The year I turned 5, my father bought me a bicycle and taught me how to ride it. What a joy to be able to pedal around the neighbourhood!
When the day came for the training wheels to come off, I really had no idea what to expect. Up until then, my supports were in place and I could safely navigate the neighbourhood without fear of falling. Sans training wheels, my dad held on to the seat of my bicycle and told me to pedal just like I had been doing, so I pedalled. I felt like I was flying down the sidewalk toward the park and thought my dad must be a pretty great runner to be able to keep up with me. I turned around to see how he was managing, and much to my surprise, he was way back there! I was riding all by myself! And then I promptly crashed. Up on the bicycle I went again, until I could ride without crashing. I felt free as a bird.
Truly impressive, the mind of a child. Had I not learned to ride a bicycle when I was a kid, would I take that up now, as an adult? Would I be afraid to try? Knowing I would probably fall off and hurt myself? Not likely!
What else am I afraid to try? Now, as an adult? The only way to know how to do things is to do them. A colleague of mine said we can’t learn how to run by watching a marathon. We have to get out there and run. Or pedal. Or whatever is required for the situation at hand.
Author John Maxwell talks about “progressive failure”, the idea being that each time we try something, we get a little bit farther along before we fail. Or fall off our bike, as the case may be. Instead of focusing on the failure, we can focus on the fact that more was accomplished before we failed. That is progress!
For some reason, adults seem to think we should nail it (whatever “it” is) the first time we try something. Which is unreasonable. Now, as a 5 year old crashing my bike, I did not say to myself, “Well, that’s it. I crashed. I guess I can’t do this” and give up. I focused on the fact that I had ridden a small distance by myself! Without support! And if I tried again maybe I could ride without falling off at all! Other people could do it, so why not me?
Why not you? What would you love to do but are afraid to try, because you might fail, or not do it as well as you want to?
I have heard that from a sports point of view, and perhaps this applies to playing a musical instrument as well, it takes 10,000 repetitions to become proficient at something. 10,000!!! How can we possibly expect ourselves to be proficient on try number1?
Master Yoda says, “do or do not, there is no try.” I think we need to decide what we want to do and go for it. Knowing it probably won’t be perfect on try number 1. Knowing that each attempt will bring us closer to our goal. Progressive failure. With the emphasis on progressive.
Decide. Pedal. Succeed!
