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Learn To Love Growth And Change
And You Will Be A Success
Edward W. Smith
Do you want to be even more successful? Learn to love learning
and growth. The more effort you put into improving your skills,
the bigger the payoff you will get. Realize that things will
be hard at first, but the rewards will be worth it.
Many of us have to be reminded that almost everything worthwhile
in our lives is hard at first. Learning to walk was hard at
first, but gradually we learned and now it is effortless.
The same holds true for our more advanced skills such as,
sports, music, art, etc. We forget these past struggles to
learn and take them for granted now.
When most people begin to try something for the first time,
it usually doesn't turn out particularly well. It doesn't
mean we are bad, or stupid, or anything like that, it just
means that most things of any complexity take awhile to learn.
Given this, the surprising thing is how most people react
when they begin to learn a new skill and it does not go well.
Most people at that point feel such things as surprise, anger,
frustration, and so on. We forget that the expression "beginners
luck" means that doing something well at first is a fluke.
We forget it isn't supposed to be easy; it is almost against
the laws of nature for something to be good at first.
So what is a more positive way to handle the difficulties
we will encounter when we are learning something new? We should
take the attitude that we are supposed to fail at first, that
is the way the system works. We should look for a way to find
fascination with the process, and build enjoyment of the ups
and downs into the process. We need to recognize the difficulties
we will face and build them into the time and effort we plan
on expending on the project. This is one place in your life
where a healthy dose of pessimism will pay off. Just planning
for difficulty will take much of the negative emotions we
feel in these situations away.
Lets look at another situation where we encounter difficulty
at first. Almost anything involving change is very hard for
us to incorporate into our lives at first. One of my favorite
expressions regarding change is "the only kind of change we
like, is the change in our pocket." Making the decision to
change is easy, it is just a decision. Staying changed is
hard. We want to fall back to our old ways; we are discouraged,
uncomfortable and so on. One again we are learning something
new and it helps to build this into our plan for change.
In addition to learning to enjoy the process as above, we
can add another element to help us through learning something
new or the change process. We can keep reviewing the goal
we are seeking, the payoff, etc. and continually tell ourselves
that the pain is temporary, but the payoff is permanent. We
need to take the pain and frustration and deal with it minute
by minute, telling ourselves to hang on, hang on, we can make
it. Life is a series of minutes we can make it through.
Many people use visualization techniques to help them learn
a new skill or deal with change. They "daydream" or use guided
imagery to see themselves going through the process of learning
or change and attaining the goal. A person on a diet can see
himself f becoming thinner and thinner, easing the pain and
giving them the sense they can do it. The same with a new
skill such as golf. They see themselves hitting the ball,
in just the right way, and they see the golf ball going right
where they want it. A word of caution regarding using visualization
to learn a new skill. The technique is very, very powerful
and you will tend to perform exactly like you visualized it,
so if you visualize the wrong technique, chances are you will
actually perform the wrong technique. So be very sure of the
proper technique before you used visualization to help you
master it.
One last point. I have stressed the need to recognize that
new things will be hard to learn at first. While this "negative"
view is helpful, it must be balanced with a positive outlook
for the whole project. Plan and expect problems at first,
but also plan and expect that you will eventually master the
situation. Planning for a positive outcome will help give
you the willpower to see the situation through and enable
things that are needed to move you ahead to appear when they
are needed. Remember if we expect good things, we tend to
get good things.
Edward W. Smith is the author of Sixty Seconds To
Success, he produces and hosts the Bright Moment cable TV
and Internet radio show, is president of the Bright Moment
Seminars, is a motivational speaker, and publishes the free,
daily, email of the One Minute Motivator (quick peak performance
tip). His website is www.brightmoment.com
and his email is edsmith@brightmoment.com.
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
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