Learning is Hard! You Are Going to Suck Before You Improve!
Are you a lifelong learner? When was the last time you started to learn something new? Was it frustrating? Did you quit or did you persevere until your skill level improved beyond sucking at it? Everyone who is beyond their degrees may have difficulty at remembering the last time you tried something new (unless you have continued to learn because of your job or family responsibilities).
You may be familiar with a number from Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, where he states that it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills. How long is 10,000 hours? That is 416.66 days of continuous practice. If we assume you are willing to practice 8 hours a day, every day then that is still 3.42 years before you have “mastered” something. The research he quoted from actually says it is approximately 10 years of practice as let’s face it who is going to practice 8 hours every day? What he didn’t take into account is what happens if you have a fantastic teacher who can assist you become better over that time. Therefore just as important as practice is who you learn and receive feedback from.
The reason I am writing this is because of a podcast I listened to from Simon Sinek where he has a discussion with Brené Brown and Adam Grant (https://simonsinek.com/podcast/episodes/two-bits-of-optimism-with-brene-brown-and-adam-grant-part-one/ ), and a video where Seth Rogan states that if you continue trying you may be successful while if you don’t try you certainly won’t be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR8Zq0xuCz8 ).
Therefore putting both of these messages together I urge you to do whatever it is you dream about doing. Even if you have never written anything beyond a thesis, if you want to write a book you need to get words on a page consistently before you get there. If you want to start a YouTube Channel then grab that camera and begin filming. If you want to become an expert dancer then start taking dancing lessons! The problem is that when you begin these things it is going to be tough as you will see people with more experience making these things look easy. That can easily lead to imposter syndrome sinking in making you wonder why you are even trying to do this thing. Don’t let the imposter syndrome win. As Seth states, and is very true, if you don’t try you will never be successful at it. His comment is that he has seen good people within the entertainment industry give up while others have persisted and then become successful.
At some point you need to show your work to someone else and receive feedback. In the case of a YouTube channel you may receive that from posting your videos as I am. For writing you will need to show it to someone once it is ready to be shared. This could be described as Brené states as an SFD (shitty first draft), but that it is good enough where you aren’t showing disrespect to whomever is reading it. Remember, even great writers edit their work so don’t be too disheartened if your feedback requires rewriting or editing, that is to be expected. The feedback you will receive will allow you to improve what you are doing, then once you are better you can continue to receive feedback and improve until you consider to have mastered or completed your goal.
The important thing I want to state is that it takes courage to begin something or to learn something new. But it takes even more courage to stay the course and continue the process, especially if others are disparaging about your efforts. Remember, what are they doing which is new or challenging in their lives? It is easy to laugh and say derogatory things about someone rather than have the courage and take the risk to pursue dreams. You are doing something challenging but it will be worth it in the end.
So if someone says you suck at something, or you feel that you aren’t good at it. Don’t allow it to put you off continuing to work on it. You’ve got this. I believe in You!
