Look — I’m going to be honest with you. You want to be successful right? It’s a dumb question because I know you wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case. You’re not afraid to read a blog or two to find the secrets to success.
That puts you one step ahead of most. Some people aren’t even willing to pick up a book, read a blog, or listen to a podcast to learn something new.
But my job isn’t to coddle you like a baby and simply affirm you by just saying good job. My role is to help you get to where you want to go. I’m going to challenge you to take one step further than just doing “personal development,” and it might just be the reason you aren’t where you want to be yet.
It’s this – I need you to stop JUST learning and start getting into the arena.
Stop Practicing and Start Playing
It might be so simple but the fastest path to success is to stop “practicing” and start playing the game.
If you’re anything like me, you might love personal development. I’m a life long learner and enjoy the growth process. However, it’s easy to keep “growing” without actually putting that learning into action. The most effective form of knowledge is applied knowledge.
If you want to grow the fastest in anything, step INTO the game and start playing it right away.
Lessons from Golf
For my golf lovers out there, I’ll put it into terms that you’ll understand better.
I’ve been a fan of playing golf for quite some time. When I got into it, several of my close friends starting playing as well. But our paths for learning were quite opposite.
It would have been the smartest for all of us to get coaching right off the bat, but none of us did. It’s probably the fastest path to better golf. We would have learned proper technique, understanding of the golf swing, and how to play on the course. Personal coaches would have saved us time and money. There is definitely a lesson here.
But that isn’t the lesson I’m trying to make right now. At the time, I couldn’t justify paying for a golf coach since I was just playing for fun and wasn’t making much money.
Instead, I thought it was best to go to the range and master “the swing.” I would go often, randomly tweaking what I thought were the right things to do to have a perfect swing before I got on the course.
Perfectionism is a Form of Fear
In reality, I was just afraid of looking bad. I wanted the perfect swing before I’d even play a game. Also, because I rarely played the actual game, I made it seem scarier than it was.
“What if I totally duff the ball in front of everyone.”
“What if I have terrible shots that go out of bounds?”
“What if I hold my group back?”
“What if…”
Sounds familiar right?
My friends on the other hand decided to just start playing on the golf course instead. They were playing the real thing while I was practicing to play the real thing.
“They were playing the real thing while I was practicing to play the real thing.”
Guess who got better faster?
Yup, my friends did. While I barely got “course time,” they were understanding the nuances of the game and they KNEW what they needed to practice. Golf isn’t just about a perfect swing. There are so many more things to learn when you actually get on the course.
When I finally learned this, I just started playing the game. Once I did, my results skyrocketed! And when I did practice at the range, I KNEW what to work on that would improve my score the most rather than guessing and wasting time.
Perfectionism is the Antithesis to Starting
When you stop caring about looking bad and start playing the game, you’ll learn faster. Most of the time, we stop ourselves from getting good because we’re afraid to look bad or “fail.”
In business, it’s the same thing. Yes, personal development is good but you should get skin in the game so you know what to learn that will give you the most results.
In simple English, start a business. Whatever it is, get started. You can find something here if you don’t have a hustle already. Your personal development will then have so much more meaning. When you let go of the fear of failure or embarrassing yourself, the faster you’ll succeed.
So let’s get out there, start your business, and let’s GO!
“FOREEEEEE”