I think one of the big challenges to trying new things is the fear of sucking at it. Or rather the fear of sucking at it where other people can see it. After all, we almost always know someone who’s worlds better at that thing than we are, and it’s hard to be compared to them. It’s easy to say that we should try, and we know that they were bad at it once too, but it doesn’t always help. It’s easy to say “Don’t be self-conscious,” but saying isn’t doing. I have a different way of dealing with that anxiety. I like sucking at things. Come with me on this journey.
“Sucking isn’t an obstacle to greatness, it’s the only path to it.”
Whenever I start something new, I’m determined to be bad at it. I have to get all my being bad out of the way. The sooner I do that, the sooner I can get to being good. Nobody gets to start good at things. Here’s my first video blog. Warning: it’s bad. Really bad. I’m awkward, and self-conscious, and not really talking into the mic. But if you look at my latest one, it’s much better. But there’s still parts where I’m ironing out the suck. I’m determined to suck at all kinds of things, because that’s the way to do it. Sucking isn’t an obstacle to greatness, it’s the only path to it. It’s the hip-deep mud of mediocrity that you have to wade through before you can grab that brass ring.
It’s not easy and I’m still self-conscious about it, but I want to try new things not despite sucking at them but because I’ll suck at them. It’s a brand new opportunity to be bad at something and to learn to be better. And you will get better at it. It’s inevitable. It might take hours or days, or even years, but you’ll get better. Sometimes you don’t even notice, or you have moments of clarity when you go “Hey, I’ve come pretty far.” I wish I had more specific instructions than “Fail repeatedly at a lot of things.” Next year we’ll do another try new things month, and I’ll be better.
So try new things. They’ll be scary. You’ll suck at them. Own it instead of letting it hold you back. Be self-conscious because in time, that’ll fall away too, and you’ll grab that ring. What did you used to suck at?
