Have you ever wondered why some people choose to push themselves to the very limit to climb a mountain, to risk everything to conquer a vertical rock face, to force their bodies to the very limit of human endurance in Iron Man competitions? If yes, you probably asked some of those persons – “But why”? And they told you something along the lines of  “For the feeling you get when you reach the summit, when you finish the race and because I can”? Well, I did, I also got the same answer and didn’t get it. “Because I can”, what kind of answer is that? And what feeling? I’ve tried, thanks to my brother, rock climbing and mounteneering but didn’t quite get the trhill. Rock climbing is not for me. However, thanks to the same crazy brother I got to take part in a mountain bike competition last week and I tell you, when I’ve crossed that finish line I got it! I finally did. Dead tired but I felt the rush of adrenaline or whatever that was. I felt that I did it because I could, I felt strong and I wanted more. And I challenge everybody to keep trying and do things that are interesting and a little crazy until, at least once in their lifetime, will get the rush and will get it, will understand why Everest was conquered and why people choose to run Iron Man triathlons. Go and search and do it!
What stages do you have to go thru to become good at changing light bulbs? Sure, anybody can do it, also everybody can run but not all of us have what it takes to run a marathon and even less can win one! So what does it takes to be the best light bulb changer in the world?
People who find the will to become good at some sport surely learn a lot in the process. It dawned on me while trying to start jogging again that any new endeavor we undertake goes thru the same stages.
Stages of becoming good at something:
1. This is hard
2. This is not so hard
3. This is great, I’m learning so much!
4. Why am I not learning faster?
5. I’m good at this
6. I’m even better at this and I love it
7. Go to step 4.
Stage 1 always sucks. It sucks the first day at the gym, it sucks the first time you get on a pair of skies, it sucks the first time you try to write your first ‘hello world’ script. This is the stage when being motivated or having a great teacher or friend to push you really helps.
And then you get over it and you notice that it’s not so hard anymore. It’s quite easy! It’s great. You get to a point when you can really feel how you become better day by day.
Alas, nothing is eternal and undoubtedly you hit a point when any consequent improvement requires more and more effort. This is a stage when the boys get separated from the man. If you keep at it you get good at it, you progress and start really enjoying it and then you eventually realize that you’ve made a lot of progress and are now much better at it.
Everybody likes being good at something. My friend Para quotes his dad that his dream is: “to be the best in the world at something, be it digging holes, painting walls, changing light bulbs or writing code”. There is much wisdom in that wish. It’s the stage when it becomes really rewarding to have worked so hard to get there. You can feel it best when it comes to sports you do for fun, like cycling or skiing.
But can you be the best at something? Isn’t there always somebody who is better than you? The bottom line is that you can always become better than you are and you find yourself back at step 4 wondering why it takes so much effort to improve yourself. And the cycle goes on and on. There is no doubt that as long as you live you learn.
It takes real guts and determination to get past stage 1 and then past stage 4, again and again and again, and that’s why there are so few top athletes, really great musicians, truly great writers. It takes blood and sweat.
NOTE. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10.000 hour rule in his book Outliers. He says that to become good at something you have to do it for 10.000 hours. In his own words – see here. And I really recommend the book.
