One of the excuses people often give for not going after their dreams is that they’re not educated enough, in one way or another. Now that might involve something like having a degree, but it goes way beyond that. You may be hesitant to move forward on something if you haven’t had a lesson, a class, or some sort of prior hands-on experience in that area. And so you wait until a class is offered, the timing is better, or you can drum up enough money and/or time to go back to school. Meanwhile your dream sits on the mantle collecting dust.
Scott offers up a pretty good argument for not needing lessons to get started DOING that something. He believes that, "lots of stuff (ok, most stuff) is 90% self-taught." Now, I wouldn’t want my dentist to credit the sum total of his knowledge to a Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dentistry book, but I think Scott is right on. And again, we can use children as an example. Kids don’t wait around for lessons do things…
- You pretty much taught yourself how to ride your bike, didn’t you? Sure, Dad was there to TRY to help keep you from falling, but you can’t get the hang of the whole balancing thing unless you just get out there and practice.
- Kids are also master salesboys and girls. It’s remarkable how good they are at getting their way. I’ve never met a kid who has employed a sales consultant or negotiation coach, but they seem to do pretty well after a little trial and error.
- On an even more basic level, there are thousands of Idiot’s Guides listed on Amazon.com, but there is no Complete Idiot’s Guide to Walking.* Kids just get to it. They’re not afraid to fall, and they keep going, one step at a time — very clumsily at first — until they get it.
[*There is, however, a Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking for Health. Which sort of proves my point. Kids can figure out the walking thing on their own, but we adults need an ENTIRE book devoted to walking in a healthy manner? I just hope that there aren't people out there saying, "Well, I'd like to start walking for my health, but I'm not gonna risk it until I can take a class or find a book about it."]
As for me personally, I don’t have a degree in business or marketing or professional speaking. I have never taken a class on how to build a web site, make a podcast, or shoot a tv show. I’m certainly not an expert in all of these things, but I’ve gotten pretty good at most of them.
School is important, lessons are good, but don’t wait to get going on the things you want to do. Just like a toddler learning to walk, it might be awkward at first, but you’ll be running in no time.
Technorati Tags: Idiot’s Guide, lessons, education, learning, Scott Ginsberg, dreams
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It’s that little voice of fear in the back of our heads that hold us back. Half of the time, it’s probably more fear of success than failure. You sure don’t see that fear in kids very often – like the learning to ride your bike & walking examples you mentioned. They are definitely not afraid to succeed!
My favorite way to learn a new thing, whether it’s a new computer program, or whatever, is to just dive in and “do it”. If I get hung up on something, I can always hit “help”, but I like to see what I can do on my own first!
The graphic image of the Complete Idiots Guide to Breathing just left me laughing silly for half the morning!!
2 of my mottos: You don’t have to know how to do Everything in advance (how boring!) and Always trust that childhood taught us How to Learn How to Learn!!!!
Sue — As I go through life, I am finiding that fear of success is much more prevalent than fear of failure. People are worried that if they become successful, friends and family might disown them. That might be strong language, but it’s always more comfortable to fit in than it is to stand out. And as Marianne Williamson said, “Your playing small does not serve the world.”
Minette — What a great approach! The best way to learn is by doing. And it’s courageous to not worry about “messing up.”
Freshy — I’m glad I put the extra time in creating that graphic. Nice mottos, too. I’m a fan of mottos that are one step away from being a tongue twister.
Jason, you rock the casbah!! OMG, it is 2 years later and I can NOT stop laughing at the cover of that book. There are so many things I never let anyone tell me I couldn’t / shouldn’t do. I started riding offroad motorcyle at 30. I learned html WHILE I created my first website. If one merely eliminates the word “failure” from our vocabulary and replaces it with “learning”, the world is our oyster!!
Thanks, Judy! I love that idea of replacing “failure” with “learning.” So true. Thanks for being such a great example of how to kick Adultitis in the teeth!