I was talking with a friend recently and the topic of notebooks came up (because, of course it did, I’m obsessed!). He told me that he had gotten a notebook with the hopes of filling it with his burgeoning artistic drawings. He then told me he filled it, and I could, in no uncertain terms, never see it! Apparently it was bad. “Cringe-y” he said. “Embarrassing” he said.
I didn’t understand. It was his first try. Of course it was bad. Everyone, also, sucks at walking on their first try. I said he should keep it and refer to it often. It is the first step in a journey towards drawing well. That’s something to be proud of. “Imagine how satisfying it will be to go back and see how much you’ve improved!” I said. “What a dynamic way to record your progress!” I exclaimed.
He wasn’t so sure and understandably so, his notebook could be a very embarrassing and vulnerable thing to hang on to.
This got me thinking about those absurd pictures of people wearing GIANT pants after weight loss. Why are they still wearing those pants!? Why do they still have them? Don’t they know where to buy pants!? Do they need some VERY basic help?
Obviously, I know they do it to show progress and, with weight loss, progress is to be celebrated. The problem here is that creative progress, whether drawing or Notebooking, is something people tend to be ashamed of. There seems to be this idea floating around where if you lose fat, gain muscle or redecorate your house for basic cable, you should show off how bad things were before. Yet, in creative endeavors, you’re expected to already be perfect! Hogwash, I say!
No one is great at anything they try for the first time! Don’t believe me? Think of literally anything you do. Now think of the first time you did it. I’m not even talking about hard stuff! Eating, walking, or doing your taxes. Hell, we even need a little help breathing for the first time! Everything takes practice.
If you fear being bad at something, you will end up avoiding getting better at it. This fear can paralyze us. So, what do we do?
Embrace it!
Embrace your flaws the way you would embrace a close friend as you’re saying goodbye. Because, that’s what you’re doing, saying goodbye to your flaws.
This is the Power of Progress. Not only will Notebooking about a learning process help you to progress in your studies faster, Notebooking it will make for some REALLY interesting and dynamic content.
Want to learn to cook? Notebooking about what you made, how it tasted, what you will do different in the future and what you learned will make you a better cook much faster than following recipe after recipe and not pausing to think about it.
Want to start distance running? Good for you1! Notebook your progress! That way, when you finish your first marathon (hopefully while resting your tired legs) you can look back at that first day running. When just half a mile threatened to turn your legs into jelly and your lungs felt like they were on fire!
With anything you do, as you progress you get better. Notebooking your journey of improvement can not only help you to get better faster, it can also be some really amazing content too!