I’ve spent a bit of time at my kids’ school this week as its been ‘Bike Week’. Part of that time I’ve been engaged in the age-old ritual that every parent knows…walking, jogging, then sprinting along behind your child desperately trying to hold on to them as they wobble and zig zag their way along until unceremoniously crashing to the ground, having a little cry, then starting again, and then again, and then ‘just one more time….you can do it’.
It seems like this is going to take months, maybe years, as progress seems so slow. Suddenly though, as if from nowhere, it seems the child has got their balance so you let go, just a little, and they keep going on their own for one, maybe two seconds before wobbling again and you grab hold. But progress – definitely progress.
From those first few seconds of going solo, in no time at all they are speeding around on their own as if its just like…like riding a bike!
New skills, attitudes or daily habits we attempt to develop only become cemented and bear fruit – increased productivity, more sales, happier staff etc – if we adopt the same tenacity as that child who keeps on trying, trying, trying until they get it.
And by the way, its always easier to keep going if you’ve got someone helping, encouraging, coaching to make sure you don’t give up until it works!
Nick Howes 