When bringing a new practice, hobby, or discipline into our lives, we can often go through the ‘honeymoon period’ where everything seems awesome and we’re excited to learn more and more. Of course, many of us find that starting out can sometimes be quite difficult, especially when we meet a challenge we’re not prepared to deal with, or if we have a long period of training that seems to be progressing slowly.

But that’s fine, after all, Rome isn’t built in a day, and we can’t expect to be perfect at our new practice within the span of a week. For that reason, it’s important to be prepared for this process and, instead, focus on what matters – setting up your passion as properly as we can. This can prevent us from getting bored and moving onto the next new thing, which often leaves us with endless practices that have been given up on which you might come to regret later.

If you’re getting into a new hobby or practice, focus on these three efforts to keep yourself grounded, too:

Keep Cultivating Your Inspiration:

Keep cultivating your inspiration if you can. It really does make a difference in the long run. For example, when hoping to play guitar, you might focus on listening to the great acoustic players such as Don Ross or Anton Dufour. This way, you can more easily feel a sense of kinship with the beauty of your craft, have an ideal to work towards, and more easily shrug off the difficulties on the journey to competence.

Focus On Your Possible Route Forward:

Focusing on your possible route forward can help you more readily stage your learning and practice habits. It’s better to give yourself a set amount of time to practice each day and set mini-goals for yourself rather than try to take too much on at once. This helps you to enjoy the process of learning rather than forcing yourself to become an expert at once and, unfortunately, too many people choose this latter option. Remember, the journey should be just as enjoyable as the destination.

Learn Practical Skills:

It’s good to focus on the actual craft of a hobby or skill rather than the simple image it provides. Of course, you don’t have to be absolutely perfect at learning perspective in order to paint well and to enjoy yourself doing it, but you will gain a lot from the practice, and learning techniques is fun in itself! You might spend time learning how to read piano sheet music in order to learn more quickly and benefit from this highly practical skill, richly rewarding your practice sessions and lessons from then on. Or if you want to go fishing in the near future, doing some research into what a stick bait is and how to use it will help you develop your skill. This way you won’t be standing next to a lake feeling like a complete beginner!

With this advice, we hope that you can get into learning and perfecting your new hobby with confidence. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Featured Image By: Pexels