Do Things You Suck At

Many people tend to do things that they are good at and avoid things they are not very good at. In some cases this is a good idea. If there are safety issues or it is very expensive, you may want to steer clear of things you are not very good at. 

However, you may want to do things you are not very good at.

I can’t draw very well. I’ve never been able to. Even if I have a good idea in my head, I usually can’t get my hands to do what is necessary to draw the image. I have no idea how to frame the perspective. I just really suck at drawing. That’s not to say I am not a visual person. I can take a very good picture, but don’t ask me to draw it.

A while back I was looking for something to do in the evenings from time to time. I have an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil. I downloaded a pretty basic free drawing app and started doodling. It was very relaxing. I am so bad I don’t expect anything to be good. I found this very liberating.

At first I was just doodling. I would draw things like irregular patterns or shapes. Then I started drawing things. It was so nice to just do something with no expectation of success. I felt free. I could do whatever I wanted and most of what I drew was terrible. I think how bad the drawings were helped make the whole process even more enjoyable.

It is important to perform well in a lot of what you do. You need to do well in your job. If you are a parent, you need to be good at that. These things and others matter a lot. Executing on them is important. Then there is a whole category of things that you should be good at like cooking.

Doing something that you are so bad that you have no chance to be good is liberating. It will make you smile and relax, because you know you are doing it just for you. However, I started to get better. I actually saw improvement, which is also motivating.

I’m sure if I really put in the time and effort, I would get a lot better. There is so much room for improvement but, I don’t want to. The effort would steal something from me that I value, something I’m so bad at it relaxes me and makes me happy.