Everything new is hard at first | Be brave enough to suck at something new

Everything new is hard at first.

Ever caught yourself giving up because something new was just too difficult at the beginning? This episode we’re talking about why it’s hard at the beginning of a new project, and we’ll continue on with how to move forward over on my Patreon account!

Transcript:

Hey friends! You’re listening to This Quote Changed My Life, a podcast about inspired action.

My name is Tracey and I’m the host of the show! Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the podcast, a podcast where I share quotes that have made me think a little deeper into what the quote and made me step up and make a change in my life in some way. Sometimes it’s a change in how I live with my anxiety disorder, sometimes it’s how I show up as a mother, sometimes it’s how I’ve navigated towards being a Wellness Coach and how I approach each day.

I do believe in the power of language and communication, that it has an effect on our mindset and has the ability to inspire us and propel us forward if we find something that we click with. So here I am! Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss an episode, and come and hang out with me in my Patreon where you can get a couple of bonus episodes and a worksheet for each monthly mindset & mindfulness challenge.

But on with this episode’s quote which is – Everything new is hard at first.

This is a quote that I love to remind my kids about – especially when it comes to new things they start to learn at school. My eldest son started highschool last year and there were a lot of learning curves – a lot of new classes and just being at a new school with hundreds of new kids is a big step. (And trust me, his high school had the most amount of students in the entire state, my hats are off to the school staff who manage so many teenagers in one place – wow).

But I also like to remind myself of this quote all the time – because I do believe in life long learning. I have not stopped studying after I graduated from college – and I want to encourage not only my kids, but you too – to never stop learning. If there is something that you’re curious about, go and study it! Educate yourself at every opportunity. There’s no such thing as too much education  – get stuck into the world and expand your understanding of it.

What is the hardest part though – is that very start. Because if it’s something that is brand new to us, it’s brand new to our brains. We haven’t built that experience, that knowledge, the ins and outs yet. It’s the start of building a library of knowledge in our mind and bod. It’s probably going to hurt, it’s going to suck but is it worth it? Yes.

Have you heard about neuroplasticity? I’m not going to go into the full medical explanation of it here – but in super quick terms, neuroplasticity is the ability to build the connections in our brains over our lifespan. And we can do this, by picking up new skills, learning new things so that we keep those pathways open. When we’re young, we’re able to learn more things quickly but as we age, our brains become more fixed and we become more set in our ways. So learning new things is a great way to keep our brains firing, to teach ourselves to push past the point of fixation and create those connections as we grow.

So what can we do at the very start of our learning journey, and as we go along and run into points in learning where we just want to give up?

Firstly, keeping this quote in mind is of course my first piece of advice – everything new is hard at first.

Secondly, asking for help from people that are a little or a lot further along than you.

And thirdly, opening yourself up to being bad in the beginning. I think that’s the most important part of learning. Not having an expectation that you will just get it on the first go. That it takes time, and effort, and getting things wrong before you get things right.

Whether it’s a new class you’re taking at school, or a new business venture – staying open to learning and putting your ego aside can only benefit you in the beginning. Remind yourself that you are there to learn, not teach. Be excited about all the new things you’re going to learn, that there is more to find out about and figure out than what we see at face value – I think that’s the beauty of life really, we will never know everything about everything and everyone. What a cool way to approach your day and your life.

I will be talking a bit more about neuroplasticity and what action we can take to help our resilience in the next podcast episode – but we’re also talking about about motivation & habits over in the Patreon community this month so I hope you can join us there.

What did you think of this episode’s quote? Is there something you’re new at? Something you’ve stopped trying to learn because it felt too hard? Could you pick it up again?

Let me know what you think by finding me over on Instagram under @makesunshineco – but until then, thank you so much for joining me and I will speak to you guys next time.