A while ago my family went to the Vancouver Aquarium and a good time was had by all — even our 1-year-old, who loved the sea otters and the tanks of huge jellyfish.

The only frustrating part for the adults was the way my 4-year-old wanted to see everything, which mostly involved running up to a tank, taking a 30-second look, then running off to the next thing. She wasn’t super interested in learning about how the fish lived or what they ate unless it was done by way of a demonstration.

We’d call her back to focus on something longer than 30 seconds, and she’d say:

I already saw that!

It strikes me that so many of us do life that way. We take a 30-second glance at something new and then dismiss it because it didn’t instantly capture our attention.

Some try a diet for two weeks and don’t see instant results so they stop. They try eating in moderation with a bit of exercise, but don’t have the focus or patience to wait for the results. Consequently, they head back to one of the many popular starve-yourself diets that inevitably results in more weight gain, since we all know you can’t maintain starvation as a way of life.

True mastery only comes from long-term practice in your profession. Yet so many never even make it to the point of basic proficiency because the mental picture they had of themselves was so much better than where they currently are. They quit in frustration though they’ve never put in the time to really develop the skill they envision.

[Tweet “True mastery only comes from long-term practice in your profession.”]

Let’s not be those people that quit. Let’s stick to our diets or exercise routines or writing habits or daily…whatevers.

photo credit: dgconsulting cc