Trying something new

The artist Abby Sangiamo once explained during a portrait drawing class: “Don’t be upset if — at first — you can’t get a good likeness (that is, the drawing doesn’t look very much like the person). Wait until you’ve drawn a hundred portraits. Maybe two hundred. If you can’t achieve a reasonable likeness after you’ve drawn two hundred portraits... then, come talk to me.”

The point is, sometimes we try something new once or twice and then we make a determination about our proficiency.

But most of the time, “once or twice” is way too soon to make that call. We’d serve ourselves better to do it a dozen times, or two dozen times, or two hundred times.

A dance. A magic trick. A soufflé. A business plan. Writing. Painting. Designing. Speaking. Singing.

Don’t expect perfect results at first. Expect to get better with dedicated practice and repetition; that’s how it works.