I overheard the following words from my first grader. “Mom, if I don’t win let’s play again!”
This is the secret to getting good at ANYTHING. The secret is to understand that losing is temporary. If you want to ride a bike, you crash. You lose some skin. You cry. You get a bandaid and get back on. If you want to draw good you fill up a wastebasket with crumpled paper. And….you’ll sharpen your pencil – a lot!
If you want to play an instrument you play a lot of really bad sounds. You cause those within earshot to cringe. But…only…at…first.
The problem is that most people fail to progress beyond the “only at first” portion.
THE CHALLENGE: Identify something new you would like to try. (Maybe it’s that thing that keeps you up at night.) Now go do it. Tell yourself you are going to lose. Tell yourself you will be real, real bad. Accept it. Then, move on. Get past the part where you stink. Approach it like a first grader and play until you win!
Photo by Jason Eppink
