GET GOOD AT IT!

The other day my wife and I were waiting on some team members to come to the house for training. We were both playing games on our respective cell phones when I heard her say, “I suck at this.” My first response was to say, “Self-fulfilling prophecy.” However there was this nagging voice in my head that kept repeating the same phrase over and over again. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I blurted out, “Get Good At It…if you want to.”

GET GOOD AT IT! Wow! As soon as those words left my mouth I realized the power behind them. GET GOOD AT IT! You see, it boils down to a simple choice. One can sit there and complain or bemoan ones circumstances or perceived, yes perceived, lack of talent in a specific area, or one can make a choice and simply go about the process of getting good at it! No one was born a great football player, a virtuoso pianist, a moving and inspiring orator, or a physicist. Lance Armstrong did not come out of the womb on a bicycle, Tiger Woods did not hit a hole-in-one at the age of two months, nor did Michael Jordan dunk a basketball at the age of one. As a matter of fact, Jordan, arguably the best basketball player ever, was cut from his high school team. They chose to Get Good At It!

Some of you would say, “They were born with these talents, and I wasn’t.” Let’s examine that, yes we are all born with different gifts, things we are innately good at or that come easier to us than to most. However, how good we get at them will depend on the choices we make and how much effort we are willing to put into it. Lance Armstrong “Got Good” at his sport, then was diagnosed with cancer. After beating his disease, Lance was still Lance, but he no longer was a premier cyclist. He had to choose to “Get Good At It” again! So he worked and sacrificed and put in extraordinary effort and eventually he accomplished feats in his sport no one had ever done before. It was just a simple choice! Please don’t confuse simplicity with ease, for simplicity and ease are usually diametrically opposed.

I will never be compared to Pavarotti; friends and family usually ask that I don’t sing. Nevertheless, if I chose to “Get Good At It” and I invested in voice lessons, and I practiced and kept “working at it,” eventually, I would become much, much better than I am today. I may not excel at it, but I could “Get Good At It.”

You see, after the decision is made, it is just a process, as are all endeavors. How you speak to yourself will go a long way towards your desire to continue the process, or do as most do, and quit! Substitute negative language for positive language. Have you ever stopped to actually listen to the harshness with which you communicate with the most important person in your life, yourself? I suck at this, I can’t ever get that right, I’m so stupid, that was smart (in a sarcastic tone), brilliant (in a sarcastic tone), I’ll never get this, who was I trying to fool. At times, instead of attacking ourselves we attack the very thing we were working on. Who needs this stupid…? That game sucks, this business doesn’t work, who in their right mind would do this any way? Any of this sounds familiar?

In any enterprise, whether it is sports, academia, personal development, or business, those that rise to the top are not necessarily those who are the most talented. No, they are usually the ones who understand that it is a process and that they will get better with time and effort. Therefore, (when you get frustrated--as you will, or when things don’t go as you wished--which they won’t,) instead of berating yourself, speak to yourself in positive reassuring language. With the knowledge that indeed it is a process, try “I’m getting good at it” because with every attempt, whether it is a failure or a minor success you are in the process of getting good at it. If you spoke to a prospect and he told you to take a long walk off a short pier, say to yourself, “I’m getting good at it.” If you only made two out of ten free throw attempts, try “I’m getting good at it.” When you truly are putting effort into that which you desire, then the phrase “I’m getting good at it” will resonate with your subconscious, you will feel more empowered and accomplished as well as motivated to “GET GOOD AT IT.”

Carlos A. Bauta
I know that “I am getting good at it!”