Doing Something New

When I used to do something absolutely brand new, I would get nervous. I would hem and haw, and avoid what it was until I finally decided that I was so annoyed at my own inability to just strike out and do it that I would in fact do just that. I would still overanalyze it, and eventually, usually end up realizing that since I learned best with a mentor of some sort, I would hold an intention to get a 1-on-1 learning experience.

How does one get a mentor for something they enjoy? There are many ways. A common solution is to get into an association that is connected with their interest, which may potentially come through with giving them the teacher they desire. A friend of a friend can recommend someone. The most random stranger at a TTC stop. A professional blogger that has great content, and even though it is unlikely that you will ever meet him or her, you know they have all the ideals you long to have and you make a decision to learn from them.

A younger me

I’ve always had a strong desire for growth. In many different areas of my life, relationships, skills, spiritually, finances… so on and so forth. And in the past, I’ve always noticed a pattern in how I always started from a book or a website, to eventually finding a book/website with a high degree of quality content, then felt like I had to grind out reading the entire thing until I had enough information to set off into the real world.

An imperfect process. Though it had its time.

Then eventually, I would decide to occasionally slip into conversations with friends and strangers about what I thought about doing, for example… creating a piece of photoshop art. After some more time, I would finally download the photoshop program and create something. And, after learning a little, with some fine and dandy trial and error, I would go on and make something beautiful, co-created with some teacher I was able to find.
Now, this example is of something relevant to my own personal style of growth, a younger me. Now, I have a quicker way.

A better way

If I know which friend I have that is a pro or a passionate amateur (more often than not as good as a pro for teaching basics) of said skill that I want to learn, I’ll simply give them a call, and arrange a time to meet.

Or, I’ll simply ask people I feel might have the skill or know someone who has the skill, on my MSN or Facebook list. Even, I would simply go out into the world where there’s a relevant studio and connect with as many people who I feel may potentially want to mentor me. Maybe I would make a craigslist post about the skill in question that I would want, and attract the type of mentor I desire through that possible option. I would include my desire in nearly every conversation I have with strangers or friends or family and just about anybody awesome, really.

What matters to me is that I’m passionate about what I’m doing and willing to go out on a limb to go onto a new path that will potentially bring a massive amount of joy to myself and to others. Will I make a new best friend from going forth in this new direction? Will I make a million dollars after having this new skill? I don’t know. At the same time, I really do. I know that all my efforts, from the subtle and unseen ones, to the ones with immediate cause and effect results, contribute to the ultimate fulfillment of my real vision, which includes all sorts of new best friends and all sorts of abundance and goodness.

I know that whenever I learn a skill, I am super open to teaching others about it, whether that be breakdance, badminton, kickboxing, languages, a game that I’m good at or whatever, and as I get more and more opportunities to teach others, I get invitations to new networks of awesome gatherings, more abundant opportunities, more of everything. Like friends, skills build on one another, and as I build more skills in certain areas, the uniqueness, passion and heart of what I’m able to put into every next project expands. I am always creating and always inspired, everything helps. I think of myself as a house that is always under renovation, with every new change making the house just that much more perfect. And I make it more perfect, by always being willing to be imperfect with each change that I make. This article is an example of that. I never know who will benefit or simply dislike my little article here. And… I don’t really care, I genuinely don’t care, at all, nope, not even one tiny weensy bit. And to me, that’s what makes the experience such a delight, really.

I just do what I love. And the rest, is phenomenal.

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