Immediate Gratification or Bust
Just like most of us parents, kids want to be good at what they try the first time they try it. Most of us have no patience and it is only getting worse with so many apps and programs out there to make things as easy and quick as possible. Download this app and we’ll summarize a book for you in 5 minutes. Download that app and automatically translate your whole paper for you. I even saw a new app that will automatically write blog posts for you….
Everyone is looking for a shortcut to learning and accomplishing just about anything in today’s world. We’re teaching our kids that it’s immediate gratification or just move on to the next.
From a Win-Win to a Win-Win-Win
My wife is a former college soccer player and has been enjoying her first year of coaching my son’s soccer team. I think it’s a win-win, for both of them. My wife not only gets to spend time with and teach her son, but she also gets to do something she loves and was such a big part of her life for a long time. My son gets to spend time with his mom and also learn first hand some important skills from an experienced player. Pretty cool I’d say.
Sometimes the soccer makes its way inside the house as the kids find a random ball and start booting it around. My son was recently dribbling the ball around the house and while trying to go too fast, lost the ball and kicked it right into our cabinets. Instead of getting mad, my wife blurted out a little gem:
“Learn your skills now, the speed will come later.”
The Wifey
A Much Deeper Lesson
It was just a throw away comment for her but I took it as much more. Really, this is what life is all about. No one is going to be great at something the first time they do it. They may have a knack for something and be decent to start, but becoming great at anything will take time.
What’s important is learning the skills. Taking things slow and following the process will almost guarantee that you will become great at something. And when you’re great at something, it will become easier and you’ll be far quicker to complete the tasks at hand.
The next time you’re struggling with something, realize that you’re simply following the process. Your failure doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. Everyone fails. It’s those that keep going that eventually succeed. And those that keep going that eventually become great.
Have patience. What is difficult today will become easy tomorrow. Shift your perspective and look at a challenge or setback as a new lesson that you’ve discovered only because you’ve decided to continue on the journey. In a way, failure is a gift. It is proof of progress and growth. Just don’t let it stop you from continuing on the journey.
You’ll soon be looking back and understanding why mistakes were made and just how important those mistakes were. They will be the very things in your life that made you who you are today – smarter, stronger and further down the road of growth and wisdom.
Patience & Process
Have patience. Enjoy the process. Trust the process.
