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Keep Doing Things You’re Bad At
And not because you’re going to get better at them . . .
I am a terrible cook. Grilled cheese is one of the easiest things to make, and I burn it virtually every time. Ask me for eggs sunny side up, and I can guarantee you I’ll break at least one of the yokes. Even so, I prepare food every day, not just for myself, but for family and friends as well. No matter how bad I am at cooking, I keep on doing it.
Too often, I’ve heard friends and acquaintances say, “I’m bad at x, so I don’t do it,” where x is anything from math to small talk to gardening. This is a losing attitude. If you’re bad at x, I say do it!
There’s something to be gained from persisting in doing things you’re bad at. It’s not that you’ll get better — realistically, you’ll probably only make marginal improvements. And it’s not that you’ll get praise for toughing it out — you won’t. Likely, though, doing what you’re awful at will help accentuate your talents.
Take Jim Fixx, for example. At the age of 35, he was an overweight, chain-smoking magazine editor. Then he took up running. Fixx was not a skilled runner by any means, but he made a point of replacing his daily routine of two packs of cigarettes with several miles of jogging. Eventually, Fixx ran the Boston Marathon. He finished in 3:15:54, an hour and six…
