Celebrating my first crappy Medium post

I’ve been hesitating too long to write my first Medium post in the same way that I hesitate to write on the first page in a blank new notebook. Whenever I get a new notebook, I trick myself by starting to write on the second page just to avoid the pressure of filling that first page. That trick doesn’t really work here, since I can’t post my second Medium post before posting the first one.

This hesitation has to do with the feeling of having to start of with something great and not with an immediate “failure”. It’s an illogical feeling and I’m pretty sure nobody is born with worrying about failing. Just look at a toddler trying to stand up for the first time and you’ll know what I mean. They will most likely lose their balance and fall on their bum. Imagine if the toddler’s reaction was “Huh, I fell. I failed. I guess standing up is not for me.” and never attempted to try standing up ever again. No, instead they are great at embodying the saying if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And that’s what learning is all about!

If we continue taking this example of a toddler learning to stand up, there is another interesting aspect to it. Anyone observing this toddler’s “failed” attempt will probably react in a celebratory way: “Wow, you tried standing up! Good job! I’m so proud of you!”. You would unlikely see a caretaker criticizing the toddler or immediately offering tips on how they would have done it better.

As we grow up, and usually have mastered the ability to stand up, we somehow lose this sense of being okay with this natural repeating process of trying something over and over again before succeeding — the learning process. We create unrealistic sense of pressure both when it comes to our expectations of ourselves and of others. It’s illogical to expect something epic to come out as a result from one’s first try of doing anything. On one of the many social media sites, and saw this (paraphrased) quote:

“I realized in order to be great at something I have to start by being crappy at it.”

So here’s to writing my first crappy post. And to many crappy first things to come!