What can you do? What would you like to do?
I can swim. I can throw a baseball. I can run a 5K. I can even do calculus on a good day.
I can read philosophy. I can throw a good party. I can play tennis and hockey. I know how to play guitar and piano. And I can read!
It’s amazing — all the time amazing! — when I think about just how many fantastic and wonderful things people like you and I can do. We’re like super-large Swiss Army knives when it comes to capabilities. We can do all kinds of things. This all leads to my Main Point — and the Gem of this article ...
The More You Do It, The Better You Get!
It’s a wonderful secret. What would you like to do after you read this? Make a really good sandwich? Fix the car? Have a great conversation with a friend? I’m not joking. YOU have the ability to do all kinds of wonderful things ... even learn Chinese ... if you put in the time.
We’ve built pyramids, dammed great rivers, built sacred cathedrals, and we’ve sent a man to the moon. Looking at history, it’s really a record of human achievement — human potentials put to work.
Hey, and what about YOU? You’re here, you know how to read, you can understand what I’m saying. You might know how to drive a car, whittle a stick, bake a cake, paint a picture, dance the polka and recite symbolist poetry. Depends on what you want to do.
Quick example here. I used to play tennis with a two-handed backhand. I needed to transition to a one-hander so I could terrorize the net. So I hit against walls. I knew at the start what the right stroke mechanics were, and I hit and hit and hit until I’d grooved that shot. It worked! I’m still surprised that it’s my steadiest shot, steadier than my forehand, which you’d expect to be the stronger of the two.
The More You Do it, the Better You Get! Repeat this right now to yourself: the More You Do It, the Better You Get ... the More You Do It, the Better You Get! — God’s honest truth!
Here’s corollaries to this Big Point. Corollary A — first, know the RIGHT way to do it, otherwise you’ll groove in bad form and problems. Corollary B — put some desire and energy into it; ya gotta wanna.
The More You Do It, the Better You Get applies to just about everything. Not just sports. All kinds of skills. It’s funny to me that while brains and intelligence count for something, desire and drive can matter much, much more. This Great Maxim of the “More You Do It, the Better You Get” works in many, many situations. You put in the work-practice-play-energy and you get gold in the end ... you get better at it!
It is one heck of a great system. There are TONS of things you’d like to know, TONS of things you’d like to learn, TONS of things you’d like to be able to do.
So what can you do? What would you like to do?
- Todd Volker lives in Ottawa with his wife and son, and they enjoy reading, kayaking, hiking, tennis and camping. He’s a lifelong learner with books in his hands.