With Enough Practise You Too Can be a Professional

While mountain-biking on Tuesday, I came to appreciate the instinctive learning ability we possess as humans. If you do something often enough, you learn how to react without even thinking about it. Riding through some rocky sections, I found myself a bit off the right riding line and in for a potential fall. Without any conscious thought, my body repositioned itself and and immediately the bike came back onto course again. This is pretty normal for any mountain biker but as an engineer I can appreciate the dynamics of the forces and momentum that play their role in making this possible. I always imagine programming a robot to perform the same 'balancing acts' we can do as second-nature. (My engineer geek is showing isn't it?)

The thought of this ability has stuck with me and I have been wondering how we can use it in a positive way. Writing it down now, it seems pretty obvious: "If you do something often enough, you learn how to react without even thinking about it." 

If you continually encourage, uplift, guide, comfort, console then these will be your automatic reactions to situations. If you always face life with a cheerful and enthusiastic demeanour, then this will be your automatic reaction. The key is to be doing it continually such that it becomes habit. Just as in learning to ride that rocky section of trail, it was only by continually riding it, that I learned how to correctly position myself. It was not a once off experience and I immediately knew what to do. It took numerous attempts at pushing through, consciously thinking about how much brake should I use and how far back and low should I be sitting. I am no professional mountain biker and have great appreciation for the training that the pro's put in to reach the instinctive skill levels that they have. 

If we put in the effort to practice using the abilities we have in building others up and finding the positives in life these can be instinctive. The more you use them, the more habitual they will become. In this way I believe one can actually change your personality. Not the core of who you are but your general outlook. People who are always complaining and bring negativity into conversation can change... with some conscious effort initially. Halting those thoughts before they become negative words and choosing to say something different takes some work but with continual practice it can become instinctive.  It is easier to walk past someone who is hurting than to stop and console them. It takes some work to sacrifice your time, listen to someone’s problems and offer a kind word. It is easy to live in your comfort zone and ignore those struggling around you, it will take some work to make a difference.

Think about how you would like to positively impact those you meet and start practising. With enough practise you too can be a professional.