I’ve learned how to do a lot of stuff that I once thought would be impossible for me. Some things turned out to be much easier than I expected, but many of them were difficult (sometimes even more difficult than I imagined they’d be). How did I learn to do those things? By trusting that I’d get the hang of it if I kept at it long enough and being patient as I failed toward success countless times. Each failure took me one step closer to where I wanted to be and, if I were paying close enough attention, taught me something that allowed me to do better next time.
I often think about this when someone tells me that they can’t juggle. What most of them don’t seem to realize is that I was once in that same position. The only reason I can juggle as well as I can is because I’ve spent the better part of fourteen years practicing. However, those who’ve only seen me juggle within the past few years didn’t see all the time and effort I put into learning and getting better. Additionally, of the handful of people that I’ve taught to juggle, at least a few of them said beforehand that they don’t have the talent for it. Even those who didn’t get the hang of it still know at least one major skill that took them a long time and a lot of practice to learn. This is often a physical skill that requires a lot of coordination. Even if their chosen skill doesn’t require any physical coordination, they still have the potential to learn nearly anything they want. All they have to do is adopt the mindset that they can succeed, put in the time and effort, and (ideally) figure out a good strategy that make things easier for them and allows them to progress more quickly than if they went in without a plan.
Although I’ve learned a lot on my own, I’ve also had help with a number of things, such as swing dancing. Having great dance instructors and mentors has made all the difference for me. They’ve (gently) pointed out things I can do better, given me helpful ways of thinking about the dance, and celebrated with me whenever I’ve reached a new milestone. As a result, I’ve progressed fairly quickly and become a much better dancer than I was when I started just over two years ago. So, while I love figuring things out for myself, I also ask for help when I think it will benefit me, and I’d encourage anyone to do the same.
Sometimes I have to remind myself of all of this, especially when I’m learning something difficult. It’s all a matter of wanting to succeed enough that I put in the work to get where I want to be. Whatever I’m learning may be difficult for a long time, but it’ll eventually be easy if I stick with it. Keeping this in mind has helped me with my unicycle practice since that’s been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever learned and my progress has been very slow. Whenever I get discouraged, I try to remember how far I’ve come with unicycling and how much else I’ve learned in life that I once thought I’d never get. That allows me to keep at it, see regular progress, and, perhaps most importantly, have fun along the way. This is how I approach learning new things and handling the difficulty that often follows. It’s helped me out a lot, so I hope it makes sense to you and helps you out if you decide to try it.