So I did a video post about confidence and how you if you aren’t confident in something and allowing yourself to be discouraged, you won’t break the block. During the video I was talking about the area I’ve been having issue with in relation to my skating, so I just wanted to go into a bit more detail with that and how it can tie back to work ethics in business.
It’s been a goal of mine for a while to be a derby player. If you’ve never seen a game of roller derby, it’s face paced, highly skill but sometimes dangerous game and I love it. But to be a derby player, you have to be able to skate. And that’s where my issue is. So I began to skating after a trip to Hawaii with friends approximately 2 and a bit years ago. I had bought a cheap pair of roller skates and began outdoor skating. The issue there was that I’d only ever skated a few times as a kid and that was like 20+ years ago. So this was a big step for me. I was basically teaching myself right from the word go. And by doing that, I had a lot of issues with my confidence and my own ability.
I kept telling myself, once I felt comfortable with the basics, I’d join the local league and do their freshmeat program. Everyone who begins derby goes through freshmeat. It basically is a way that they can teach you the important basics of skating. Things like how to fall small (don’t want to fall dangerously and risk everyone else), how to stop in a variety of methods safely, how to one foot glide, jump and so much more. But I wasn’t getting comfortable with the basics. So I opted to move into the freshmeat program anyways.
My first session was on a 41 degree day and in a location which the words stifling, suffocating and oppressive could be used. The place is an old tin shed and when winds aren’t blowing, there is no cooling during summer and during winter can be quite freezing. I had just bought myself some new skates and straight away, there was two things wrong with me starting when I did. Training in new skates is not comfortable and training in excessive heat is definitely not comfortable. I got through as much as I could and stopped. I was already falling behind everyone else and so straight away, my self doubt was there. I then got injured while practicing away from the venue. I had hurt my ankle on New Years Eve and then during a session at a local roller rink, I went and hurt it again. That injury kept me out of skating for a good 6 months. No, it wasn’t broken but it wasn’t healing how it should. So all that time, I was getting less and less confident with what I needed to be doing.
But despite not being confident on skates, one thing kept sticking in my mind. I was going to do this. I was determined to skate. Except, I still couldn’t. The basic technique eluded me. I knew what I was doing wrong but I couldn’t over come it. I changed clubs due to training times clashing with other things and even then, I still was struggling. Coaches helped me as much as possible. I broke it down to the smallest increments to work on. And that became my training focus. I worked on those areas every training session. I worked on things off skates, on skates. I kept trying to work up my confidence in that area. And it’s worked! I managed to be able to balance in a way that I can now do so many of the basic techniques and attempt the ones I’ve never had the confidence to try. Am I a long way off? Yes, but this has given me so much confidence to continue. That maybe one day soon, I will be able to test for my white star (the first of 4 testings to get up to playing level).
So why does this relate to work ethics in business? Simple. If there is something you can’t do, break it down. So you can’t do videos because you’re not confident? How can you get confident in it? Work out why you aren’t confident – for me skating, it was balance issues to be able to lift my feet off the ground without freaking out so I could do the basic skating movements. Is it because you aren’t comfortable speaking in “public”? I say “public” because while videos can be filmed by yourself, you are going to be showing it to people when you post it. Is it because you don’t feel comfortable knowing what to talk about?
What is it that is holding you back? Once you know, you can start working on it.
