You should always do some research before buying your own guitar at a random music instrument store! I still remember how I got my first guitar: I went straight to a large music store and asked one salesman for recommendations, I told him I'm a total beginner and I just need one to get me quickly started. The guitar I finally chose only cost me $140, but it didn't take me much time to find out it was a terrible choice... The problem is there's a big gap between the strings and the frets, so I would really have to hold it extremely tight and press hard to just make it sound right. After having a try with my friends guitar which cost him about $300, I immediately knew what a good guitar would mean to you.
So here's my advice for serious beginners: be SURE that you get a high quality guitar to start with, by high quality I mean you should definitely avoid those $100 dollars guitars if you don't want your learning process to be miserable. Well, make sure you don't go too far for high quality, a $1000 dollar guitar won't make you a guitarist in two days.
You should not start with songs which are too hard for your level because you will spend tons of time frustrating yourself. Professional guitar players are known as professionals for reasons. You are not gonna play in NFL the first day you touch a football, it's just impossible. You should never deny the learning curve in it. Actually I decided to learn guitar after watching some cool performance at a party, so without doubt my first try is to play my favorite songs. I didn't make any progress except that the frustration almost made me quit.
Learning guitar usually requires a great deal of practice, but you need to know that practice is not all. It may need some time to grow callouses which can protect your fingers from injury and pain. For beginners, I would suggest you start with some very simple songs such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", or you can just practice chords. By doing this, you would easily let your fingers gradually get used to the string and become stronger.
One of the easiest songs for you guys who can't wait to show off is As Tears Go By - The Rolling Stones, it's only made up of three verses, and each verse contains four lines. Also, most of the chords are close so that it's quite easy for you to switch. Don't forget to check out YouTube for lots of useful tutorials, and I'm sure you will quickly improve your skills.
The most important thing is, you should always enjoy every moment when you are playing. Or you would easily give up. Hope my advice helps and have a good time learning guitar!
