Old, I Studied Chinese Kung Fu. I

¶ … old, I studied Chinese Kung Fu. I went to class every day, practicing the different things that my coach wanted us to learn. One of the skills that we learned was how to do a handspring. After about a year of study, the coach told us to practice the handspring without using our hands. At first, I was too afraid to try the handspring without using my hands. I was so scared that I would fall and hurt myself that my body just would not cooperate with my efforts to try. Instead, I would find myself using a hand to brace myself. It was then that my coach gave me the most memorable advice that I have ever received. He told me, "Try to do it, just one time. You need to work through your fear and believe in yourself. If you don't face the challenge, you will never succeed." This was the best advice that I have ever received. Notice how the coach did not promise me success. Instead, what he pointed out was that I would never have success if I never tried. While he could not guarantee me success, he pointed out that I could guarantee myself failure if I never tried.

When I took his advice to heart and tried the handspring, I was able to do it without using both of my hands. In this case, his advice led me to success. Had I never tried the trick, I would have fallen further and further behind my classmates. I would not have been able to excel in my Chinese Kung Fu. Instead, I would have stagnated at that point in my learning. Of course, his advice would have been valuable even if I had failed. I would not have known if I was capable of accomplishing the trick if I did not try it. Moreover, I would not have known what I needed to do to improve my skills if I had not tried the trick. Failure simply provides someone with another learning opportunity, and not trying things that are scary or intimidating might greatly reduce the risk of failure, but it also greatly reduces learning opportunities.

However, while I took my coach's advice to heart, I also learned about its context. It is important to keep in mind that, while my coach may have been encouraging me to try something risky, it was something that I had the skill set to do. The coach did not try to get his students to do that trick on the first day of class. Instead, he built up our skill set over a year, worked on our strength and coordination, and told us to try the trick when he felt like we were prepared to safely try the trick. In fact, the context of the message made me learn important things about risk-benefit analysis. Trying new things is important, but so is building up the skill set that makes it more likely for someone to succeed in an endeavor.