As we continue our journey at becoming better, we’re going to discover many new options for how we can approach life. Mastering these skills requires persistence, specifically in remembering to practice them. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to forget to practice when we feel like we’re not making progress. We experience this emotion frequently throughout our lives, and it doesn’t feel great. In fact, it often frustrates us to the point where we stop practicing completely.
In our frustration, we will think to ourselves (and sometimes even tell others!) “I suck at this” or “I’m bad at this.” If you can catch yourself falling into this trap, there is a very simple tactic we can use to feel better about sucking at something (side note: this tactic is part of an overall strategy of reframing, which we’ll discuss later on). Practicing this tactic is as simple as being aware of whether you’re feeling good or bad towards spending your time practicing a skill.
Put simply: when you’re feeling bad about not making progress and it’s affecting your mood and persistence, remind yourself: it’s not, “I’m bad at this” or “I suck at this;” it’s “jeez, I have so much more to learn about this!” While this may seem simple at first, I encourage you to try it at least once, and then see how you feel as you remember this absolute truth. You are not bad at anything, you just suck at it…and after all, “suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something!” Focus on learning, on becoming better, and the path to mastery will pave itself!