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| Created by Erin Morey |
Richard Branson's name carries the same mystic as only a few others:
Elon Musk,
Steve Jobs.
The best way of learning about anything is by doing. - Richard Branson
Human beings are typically creatures of comfort, meaning we rarely step outside our comfort zone. As we get older, we gravitate toward activities that we are good at, often forgetting that everything we are good at we once were terrible. I am guilty of this too. I have projects that sit for days, weeks, months, etc. because I don't want them to be terrible. But no matter how many books you read, lessons you listen to, or videos you watch, you will not fully gain the skill until you try.
Woodworking definitely falls into that category. I've read a lot of woodworking books, watched videos, attended classes, and yet my hands rarely make the tools do what I know they should, at least the first time. As I gain more practice, I am better able to use the knowledge from books and videos, and my hands become more sure and my skill grows. Now I try to pass some of that to my children. The picture is my youngest sanding his pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts.
In the same vein, leadership skills grow not just from reading books or blogs, but the use of the techniques identified, and self-assessment to determine how to be better. As I speak at conferences, I often encourage the members of my audience to pick one thing that was learned (and only one) to implement immediately, and to not let the "self-help" of the conference become "shelf-help" as notebooks rest on bookshelves and the day to day life of the attendees resumes.
To wrap this up, what are you putting off, because you are afraid of how it might turn-out? Do you have a project you want to do, but feel you need to learn more before you start? Well, perhaps you have learned enough and the best way you will grow from here is to do!
