Reaching Goals: The Importance of Practice
The difference between a beginner and an expert is dedicated practice and passion.
In order to reach a goal, you must continue to practice. This means you have to push through the boredom of a repetitive process, you can’t let set-backs or mistakes or obstacles deter you from the practice, you must stick with a plan and not let your emotions determine your action.
You have to find a way to show up, to work through the challenges, and embrace the daily practice that is required to achieve a goal.
Passion starts with an interest.
My first knitting project was a pair of leg warmers when I was in 8th grade. My grandmother, Gran, was a knitter. She had a fabulous knitting and needlepoint store near her home in Litchfield, CT. We went shopping and I picked out a blue/green, variegated, boucle yarn. It was fabulous!
Gran and I sat together and she proceeded to teach me to knit. What neither one of us ever thought about was that she was a lefty and had a very unusual way of knitting. I am right-handed. Somehow, in my teenager brain, I adopted a little of what Gran showed me, fudged in a little of what my hands would do, and started knitting. The double curse was that boucle yarn – it had little loops along the strand of yarn that I confused with stitches. Sitting in my bedroom, I worked on those leg warmers for hours, weeks, and months. Never giving up! Practicing and practicing.
Learning is practice with internal goals.
One day, I was visiting my friend and her grandmother was a knitter. She was chatting with us and clicking away on her needles. Who knows what the conversation was about, I was mesmerized by her knitting. I studied what she was doing by sitting next to her, standing over her shoulder, asking questions. Visiting with my friend was no longer important. Studying knitting captured my attention. Abandoning my friend, I ran home and practiced what I learned. All of a sudden knitting was unlocked. Ripping out everything I had previously knitted, I re-cast-on those leg warmers. Click, click, click … off I went, I was knitting.
I wanted to make those leg warmers so badly, learning the skill of knitting was the process I had to follow. There was no deterring me from reaching that goal. When I did not have the right information, I set out to find it, when the information was in front of me, I stopped everything to absorb it, then I practiced, made mistakes, changed things, and practiced some more.
Those leg warmers had tons of mistakes in them – but I did not care – I made them and they were just what I wanted. I had reached my goal!
Practice is process which leads to passion.
What I did not expect is that I enjoyed knitting. When my leg warmers were done, I realized I missed working on them. I needed to knit something else. I needed to make my hands work, my mind rest, it felt good.
My parents both worked, I did not drive, the internet did not exist, how was I going to get more yarn? I don’t know why I did this, but I opened the yellow pages and found a yarn shop in my area and explained my situation. The owner said she would deliver the yarn to my house and I could pay cash! What?! I am not sure pizza delivery had even started in 1978! The idea that a shop would bring me something blew my mind. The shop owner picked the yarn for me, in a color that I liked, within my budget, and delivered the project right to my door! From that day forward, I was hooked.
The practice of knitting has come with a million benefits. Knitting is like meditating – it benefits my psychologically and lowers my anxiety while elevating my mood. The community of knitters is like none other I have ever experienced – everyone who knits wants to teach someone else to knit. We share supplies, we encourage one another, we give warmth to others. The process of knitting is one of my greatest passions.
Passion creates attitudes which leads to consistent behaviors.
When you are passionate about something you will sacrifice leisure time or other pleasures to follow your passion. You can’t help it. It just happens to you.
When I travel – either for work or pleasure – I am compelled to look for yarn shops. I must visit them and see what they have. My desire to see yarn shops is such a consistent behavior that my friends, family, and co-workers will anticipate my needs and tell me about yarn shops that are in the area where we are traveling. I firmly believe that they enjoy going to yarn shops with me, not because they have an interest in a yarn shop, but because they enjoy being around the passion of fiber folks.
Take a few minutes a day this week to think about your passion:
November Week 2: Planning with Joy
November 6: What is your passion?
November 7: What is your super power?
November 8: How do you focus?
November 9: What makes you take action?
November 10: What is your process?
November 11: What is your most consistent behavior?
November 12: What would you like to achieve in the New Year?
(If you need to catch up – click here – for the Week 1 schedule)
Join me over on Instagram to get daily prompts and win giveaways!
Tag your photos with #craftingwithjoy and be sure to follow me on Instagram @JoyMacdonell to get the daily prompts for November: Planning with Joy. Each Sunday during the month of November 2017 I will choose a person who has left a comment on the daily Instagram prompt at random to win some crafting goodies! (domestic shipping USA only – sorry international followers)
Looking forward to you being part of November: Planning with Joy!
