The logical answer...vote for the Tony Cox AMA and ask him! https://community.guitartalk.co.za/d/26395-ask-me-anything-tony-cox

The illogical answer : JOIN A BAND (or start a musical project/regular jam with someone).

I'm a fan of the illogical one - you'll be challenged by the process/members to develop certain skills as you create jams/songs. I had written down some technical goals to develop on bass, looonngg before I joined the last band - was tricky for me to get into working on them - always something better to do ? ...but getting me to the practice room was easy!

Now on the other side of the experience - a lot of technical theory I wanted to practice, I see that I did work on - in a way that wasn't frustrating or required excessive patience. It just happened.

And don't diss cover bands, Bothners do the "Weekend Warriors" thing and that can be a helluva lot of fun and really help in ways you didn't expect.

I can relate to where you are... I have been there, and will probably visit that space again in future. (There is no destination, it's all a journey ?)

Having clear goals is probably the number one motivating factor at play here. The importance of clearly-defined, attainable goals cannot be overstated. When it seem unattainable, break it down in bite-sized chunks. Those goals should include:
- Developing your ear (intervals, etc)
- Improving the mechanics (finger strength, accurate picking, finger independence, string-skipping, etc)
- Building your vocabulary (licks, riffs, phrases)
- Understanding and applying the relationship between Chords, Scales, Modes, Arpeggios
- Playing with other musicians... even one-on-one.

Reading it back, it seems to me that I am just stating the obvious here... ? If you're interested, feel free to hook up in the real world, and I'll share some of my approaches with you.

Jazzman105 Thank you sir. Thanks to all the replies, it is really a lot to think about.

Point 1, makes sense. 2 and 3, I am working on. 4, that is more to do with confidence. That I REALLY need to work on ?.

I must say, as far as goals go, I know exactly what I want, I am just need help in formulating a strategy to get there.

RobbieZ . 4, that is more to do with confidence. That I REALLY need to work on

You are not alone there! Is something I reflected on recent - something special happens when you believe that you can and the mind gets out of the way of the fingers.

For sure, lots of muscle memory prep to get there, but I've many a peep pass through the gear junkie that just needed a bit of encouragement over gear or endless practice.

One regret I recall from my daze at the Jazz Workshop was never attending their ensemble get-togethers. Playing with others is key to confidence and cementing dry theory into your playing vocabulary.

Good luck!

RobbieZ Jazzman105 Thank you sir. Thanks to all the replies, it is really a lot to think about.

I must say, as far as goals go, I know exactly what I want, I am just need help in formulating a strategy to get there.

There's no profound strategy to reaching such goals, IMO. You just have to get into the trenches and do the nitty-gritty graft. The stimulation and motivation presents itself there, at that level. I'd say, start with one simple NEW exercise each, aimed at taking you closer to each of your goals... or even just two of your goals. It's all in our approach. Here's my typical approach to, for instance learning an intimidating Pat Martino solo passage. This kind of approach is obviously not always strictly relevant to other learning areas mentioned, but I'm selling a mindset.
1. Do it slow in a parrot-fashion.
2. Use a metronome.
3. First learn the whole thing, then start increasing your speed slowly and incrementally over days.

4. Swap the metronome for a drum-machine. More stimuli, more fluff to work through under pressure, stronger concentration and attention span being developed...
5. In that spirit... Now add a chord progression to your drum beat. (many apps available to do that)
6. Once you know the phrase, substitute it with arpeggios and scales over the progression instead. Now you learn the context of the phrase... which scales its based on. So if you "lose your spot" in the solo, at least you have the comfort of knowing your "territory".
7. Play it in other keys and finally force it into a song you already enjoy playing or improvising over.

(Step 5 - 7 can potentially happen in one practice session). So, in learning a lick, I have exercised my ear, timing, improvisation, and more.

Again, it all sounds so obvious... but as a guitar-player, the value is not in knowing how you can do it. It's in doing it.

Jazzman105 This kind of approach is obviously not always strictly relevant to other learning areas mentioned, but I'm selling a mindset.

That's a great approach - Nice one Jazzman (Why am I surprised, with a nickas Jazzman, hehe). It's pretty much what the teachers said I should have done ? I failed to get through it that methodically, especially step 7 - never did go through the keys as I should have, tsk-tsk.

Thanks V8...

V8 I failed to get through it that methodically, especially step 7 - never did go through the keys as I should have, tsk-tsk.

I don't think anyone really does. ? I certainly don't run through ALL the keys. What's even more challenging, and something I don't see being discussed as much as changing keys, is playing it in the same key, but in different positions. Now your ear and interval knowledge is really being put to work!

Here are a few more thoughts on the topic. I hope you find this useful RobbieZ.
We all become periodically despondent with our (lack of) progress. In that space, it's easy to feel isolated and start questioning everything you thought you know about playing guitar. The fact is that the greats we admire were even more isolated than us today. They did not have that wealth of resources at their fingertips like we do. For the majority of them, their early learning was limited to mimicking recordings.

George Benson and Eric Clapton will be the first to admit that they are not theoretically minded guitarists. They play what they know. I don't imagine either of them playing West-African grooves very well, for example. That's not what they know. For them to know it, they have to practice it - just like us.

Guitar playing is a very versatile activity, with constant room for improvement across a very wide spectrum of elements and styles. So no-one ever knows if he knows enough or if he is focusing on the "right things" during practice. Beating yourself up about the things you don't know will drive you nuts and is no good for your confidence. Therefore I've learned to focus on doing the things I can do, better. The rest I learn by necessity. And here is where clear goal-setting makes another appearance.

If my goal is to play an epic song that is obviously out of my league, I have to learn to master the elements of that
song. It could contain fast runs, sweeps, pinch harmonics and all sorts of other horrible things I struggle with or know nothing about. Nevertheless, these things then become my current curriculum out of necessity... brought about by my goal.

If my band gets booked for a wedding gig and the bride pre-requests a specific ballad as a first-dance song, then learning that song becomes a goal and all it's components become my current curriculum.

If it's my goal to jam with highly skilled jazz cats at a local jam night, then preparing two windgat jazz standards
and a killer solo for each, becomes my goal and brushing up on my comping, modes, favourite jazzy licks, etc become my current curriculum.

Etc.

In this way my learning is goal-oriented and has real-world relevance. At the moment, I am working on Christmas carols, for example. Simply because 'tis the season.