I was scrolling through Facebook recently on one of my days off. There was a post that caught my eye titled, “40 Cheat Codes I Wish I Knew at 20”. I always enjoy reading these types of articles where people who are older than me reflect back on what they wished they knew earlier. I find them interesting and insightful, and I can usually find something that hits home for me. This particular one had one that stood out to me: “Have one thing in your life that you’re bad at, but love doing”.
A lot of the time, especially as we get older, we are hesitant to try new activities or shy away from an unfamiliar opportunity. Whether it be for fear of looking inadequate, or feeling uncomfortable being a beginner, it’s common for people to stick to things they already have experience doing. Especially if it’s something done around other people, like going to the gym, karate, entering a new job field, etc. you’re putting yourself in a vulnerable position being a beginner in a room full of potential experts.
What’s more important though, is if it’s something that makes you happy. If it’s something you find fun, then it shouldn’t matter whether or not you’re good at it. Your success in the activity is irrelevant, as long as you’re enjoying your time doing it. Especially if it’s a hobby, you can continue practicing and eventually you’ll get better; every champion and success story all started at the bottom as well. Through hard work and dedication, you can excel at anything you put your mind to.
However, I believe the author was trying to make a separate point. Even if you never get better, and you always stay at a beginner level, that’s great too. It would be doing yourself a disservice to not partake in something that actively brings you joy; you’re robbing yourself of happiness just because you’re “not good” at it. For example, I really enjoy painting and art. I used to draw and paint all the time when I was younger and I loved it, but as I got older I started getting self-conscious. In high school, I was in a handful of art classes yet denied myself being an artist because I couldn’t draw from memory like some of my other artist friends. I always had to use a reference picture and trace an outline, and I felt ashamed every time I had to do so. I told myself I was not meant to be an artist stemming from this self-inflicted shame, and so I hadn’t kept up with art very much after high school. Until one day I was designing my college graduation cap, and I was having a lot of fun painting and creating how I wanted it to look. Even though I was using reference photos, I didn’t care this time; I was enjoying myself without feeling the need to compare myself to others. This was something that was for me and me only; to me, it didn’t matter what the end product looked like, so I got to relax and just have fun without any added pressure or stress.
I wish I would have had this same mindset earlier; there’s no point in shaming yourself when you’re having fun. I now keep it in mind whenever I am presented with a new game, drill, activity, etc. I’m not going to rob myself of the new experience by being self-conscious of my level of expertise (aka little to none). I just focus on how much I’m enjoying the activity, and it makes it so much better! I now have a couple hobbies that I partake in that I don’t feel I’m necessarily good at, but it doesn’t matter. I encourage anyone who is interested in trying something new, to adopt this mindset. It’s very freeing and you may find something that will be a new life-long activity for yourself!
