SS Daily Extended: From Beginner to Expert

No one in recorded history has ever been a natural born expert. To achieve any dream, you have to be willing to be a beginner to become an expert!

When I bought the harmonica mentioned in the video, I was extremely excited. The moment I saw it, I immediately had a vision of playing it for my wife and friends and maybe going on a worldwide tour some day. Ok, maybe not that far but I did see myself playing well. How hard could a harmonica be?

Well, it was harder than I thought. I managed to harmonize a few simple tunes but when it came to complex songs, no chance! For some reason, I thought that once I picked up the harmonica I’d be an instant harmonica star. It was the exact opposite.

Becoming an expert at anything in life takes long hours of practice, improvement, and dedication. If you look at any person at the top of any field, you’ll find that they are at the top because of their level of deliberate practice. They intentionally work on getting better.

I had a vision of becoming the best harmonica player the world has ever seen, but my vision didn’t include the steps that it’d take to get there. It didn’t include the hours of practice, mistakes, and awkwardness of being a beginner.

We all go through this phase in our dream pursuit. Here are some tips to help you through.

1. Get Started. I’ve never had a dream of being a beginner. Most of us dream of what we’ll be at the end, not the beginning. When the average person realizes that becoming what they desire won’t be automatic, they avoid getting started at all. Instead of pushing through to become great, they choose average. I’ll admit, this was me with the harmonica. 🙂

2. Be consistent. Once you get started, the next step is to remain consistent. Consistently do what it takes to reach your expert level by taking action every day. If you’re just starting out, I always recommend starting small then work your way up.

3. Be patient. As a speaker, this is something that learned the hard way. Like with my harmonica, I thought that my first time on stage would be magical. In many ways it was but it wasn’t nearly as good as I hoped. Luckily I pushed through, and I got better each time.

As you go through your beginning stage remember that you aren’t alone. Everyone goes through this stage. Remind yourself how awesome you are for not being average and settling for anything below your true dreams. Above all, be grateful for any and all progress. Gratefulness breed patience.

4. Enjoy the journey. One day you’ll arrive at expert status, and you’ll realize that it was the journey, not the destination that mattered most. The more you take pleasure in the journey, the faster you’ll reach expert status.

You’re very well on your way! Dream On!