I worked at a Music store in my late teens and early twenties and was fortunate enough to see some young kids learn to play piano, guitar or other instruments. Myself, I picked up guitar in my late twenties, later than most people. In conversations when I tell people this fact, I get the ‘I always wanted to learn’ or ‘I always wanted to play piano.’ I never understood the notion of always wanting to learn or do something and not pursuing it. The most classic excuse is ‘I do not have the time.’
The time excuse is rooted in the notion of the Malcom Gladwell takes about ten thousand hours to become and expert at something. I started to relate this story which was related to me. An elderly lady lost her husband and in turn started to take up piano. She was in her sixties at the time. Her family were telling her she was crazy to learn it now. She got the usual you are too old to learn, you will next have the dexterity, and more excuses you thought would come from her. She did not listen to them; she took lessons and practiced a little bit each day. She spent time learning the songs of her era.
Years later as she moved into an adult community, it was her playing of piano that led her to meeting people and being able to entertain people. She was not the best player, but she was good enough and knew the songs other people her age knew. This late in life new hobby gave her a new life.
Even after recounting this story, I wonder how many people took the next step and started to learn. After reading this I wonder how many people will pause at this point and google how to learn to ‘insert what you want to learn here.’ What there seems to be is a fear of being a beginner, or even once you are past being a beginner even just being average at something. The fear becomes inertia to getting started.
I had cocktails with an old friend when traveling to Nashville, he mentioned his company gives everyone up to five-thousand dollars a year to learn something ‘not related to work.’ One person used it to pick up the guitar, and my friend used it to learn to ski. What an amazing company to work for, and the notion that some other skills will add to your value of work is surely not missed by that company. The excuse of time and money is taken away, as they are giving you this opportunity.
It has been thirty years of playing guitar, and I am still not the best player. In fact, watching some of the virtuosos on YouTube, I am not in the top 50 percent of guitar players. That does not stop me from playing, entertaining myself and enjoying the hobby. Originally when drafting this my key point was do not be afraid to be a beginner, but as I wrote it there is a follow up, do not be afraid to not be an expert. This can be applied to anything, not just hobbies. From presenting, writing, coding, managing getting past the fear of beginner or the best, to the goal of trying and willing to get better.
In the last few years, I have taken up writing this blog as a more serious endeavor, and stopped worrying about not being the best author, I cut my own lawn, and yes, it is not perfect, tried my hand a pickleball all things that I was not an expert at on day one. Of course, there are few more things that some of my friends would like me to get do, and I need to find the energy to break the inertia and do it. From the classic Christmas claymation, I need to put one foot in front of the other.
This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free. I do read all feedback; but it is moderated.
This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog. AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them. And a check with ZeroGPT shows this as all human written (now checking for those who care)