Trying to change too much too soon!
Great things take time; do it slow, steady & in a right way
Why do we climb up & down the stairs? Can’t we just jump?
An aspirant approached a martial arts teacher to learn the art. The master explained about the rigour one goes through the training and asked the student to be mentally prepared, to which the student said “I am going to give all it takes to learn this”. The teacher accepts the student and mentions “In about 10 years you will master the art, welcome to my school”. The student was shocked that it is going to take that long, thinks about a while and says “I can double the time I spend at school, reduce the time I sleep and play; how long will it take?”. The master replies “Twenty years”.
I read this story in my school days but never took it seriously as I did not learn anything new in my teen years. At a point of time I decided to learn music, downloaded some cinema song notes from the net and started playing them on a software through the computer keyboard. After about many months of playing notes I had not improved a bit, I kept forgetting the notes, missing the rhythm or plainly be clueless if something went wrong.
One of my friend noticed my interest and helped me enroll as a student of a professional musician. My enthusiasm was so great that I put a great deal of energy in the first two weeks and to my astonishment I had not progressed an inch. The syllabus that was chosen was for the level of a school kid, how is that possible with that much amount of self learning and good deal of energy I was lagging behind.
My teacher sensed my problem and gave me a tip. He asked me to take time to calm down before the practice every day and practice only 30 minutes a day. It was surprising to learn that the teacher is asking you to do less homework but it happened. I could not understand what happened to me when I practiced only 30 minutes but I progressed so well that I was finishing a course every 6 months which was meant to be for a year.
Learning something is trying to change something you have been used to for many years. Trying to change that in a short amount time by apply linear arithmetic logic does not work out. It is not about talent and the ability to put it ridiculous amount of effort but sustainable deliberate practice. When you are trying to change something in your personal routine or workplace try approaching it slow, steady and the right way. Also the importance of a teacher, guide or mentor to validate our progress can not be ruled out.