It takes Time and Patience to Learn a new Skill

I believe it is important for everyone to have an outlet that provides adventure, recreation and new learning experiences and does not relate to our primary line of work.?For many years, my passion was long distance running.?There came a time when it made sense for me to give up running due to the impact on my body.?The hole was quickly filled with a passion for fishing that continues today.

A few years ago, I began to learn more about fishing for salmon and lake trout on Lake Michigan.?It’s fascinating to hunt them because they live 50’ to 120’ below the surface in the summer.?They are difficult to track down and catch.?Half the battle is getting lines down deep enough for the fish to see the bait.?Their patterns vary by season, weather, wind, currents, time of day, etc.?I tried and tried on my own to catch a deepwater fish in 2020, 2021 and 2022, but I failed.?Every year, I went back to the drawing board, did more research, purchased special equipment and talked to lots of people about tactics.?

In July, I took my new tactics and equipment on our family vacation to Lake Michigan.?The whole family got involved and we did it! ?We filled the freezer with salmon and lake trout and we caught fish every time we went out. ?I’m sure that part of our success was just good luck, but I also know that if I hadn’t done the research and put in hours upon hours of spooling fishing reels with mono and braid…… copper and leadcore…….leaders and backers…….flies and flashers……plugs and crankbaits…..dipsey divers and downriggers, we would not have been successful.?

The learning process was long and tedious.?It’s not something I could do in one day or one week.?I learned that you have to start small, try some things and fail, then make changes and try again.?It is an iterative process where each new skill or bit of knowledge is a building block upon which the next layer of knowledge and skill is built, until finally you figure it out.?Sometimes you have to try things on your own and fail before you are ready to receive the new knowledge. ?(Maybe you’ve met a teenager who thinks they know everthing?)

I’ve spent 28 years of my career in the cleaning business.?There is no way I could have learned in the first year everything I needed to know.?I began by learning how to clean buildings, then I learned how to supervise a crew, then how to manage a team, then lead a company.?There is no way to skip past the steps in the middle.?In his book, “Outliers”, Malcom Gladwell asserts that it takes 10,000 hours to master a new skill.

Whatever it is that you are trying to master, you have to start somewhere, learn each day, and lay down the building blocks so that you can step a little higher each day.?It is the slow accumulation of skills and knowledge that leads to mastery.??