Learning a New Skill as an Adult

One thing I always used to say to my friends and family is, “I don’t like to do things I’m bad at.” Now, before you write me off as a brat, let me explain.

If you follow me on social media, I’m pretty loud about being a textbook Capricorn and Enneagram 3. Basically, I’m a recovering perfectionist motivated by words of affirmation and validation. It’s very hard for me to want to learn something new because I’m always afraid I won’t be good at it. I don’t like to be embarrassed or viewed as less than.

In short, I’m tons of fun lol.

But after last summer when everything was closed, I told Nick I’d learn how to golf. It’s something he really enjoys doing, my dad is a golfer, and most of our friends play too. We got caught up in the madness of moving last year so the second it was warm enough, my friend Ashley took me to the driving range!

I played tennis growing up, plus I swam, sailed, and played basketball and soccer (like most kids) so though I don’t look it, I am naturally athletic. Not that those sports help with golf at all, but I do love to be outside and using my body.

I feel like the most important thing I’ve learned from golf is that it is a mental game, which has been really instrumental in helping me get over my fears of perfectionism and being viewed as “less than.” At the end of the day, I am always happy when we go out. It’s a great social sport and my friends and husband are great teachers. Once I got the hang of it, I started having a great time!

But, I still have bad days and that’s okay! It’s been huge for me to walk into every hole with a fresh set of eyes and not dwell on how “bad” I played the previous hole. Similarly, I can’t focus on how well I did because there isn’t a guarantee I can recreate it.

If you’re looking to get into a new skill, I highly recommend just going for it and keep an open mind. I am the first one to say that it’s hard but it’s worth it in the long run.

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