punk rock and shred guitar, so my songs often sound like if Joe Satriani started playing with blink-182. I don’t think there are a lot of people doing that (maybe for a reason! lol)
What makes my guitar lessons special is that I am obsessively committed to my students. My goal is for each guitar student to leave every lesson feeling better than when they first arrived. I want their guitar studies to be rigorous but also incredibly fun. That’s the other thing that is special about my lessons- they’re highly structured.
I’ve never been a fan of the “What do you want to learn today?” method of teaching. It’s like, “you’re the teacher, you tell me what I need to learn!”
So my guitar lessons are a collaborative process, meaning that I work with my students to create a plan that works for them. First they share their goals with me as well as a list of songs they would like to play. Then we find our best starting point in my curriculum. Each week they have 2-3 specific items to practice which usually includes 1-2 fundamentals and a song they love that is appropriate for their current level.
I absolutely love it.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Wow that’s a great question. Before I was told who I needed to be, I was a creative kid who loved to draw and create. I’ve also always had a natural desire to lift others up. I was never good at insults or comebacks and the few times I tried it I was terrible at it and felt like dirt.
The world tells me that being cynical and negative is cool. I have to fight against that. The world doesn’t need any more of it. So I’ve leaned into being a positive force.
The world also tells me I need to work all the time and be as busy as possible. So I fight hard against that, too.
I try to create enough space in my life for creativity daily and being the kid I was before the world told me what I should be.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Oh, yeah. Any time I’ve almost given up has been business-related. I’ve never considered giving up guitar, so I always found it weird when I would hear guitar students say they were thinking about quitting guitar altogether. It’s just never even occurred to me to think about life without guitar. Even at its most difficult I’ve always enjoyed the process.
Business is a different story, though. I’ve come close to giving up my youtube channel or pursuing a professional performing career. It’s a different kind of hard.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
I know so many smart people who work incessantly or are overly busy with activity. And not because they love it. It’s because they feel like they have to constantly be productive. But I don’t know anyone that enjoys that lifestyle. And I say this as someone who falls into the same trap. I grew up being bombarded with afterschool activities and homework, so that habit is in me. And I think it’s that way for a lot of my peers. It’s just how we were raised, and I don’t think it’s healthy.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing?
I will regret not being enough of an encourager to my wife and kids.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.unlimitedguitar.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric_the_bourassa/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ericbourassa
- Other: https://ericbourassa.com/
Image Credits
Madison Truscan, Aron P.
