A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
Lau Tzu
I took my oldest son golfing for the first time last week (he’s 8 years old) and was reminded of a powerful lesson. Two lessons actually.
- Learning new things is hard.
- How you think about it makes all the difference
Learning new things is hard
Your brain doesn’t like change. And learning requires change.
It requires thinking, moving, and acting in different and often awkward and uncomfortable ways as your brain tries to piece things together.
Learning also requires opening yourself up to embarrassment. Both publicly and privately as we’re often hardest on ourselves when we feel we should be better at something.
But no beginner ever looks calm, cool, and collected the first time they do anything new. Whether learning to walk, speak, read, ride a bike, throw a ball, or swing a golf club.
Learning is messy.
But kids accept this for what it is; an obstacle to be overcome rather than accepted. And so they keep trying.
This is why when a baby first learns how to walk they’ll keep trying and falling until they figure it out.
The magic word is until.
They don’t stop until they figure it out.
We’re born resilient. It’s how our species survived.
Survival of the fittest dictates that the weak, scared, vulnerable, and fragile never last long.
So if something is important to you, fight for it.
Do what it takes.
Interested VS Committed
I heard a story once from John Assaraf when his mentor asked him if he was “interested or committed?”
And this simple question has stuck with me to today. And I use it everywhere. With anyone who tells me they want to achieve bigger, better things.
Because if you’re interested you’ll do what’s convenient.
But If you’re committed you’ll do what it takes.
Be committed.
And then swing like your life depends on it.
Because it does.