Another New Year Article?
Really, Kev? Another New Year article? It’s the middle of March already. I know, I know. I haven’t lost all sense of time yet, but I still can’t believe it’s March! Usually, by this time of year, New Year's Resolutions are no longer a thing. How are you doing?
You know how they say it gets harder to earn things as you get older? Well, I definitely started feeling that once I became an adult. I would learn something new, but it wouldn’t go as I thought. For example, I played ping pong for a very short while. I thought that since I played tennis, ping pong would be an easy transition. I was blown away by how fast the game was and it was hard for me to respond to different types of spin. It got so frustrating that I stopped playing after a dozen times or so.
Then, when I was a bit older, and my body was feeling stiffer and tighter from tennis, I decided to try out yoga because I heard it was good for flexibility. Can I say I definitely underestimated how difficult yoga is? I would try it out for a month and then stop. Then half a year later, I would try it out for a month and then stop. It felt like I wasn’t improving, even though I did feel better after every session. I thought something was wrong with me or maybe I wasn’t going at the right time, or some other reason.
After some reflection, I realized it wasn’t the logistical or strategic planning that prevented me from sticking to ping pong or yoga, it was that I didn’t enjoy sucking at doing something new. My pride would expect me to pick it up quickly, but when it didn’t, I decided to stop. A few years later, a mentor of mine had a social media post that said the following:
Suck first.
Suck less.
Success!
I didn’t love the language at first, but when I reflected on my own experiences, this was exactly my issue. When you start anything new, you most likely will suck. If you can deal with sucking for a little while, you’ll suck less (yay…). If you keep going down that path of sucking less, you will eventually have success. The progression made sense to me. My chiropractor shared that babies fall about 2,000 times before they learn how to walk. How’s that as an example?
So since then, I’ve been thinking about what activities I’ve been avoiding, not because I can’t do it, but because I’m too scared to suck at it. Full transparency, writing for the Forum was a fear of mine. I didn’t know if I would be a decent writer or not. However, I would never know if I never wrote or submitted an article. Another part of business these days is posting social media content, heavily emphasizing video content. I’m still working on posting more often, but I’ve recorded myself enough times and posted enough content that I can be ok with sucking for now.
So, I’m curious… What have you wanted to do but have been afraid to do? Is it because you’re afraid that you’ll suck? Can you think of maybe one or two things? Have something in mind? Now, can I challenge you to try sucking sometime in the next month? Go into it knowing you won’t be good and commit to enjoying doing something new. Better yet, if you learn to laugh at your suckitude, you’ll progress forward even faster! After you do it, I want you to report it to me. Even better, send me proof you did it! If you do, I might have a special gift for you!
Coach Kev helps people find calm, clarity, and confidence in their life while sucking less so he can succeed. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com, or follow on IG and YouTube @kevinkoocoaching and come meditate with him at https://bit.ly/kkcmeditation
