Learning a new skill = learning to be a beginner again
As adults, we concentrate our time on skills we’re expert in. We become accustomed to this casual expertise, and after a while all the hard work we did to learn the skills fades into the past. Until someone asks a question, the path of learning is not foremost in our minds.
I’ve been thinking about this recently, because a few weeks ago, I was invited by a friend to come to her house to learn rug hooking, which is a fiber arts skill I knew nothing about.
It’s exciting to learn new skills, so I eagerly accepted. The process was explained, and I was given a small space on her existing project to learn and practice. I’m expert in a few other fiber arts, so I will admit to you, dear reader, that I expected to be good at this right away.
So here’s the thing:
I was not good at it right away! In fact, it was pretty challenging for me to learn the basic skill of it. But since I am well practiced in related fields, I was frustrated. “Maybe I just can’t do this.” “I’m not good at this.” If it doesn’t come naturally, my inner voice is right there saying “not possible” as though my brain has no more capacity.
And now here’s the OTHER thing:
Anyone can learn a new skill. If it doesn’t come naturally, it will just take more practice. Very few of the skills I employ in my adult life was I perfect at right out the gate, and come to think of it, I’m not perfect at now either, I just have more practice so it takes less time to get the result i want from it and feels “easy”.
How to reset learning to Beginner Mode
Once I remembered that I am actually a beginner at the skill, I was able to take a breath, slow down, and forgive myself for not being “good at it”. Olympic athletes at the top of their field still have coaches, so why do I think I should be perfect immediately?
Since I’m now in the mindset of Beginner Mode, I can focus on each step of the process as I proctice. Things that are “wrong” become things that “can be improved”, and it is entirely fine to undo the step and try it again. In fact, the whole process of practice, observation, and trying again, has it’s own rhythm to it, and becomes enjoyable.
By the end of the day, I’m more excited than ever about the possibilities surrounding my new skill! While it is unlikely that I will be focussing my creative life around rug hookng now, there are small projects that I can think of that would be fun to try using this technique. What a joy!