Anth Quinn

I’ve got a confession, the first week or so after my recent operation to plate my broken collar bone with my mind clouded by a lack of sleep mixed with the cycle of pain and grogginess due to the pain killers - I started to get into day-time T.V. documentaries.

One of my favourites was Ray Mears “Bushcraft” (Ray Mears is a British survival expert who tours the world learning the bush skills of native peoples).

In one particular episode he was teaching a bunch of people “friction bow” fire lighting. What I found fascinating was when he said that after watching for only a few minutes he could tell who was going to succeed and who wasn’t.

What would his observations predict about your life?

Well what he said was that friction bow fire lighting was like much of Bushcraft and traditional skills it required skill and knowledge but your mental attitude is equally important.

So what is the mental attitude that helped the firelighters succeed and how will it help you?

Attitude 1.

Having a clear outcome and the desire inside to succeed. Ray described this as lighting a fire on the inside too

[Personally, I prefer to think of it as finding your fire inside – it is there trust me, it might be just a smouldering ember but it is there and with care and attention it could easily burn bright again, Anth.]

Attitude 2.

Recognising that mastering skills requires practice, yes you are going to fail a lot as you practice and develop any skill, but be being willing to accept this as part of the process and controlling any frustration as you keep your mind open to the learning that comes from each “failed” attempt.

Attitude 3.

Be persistent, studies show that people who are at the top of their game usually have 10,000 hours practice logged! These are people who had natural talent and were persistent in investing their time in practice. Face the fact mastery of any skill is going to cost you time :o)

But the pay off is worth it, imagine rolling on the ground giggling with childlike delight as the ember first smoked and then as your muscles screamed from the hours of effort the first orange flame danced from the grey cloud and you knew you had achieved what you’d thought impossible only a few short hours ago.

In my own small way I was inspired, for the last week I’d been having to ask people to tie my shoes for me, but I wondered if I could tie them with my left hand only.

No, it seemed not!

But Ray and his firelighters had lit a fire in me too; I’d had enough of TV. It was time to get back into life – true it didn’t take hours but after about 15 minutes of trying I’d mastered a new skill I can now tie my shoes with only my left hand. This might sound like a trivial skill, but it’s what it represents that is really important.

I began to get curious about what else I could do, suddenly I didn’t feel as helpless anymore, and mastering these first few simple first steps were the beginning of me reclaiming my life.

This is interesting because this simple shift in mindset could help you take more control in your life beginning today.

What limitations have you been unthinkingly accepting in your life?

I regularly see this with the people I work with, they say something like, I don’t know how to do that… and then blindly accept it and the limits it creates on their life.

It still gives me a sense of great joy when they commit to building the basic skillset and find the keys to their prison were in their pocket all the time.

Remember, it’s a simple truth that is often ignored but you get better at what you practice.

When was the last time you rolled on the floor giggling with childlike delight as you mastered something you’d thought impossible?

Is that OK with you?

Or is it time to work on building the skills to break out of that old self-created box you’ve been living in?

What have you decided you can’t do?

What stops you?

What if it’s not that you can’t it’s just that you haven’t yet?

What would happen if you begin to take those first steps to mastering it today?

Anth.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am and is filed under Personal Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.