The other day, I finally broke down and hired professional help.
Relax. I’m not some sort of drug addict or junkie itching for my next fix. I’m just a guy that doesn’t know how to ski.
Charlotte and I took our first ski trip together a few weeks ago venturing up to Winter Park, CO in search of a thrill and an adrenaline rush. Being the novice of the group, I relished the idea of sticking to the bunny hills and any slope blatantly plastered with a big green arrow. Charlotte, being far more advanced, looked forward to everything else – including double black diamonds, a level of which I will never understand.
Charlotte offered to help show me the ropes, intent on making this second ski trip a successful one. (Don’t ask about the first. It involved me plowing into a snowboarder full speed in order to slow myself down.)
Having just celebrated our engagement and still happily planning our future marriage, we eventually decided this was not going to be the brightest of ideas. I’m easily frustrated, and let’s just say that she’s not the most patient teacher in the world.
To save us both the trouble, we plopped me and a pair of novice skis into a lesson.
(Note: How in the hell does anyone walk in skis? It seems virtually impossible.)
My only hope was that I was paired with some four- and five-year olds to share my triumphs and most enjoyable crashes with. Unfortunately, there weren’t any youngsters to high five when I made my first hockey stop. In fact, I spent the entire afternoon sharing my time with only one individual and the instructor which made for some great one-on-one teaching.
To my surprise, my skills ended up vastly improved at the end of only three hours.In fact, the only person to fall down during our lesson was the instructor (ironically enough).
One thing that the instructor said in particular stood out to me, “It’s much better to invest your time and your money on quality lessons lest you teach yourself and end up practicing habits that were never good in the first place.”
In an essence, many people can ski. Few actually can ski properly. Now, in all honesty, I couldn’t care less if I skied properly or not as long as I looked cool going down the mountain. That’s not really the point.
The point is that hired help can save you a lot of trouble along the way.
I consider myself to be a somewhat talented individual when it comes to sports and athletic activities. Sure, I may not be the Deon Sanders of the group, but I can move side to side and twist without tripping over my own two feet.
I don’t, however, know a thing about skiing. Compound that with the fact that I’m actually looking to hire a writing coach to critique my work and give me feedback to improve my writing, and you’ll notice that I’m depending on professional help more and more.
Here’s the deal: Professionals know far more than you do. Trust me, I spent seven years as a personal trainer selling myself as a fitness professional and I can guarantee you that I didn’t come across one client that knew everything they needed to know about getting in shape.
So, why might you want to hire a professional?
1. They know the fastest way possible.
Let’s talk about tricks of the trade for a minute. They’re hard to pick-up. You know who learns them faster than anyone? The individuals who are teaching thousands of other people to become masters of their particular trade.
Take skiing for instance. The particular instructor I had along the way had taught numerous others to ski. Therefore, he know what worked and what didn’t. That’s a handy piece of information to know.
I did the same thing with personal training.
It’s easier to work with a pro and get it right the first time rather than banging your own head against a wall.
2. They know the right way.
Forget speed of learning for a second. There are a ton of ways to lose weight, ski, or complete any other skill, etc.
That doesn’t mean they are all correct. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told of a weight loss success story that revolved around a juicing cleanse and resulted in a 15 lb drop in a few days. Successful? Yes. Sustainable? No.
Learn right and you won’t have to repeat the basics again.
3. You’re paying for the lack of frustration.
I’ll be honest – I’m very easily frustrated, especially when learning a new skill for instance. I remember trying to learn to skateboard and being consistently angry when I couldn’t ollie correctly.
It’s extremely difficult trying to learn new things.
Save yourself the trouble (and headache) and learn from a pro. The main benefit: it’s much harder to yell at someone you don’t now. Trust me, I learned first hand.
Have you ever hired help to learn about something? Let me know I’m not alone in the comments section below.
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