The best way to stay motivated when playing an instrument is to ALWAYS learn something new!! It doesnt matter if it is a brand new song, a scale or just a variaton of an old exercise/song!! You must keep your practice interesting by mixing things up!
I know sometimes life gets in the way and it is hard to find time to practice but set a goal for yourself and stick with it. Your goal can be learning a new tune every day, week or month!
if you want to know how to create variations to old exercises to make them extra fun or a little bit more challening - Feel free to post them here and I ll be happy to check it out! * ROD
Learning something new is definitely a great way to stay motivated! Along these lines, I recommend every musician take some time to play around. Sometimes professionals and dedicated students become bogged down preparing for their next gig, learning a particularly challenging song, or working toward some other goal that their practice becomes more of a checklist than a passion. Even if you've got an important project you're working on, you can afford to take 15 minutes and make up a short song, improvise along with a favorite recording, or sight-read some easy songs just for fun. Not everything has to have an end goal, and it's important to relax with your instrument.