BE KIND TO YOURSELF AS YOU LEARN AND GROW

Becoming competent is part of growing and developing. It takes time, effort, and attention. How are you going to be with yourself when you make mistakes? When you misstep and fall?

Imagine learning how to ride a horse. You might fall off as you are learning how to ride. What do you do? Do you stay on the ground whining that you fell off? Will you get angry at the horse, or yourself? Might you refuse to get up, afraid you might fall off again? Or do you get up, brush yourself off, and remount the horse and go at it again?

If you are going to learn to ride, you will do the latter. The key in learning anything is NOT how many times you fall off the horse, but that you pick yourself up one more time than you fell off.

As we grow in competence, we will fall less often and stay on the ground for shorter amounts of time.

If you are like me - you are always learning something. If you are the kind of person who loves to grow and evolve, you have set yourself up in yet another classroom to learn something. So falling off is part of what happens in life. Becoming competent in picking yourself up and getting back on the horse is a more useful skill than trying not to fall off at all.

QUOTES

"The secret of success? Fall down seven times, get up eight." 
  ~ Chinese Proverb ~

PRACTICALLY SPEAKING

When you embark upon any new learning, declare yourself a beginner.

Remind yourself that you don't know how to do what you are learning, yet.

Pretend you are a loving adult guiding a youngster in learning something new when you speak to yourself.

Imagine how gentle you can be as you pick yourself up lovingly when you trip and fall on the way to learning how to do what you are learning to do.

WONDER QUESTION:

How might your life be different if you choose to talk to yourself with gentle kindness as you learn and grow?

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Copyright 2007 by Leslie Karen Sann, Living by Design
Visit this link for contact information:
leslie@living-bydesign.com

Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full:

Copyright 2007 by Leslie Karen Sann,
Living by Design.All rights reserved. 
Web site. http://www.living-bydesign.com