Brave Enough To Suck At Something New

I’ve always been a fan of Joanna Gaines, but I’m a super fan of her husband, Chip. Often cast as the goofy sidekick, it’s easy to miss his genius. He writes a feature called Chip Gets The Last Word in their Magnolia Journal, and this summer he was talking about shedding your familiar routine in favor of trying new things:

“You won’t find yourself in extraordinary moments if you aren’t willing to engage with the unknown… If we’re shut off to new experiences and new people, we’re selling ourselves short.”

In the same vein, I stole today’s blog title from a @ChrisDonnelly LinkedIn post that celebrated entrepreneurs and their willingness to “suck at something new.” I love people that say yes to things they’ve never done before and are willing to flame out in a catastrophic way. After all, bad decisions make good stories. It's far more admirable to be fighting bulls in the arena than a heckler in the stands.

Which leads me to my summer of trying new things.

If you read my Where’s Your Sense of Adventure post, you’ll recall that at the beginning of summer I vowed to try a new thing every week. I wanted to do this as protection against getting too comfortable, stuck in a rut, and to develop new skills. You’ll see all the things I did in the list below.

Now, invariably I felt like an interloper or imposter. Some things didn’t work out, but honestly the cost was small: Maybe I spent an hour with people I didn’t vibe with or I had a meh experience. But the good far outweighed the bad, and I found the biggest thing that I didn’t know I was looking for: Connection. I found a running partner, a book club and a whole tribe of local female entrepreneurs living their best lives right in front of my face. But I couldn’t see any of these until I made myself open to them.

Here’s where I wind this back to hiring and retaining talent

What does it mean for you, and your team, if you don’t try new things? Especially if you don’t come together in an office regularly. How many people feel lonely or isolated at work, and will stay that way because there's no curiosity? Employees leave when they don’t feel like they have a true friend at work. They don’t step out of their lanes to help each other. They quiet quit.?

So, is there a passion project or new challenge you can bring to your work family? It doesn’t have to take up a lot of time and I guarantee you’ll connect with your boss differently in a cooking class when she’s got flour on her nose.

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Look out for these upcoming articles:

Back-to-School Edition: How to Talk to Your Kids About Career Choices

Why Are Recruiters So Exhausted?

Everybody Wants Charisma: Improve Your Interview Outcomes

Jen’s Summer of Trying New Things