Author: Joshua Uebergang
Excuse me for the cliche title. However, I believe it's fitting because
these principles I feel really are the secrets to having massive
success and having it fast.
Most experienced people in their area of expertise know of these
principles. The first principle is: The best way to learn is to do it, screw
up, and screw up fast. (The screwing up is optional but almost
inevitable.)
Here's the thing. I just had a little reminder of this principle
recently. I love playing basketball and take it pretty seriously.
I had to referee 4 games with zero refereeing experience and zero
refereeing training. I have no skills refereeing; I'm a player. Most players
at almost any sport really don't have a clue as to what's going on. We
just love to complain to the referee about a few calls and pretend we
know what's going on. We have no idea about how to run a game, just the
basics about what is an illegal play.
I was freaking out about refereeing the games as I don't even know how
to run a game as a ref like substituting players on, how to call fouls,
how to call time outs, and the most basic stuff! ha! I had to ref
because the tournament organizer (my coach), made all his players ref to
help fundraise an event for the next month. He ignored my plea to be
released from the torture of having no experience. Here I was thrown in the
deep end.
Fortunately, the first game wasn't to bad. I had a girls game (and an
experienced ref with me) and think the players mostly just respected
what I did (nothing) because I'm 3 times their size.
I learned from this is if you have someone experienced by your side,
they know what to expect and can guide you. This is the part where you
get someone who has experience, and help them guide you during the
unknown. It's the view where your inexperience needs to be "made up" by
someone else otherwise you'll run into future problems.
New corporations that do great just about always employ a board of
directors or fill other important positions with those who have experience.
Get a mentor or just talk with those who have experience in areas you
don't. Let them guide you because you've never gone down that path
while they likely have. This is a huge secret to succeeding fast.
As I said before, screw up and screw up fast. I sure did (it wasn't
that bad) as I missed a few obvious calls like one girl who should have
gotten the charge as she was planted and was trampled over (silly ref :)
). I learned for the next games which were more important. A later game
I called my first charge which was great.
I stayed pretty quite that first game but made my first call (after
having observed the other ref, what you exactly do. ha!) which was nerve
raking. Like almost all fears, I had blown it out of proportion. I made
the call and everyone just accepted it. What was I expecting? ... to be
yelled at of course.
Maybe you have a fear of being laughed at when writing a book (this was
a big one for me), breaking the habitual pattern of 9-5, or jumping on
the new diet. It's likely the fear is attempting to protect you, but
I'm betting you're letting it build a 5 metre concrete wall around you
such that you're immobile.
The third game was a joke. I had to ref in front of 200+ students (it
was a college game) who were standing one inch away from the sideline
the entire game. The teams each had a side of the court to their own.
Most of the game they were yelling abuse at each other. Why the heck was I
reffing the biggest game of the night? I had no experience prior to
the night and no training.
After doing that game, the following game was easy simply because it
was contrasted against the third one and it just seemed easy.
You're going to have those real tough moments when starting a diet,
setting up a business, or trying to get a promotion, but get past them,
and it just seems easy from then on in - even though it may not actually
be that easy. For the future, you'll have the pride and confidence
knowing that you underwent those moments and they can fuel you to overcome
your current problem.
There is no way I could have learned so fast if I hadn't been thrown in
the deep end. So... why not jump in? Come join me. It may be cold and
deep but you can float and move around. You'll live.
Joshua Uebergang is a motivational communication skills expert. You can
sign-up to his free newsletter and visit his site to learn more about
becoming successful by visiting:
http://www.earthlingcommunication.com/blog/category/success
