Ryan, a friend of mine, showed me a posting on social media of a sign that gave some sage advice: Be Brave, Suck at Something New. I was at that moment actually contemplating what I would write for this blog. I was contemplating how I just get stuck in a rut sometimes. How do I get out?
Well this advice seems rather appropriate. How many of us go through life contemplating engaging something new? How often? I was thinking that for me being such a perfectionist, I have tried a lot of new things in my lifetime. Perhaps that is why I feel stressed a lot! Always trying something new means that I am probably going to suck at it. For someone like me that creates anxiety.
Seriously though, maybe we need to be ok with being horrible at something. Which is better, I wonder, being awesome at something that you have done repeatedly for years, or being bad at something you have never tried before?
Perhaps it is a law of diminishing returns. When you first start with something new, you are growing and learning. Then you improve and things are great for awhile. Then you get comfortable, then too comfortable and before you know it you are complacent and prime to be disrupted by outside forces.
If the above is true then you need to start something new periodically. Too many new things and you would just not be productive. Not enough new things and you will wake up in a pasture one day wondering why you are irrelevant. So the trick would be to figure out how often tonfo something new.
Let’s just go with 365 days as a starting point. What if every year, instead of a meaningless resolution you decided to start something new? Learn to be ok with being horrible at it. I took a yoga class with some women much older than me a year ago. They really were curious as to what the hell I was doing in there. I tried it out for a few sessions, but I sucked so bad, that I quit. I gained no benefit from that effort other then realizing that a 90 year old woman could touch her toes in a far more graceful way then I ever could.
Perhaps it is good that I have had an attitude change on this. It is ok to start something new and not be good at it. That is the whole point. You learn by trying and improving. With effort, time and incremental improvements you get better. Doing something new gives you rich experience, improves your prospects and helps you find new horizons. So with that thought, we can take a look at our lives and seriously ask the question if we are indeed pursuing something new and exciting. If we are then great! Feeling worried, anxious, stressed!? That is ok, it is because you suck right now! Be happy! You are growing exponentially as a person! Do you find yourself in despair, despondent with boredom? Then that is an absolute call to venture out and take on a new challenge and suck at something for awhile.
Guy Reams
