Practice Makes Perfect
What if we could change our perspective toward the reason why we practice anything? What if, in theory, you were already adept at performing a specific skill and the only factor preventing you from achieving complete proficiency was nothing more than your own lack of comfort? Would not the real reason to practice something be so that you can become comfortable with the idea that you already know how to do it? You could practice something in order to perfect it, but what sustainable level of achievement is possible without first believing in your ability to succeed?
I feel as if I may have been ‘composing’ this post for forty-nine years. I know that I have been working on getting it down to some form of readable text for at least the past several days. My views regarding the process of achieving success have changed so profoundly in the past few years that I am experiencing quite a bit of difficulty in expressing my thoughts on the matter. At first I thought that it might be writer’s block, except that there is no absence of an idea. I am just bewildered every time I sit down and try to convey it. It is in this regard that I have a great respect for gifted teachers who communicate their thoughts so expertly on a daily basis.
Many of us have been conditioned to think that hard work, struggling, and ‘paying your dues’ are the only way to achievement. I get that. Although this method has been proven throughout history in the testimony and example of countless individuals, I always felt as if it did not sound like much fun. I was told over a million times that you cannot go through life picking daisies and expect everything to work out. Silly Jilly. Dreams are for kids.
After you have heard something repeatedly over the course of your life, you eventually start to believe that it is true. Therein lies the obstacle that many grown-up dream seekers face.
How does one go about recapturing the belief in your power to achieve whatever you desire? You need only to remember what you once knew. If you do nothing else, remember what it feels like to be a kid with a fresh sense of invincibility that fueled a belief that you could do anything you wanted.
We all arrive on the planet with a sense of endless possibilities before us. You might remember what that feels like if you just relax and allow yourself the opportunity to recall the unwavering belief you came equipped with. You only need to recall one moment (most likely from your childhood) when you believed in what you could achieve before too many well-intentioned people wrecked your ability to access its full potential. Your innate power to manifest your desires never leaves you. It remains ready until you make a decision to feel your way back to it.
I could offer you a detailed instruction manual that describes the process of working your way back to sovereignty, though I believe that the one you are writing for yourself would be more convincing. Besides, mine is messy and complicated. Even though your story may be complex as well, I promise that your journey (in the form of an instruction manual) will be as individual and as beautiful as you are. Great masters in the particular area of dream-seeking that you pursue can instruct you by offering compliments and helpful insights regarding your work along the way, but only you can provide the belief in your birthright to create the beauty of your success.
Do you enter contests because you think you might have a chance to win, or do you enter them to practice being comfortable with what it feels like to know that you will? Do you practice the saxophone because you think that you might have a chance to sit first chair, or do you practice to be comfortable with what it feels like to know that you can?
Until you remember who you are, you might want to practice getting comfortable with the idea. It is my experience that ‘practice’ can make a perfect believer in you.
