Written by I was determined to complete a series of things today. I was not going to give up until I accomplished it, and then I ran into a series of unfortunate events that culminated in my coming to a reality. That reality was that since I do not know what I do not know, I must take this day as a strategic retreat. So, after everything I attempted failed, I went to the one thing I knew I was good at, which was writing. I wrote an article about “FU days versus 0 days” previously, and today amounted to an FU day. Getting this article done meant that the 0-day was avoided. Sometimes my ambitions get very large, and they end up in a letdown. I had to lick my wounds on more than one occasion, and today was a wound-licking day.
First, I met with my mentors via Zoom, and they talked to me about my social media endeavors and how I must be more engaging. They did not blast me at all, in fact, they have been holding my hand throughout and have been so patient with me it is hard to believe. I am one of those social media idiots and they have made me look good. I was upset with myself for being unable to be more on point with my engagements on social media. I thought I was doing OK, but I took an approach that was just OK and not an attempt to be great. Just OK is not OK when you need to grow your following. A learning curve that I must confront and learn to get better at doing. It takes time, so I am not beating myself up too badly. At least I have not quit. Quitting is the difference between failing and failure.
Failing is practice, which means that every time you reengage after a fall, you learn something from your previous missteps. There is a learning curve associated with becoming a better version of yourself. I have also written a book and thought the writing was the hard part. Come to find, and I have not even scratched the surface of hard. I am self-publishing my work, meaning I must learn a cadre of aspects, from working with editors to book cover options. I also have a unique spin on my book that calls for me to learn how to use a professional camera to take quality pictures.
I could outsource many of these things, but I know I will not get the learning I need if I do so. I am working with brilliant people who are giving me great guidance and advice, but still, I must put in the legwork necessary to turn my dreams into realities. As much as they are there to help me, they are not going to do it for me, nor should they because, again, doing so would rob me of the opportunity to learn how to do these things. The learning curve is crucial because it allows gaining knowledge from the performance and enhances your skills each time you perform that task. Through my research on performance enhancement and the value of the learning curve, I came across this fascinating article written on April 14, 2022. The company Whatfix wrote about four types of learning curves on its website.
- Diminishing returns- In the diminishing returns curve, the rate of progression increases rapidly at the start of learning and decreases over time.
- Increasing returns- In the increasing-returns curve, the rate of progression is slow at the start and rises over time until full proficiency is achieved.
- S-curve- This increasing-decreasing return learning curve model is the most cited learning curve.
- Complex curve- The complex learning curve represents a more complex learning pattern and reflects more extensive tracking.
I realized that I flowed more with the S-curve model, especially today. I will get these things I must achieve correct and become very proficient the more I stay with it and keep plugging away. Learning is full of frustration, but failing and getting back up to do it again is a part of the process. As the increasing return model indicates, proficiency will become an achievement over time.
The frustration of learning to become proficient and then turning proficiency into excellence is part of becoming better at something. People who believe that excellence can be achieved the first time something is attempted are either delusional or have set their bar so low that one can walk right over it. Half of the fun of any venture is overcoming the challenge.
I see this as learning to master a new tool that will serve me well in the future. The frustration reminds me of what I am willing to endure to achieve the goal. I have learned that goals are only unachievable if you let impediments stop your progress. As painful, challenging, and difficult as a task may seem, staying with it until you become proficient allows you to realize that excellence is achievable.
I cannot focus on the fact that today was not the day I achieved my goal. God willing, I will have the opportunity to do it again tomorrow, and now that I know what does not work, I have eliminated it and can move forward by applying a different strategy. The significant part of not achieving the goal was that it allowed me to create a blog about it. The day is not all lost.
Pivoting and adapting are ways to address learning curves. New skills and knowledge are acquired each time the act is performed. Do not focus on the unaccomplished goal, focus on the fact that you learned what did not work, and now you have an opportunity to find other ways to make it work. The learning curve also reveals that knowledge of what did not work allows one a pathway to achievement.
Success is not instantaneous. I must commit to staying with it to achieve my goals and eventually see my dreams come to fruition. I am a realist, and yes, it is upsetting that I could not complete my tasks, but again, my other option is quitting, and I have come too far to do that. Having the ability to learn to become better is a privilege. Achievement is not a right. You become better each time you attempt the task.
Learning curves are a reality. You build endurance, obtain knowledge, and acquire wisdom along the path to achievement. Goals are lofty, but once met, it allows another to be attained. In the process, you gain an array of skills. It stinks that I could not get what I set out to do, but it taught me a valuable lesson. It informed me that I must work harder to find another way to accomplish my task. It would be easy to chalk today’s loss up as an overall loss, but the mission will never be completed if I do that, and consequently, my dreams of becoming a better version of myself will not be met.
If that were to happen, there would be no one to blame except myself. The learning curve can take many forms, as the Whatfix article points out, but reaching the pinnacle of the curve is vital. It means that one must continue each time one becomes stumped by the process; instead of quitting, taking a tactical retreat approach will allow one to look at the difficulty differently. I am taking the fresh pair of eyes approach to completing my task tomorrow. Making the choice to tackle it again, accomplish it, or learn more again.
Remember that failing is not a failure unless you stop. Success is achieved through countless failures. Thomas Edison failed over 1000 times to create the light bulb, but that did not stop him from finally succeeding. It is a matter of perspective; learning to see the failings as opportunities versus unachievable impossibilities gets one closer to the desired success. The other way is committing to failure.
Bibliography
Whatfix. “The Learning Curve Theory: Types, Benefits, Limitations (2023).” Whatfix, 14 Apr. 2022, . Accessed 28 Jun. 2023.