I expect that people who know me well know I have a passion for partner dancing, even if they don't understand it, or understand what it is I value about it. But I didn't start dancing until my mid 30's and before that, volleyball was a major constellation in my universe. I played about 4-5 nights a week & followed the sport pretty closely.
The greatest volleyball player of all time is generally acknowledged to be someone named Karch Kiraly. Let's put it this way: as a freshman at UCLA he played with the varsity and beat the second string and third string teams. Then he'd switch to the second string and they'd beat the first string. Then he's switch to the third string and THEY would beat the first string. He's won 3 Gold medals at the Olympics and he's now the head coach of the Olympic women's volleyball team.
Karch has recorded a few videos about his approach to coaching. There's one about learning that prompted this post. Hopefully this link will still exist by the time you read this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_64FAxU99d0
If not, do a search for Karch Kiraly Becoming A Learner. The video is maybe 3 minutes long and it likely take me longer to summarize it, but here goes:
In order to learn, you have to embrace making mistakes. In essence, you have to embrace discomfort. Karch goes on to suggest that doing this also requires that we be patient with ourselves. This applies to how we respond when we make a mistake, and also in how we respond to feedback when it feels like criticism.
A lot of things come easily to me. Ironically, volleyball was not one of these things and I spent a lot of free time at the gym hoping to find someone to work out with to develop my skills. But for the most part I've not been particularly patient with myself. Shame was a big factor.
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