Don't Compare Your Beginning to Somebody Else's End
In a world where it is easy to read someone's blog, watch their YouTube video, or listen to a podcast, it seems like we should be able to do anything we hear about from someone else. This is even more true now when many people have been overdosing on streaming videos and building new listening habits while working through a pandemic. When you see or hear these new ideas, it is made to look easy, as if anyone could do it. In reality, while I believe everyone can do it, the timing will never be immediate.
Every person, with any new project, learning, or activity, has a day one. We all begin somewhere. The most important break we can give ourselves is not to confuse our day one with someone else's mid-point or even more so their ending level. It may look easy on a video or sound easy on that podcast, but they likely have taken months, or even years to get to that level. Don't get discouraged when you want to try a new idea you have heard about and are not immediately excellent at that new task. It takes time for any of us to get up to speed on new habits, routines, and activities. It is common advice we would freely offer to others, yet we rarely afford ourselves the same latitude.
Everyone has a year one
If you have ever started a new job, especially after coming from a position where you may have been considered experienced or even an expert, it is difficult to remember what that first year is like. In the retail world, cycling holidays, peak seasons, and special events can be a challenging thing to grasp until you have actually worked through those periods. What once seemed so logical or easy is now foreign and harder than it looked. I certainly experienced that in the past as I changed companies.
Everyone has a learning curve to go through
I had been with one company for almost twenty-five years; I knew the business inside and out. Changing to a new company, even in a similar role, proved to be a steep learning curve working through different business cycles and seasonal changes. What seemed so daunting a year ago feels so much better now as I look back. I just needed to work through that year and realize that I would be able to pick this up as I had with my previous company. I know there is still a lot to learn, but I can see the progress that has been made.
Learning is and ISN’T everything
It could be easy to blame timing for the feeling of being behind everyone else. With the amount of information that can be shared in various ways every day, it can seem as though it is easy to get up to speed on something. Everyone wants to get in on the ground floor, and when you look out and see many people doing something new already, it is easy to blame timing. The easier thing to do is not try something new and believe you can get in earlier next time. However, timing isn't always the most important element. Just because there are a few people that appear to be further ahead or even experts in this new area doesn't mean it cannot be perfected to new levels or branched into additional areas.
Consistency, perseverance, and grit win the day
There is no such thing as an overnight sensation. It may feel as though that has happened when something finally goes viral, and suddenly everyone hears about a new idea for the first time. But behind the scenes, someone had been working on that idea or concept for some amount of time before it caught on. To get to a point where you feel like you have full command of any activity will take time. You will face obstacles and challenges. It is what you do during those periods that will ultimately lift you beyond the beginner level into the intermediate, advanced, and eventually expert levels. The perseverance and grit when times are tough are how breakthroughs and real improvement are achieved. That extra effort to plow through the difficult times is what hardens the learning into routines and everyday behaviors.
As the saying goes, 'the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second-best time is today.' That holds true for almost anything new we want to begin. However, we would never compare a sapling to a fully mature oak tree and scold it for not being bigger after the first year. Don't place that burden onto yourself either. Look at the potential you will have to grow into and then stick to it and make it your own.
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Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash