Deliberate practice and developing skills
I will never forget what my friend who is also a trainer told me at Woof conference after hearing a great story by Chirag Patel on how he overcame his human client resistance. I was all excited that this is great and we all should apply it in our practice. And she said: “He can do this because he is Chirag, he is well known in the business and that's why people are listening to what he says".
At that time I didn't say anything but it got me thinking. Before I entered the dog training world, I never heard about Chirag or any other well-known names in our business. If I would be a typical owner, I would not know who he is. And of course, once you read his bio, it's impressive but does everybody do that before they book a session with a trainer? I wish it was true but I'm afraid it's not.
It also made me think that I want to be as good as he or other experienced trainers are. I believe that I can be with a lot of deliberate practice. All of them once started without any knowledge too. There is no wall between me and any of the well-known trainers. The only difference is years of experience and the work that comes with those years. There need to be work put in to improve the skills that we are after. But it's all achievable for any of us. It doesn't matter where you start. It matters how much work you put in.
I'm afraid that having a thought that someone is good because they are talented, well-known or any other adjectives that people use, put you in a position where you don't even try to be more like them. When you focus on the distance between you, you can get easily overwhelmed and discouraged. But it doesn't have to be like that. We all can improve, no matter where is our starting point.
Henry Ford once said,
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.”
And I believe there is something to it. If we believe we can't be as good as someone, we won't put the work that is required to become as good. We sabotage ourselves from the beginning. Moreover, we look for evidence of our belief. Every time we make a mistake we go "I failed because I'm not as talented as other trainers are". We look for an excuse for our failure that is beyond our power to change it. When the truth is, you just haven't practised enough. You might have never encountered a situation like that, or haven't had a mentor that will guide you towards mastery. It's not our innate state that makes us be as we are. It's our experiences that shape us. So don't block yourself from new experiences. And next time you have thought "I'm not good enough to do this thing" just add "yet" at the end.
I'm not good enough for this yet but I'm on my way to be.
At least that’s my philosophy as I continue to learn and practice.
