Do as I say, not as I do

bobbypodesta:

Writing posts about philosophies on leading, my own past experiences, and things that have worked for me is great… for me.  But for anyone else out there in the world who might be reading these posts, there is really only one sure thing you can get from them; what works for me will not work for you.  Not to be a downer, but this is what I mean…

Each one of us makes a trillion decisions each day.  All of those decisions are based on input we experience crossed with a ga-zillion past experiences.  The first time you touch a hot pan, you get burned.  The next time you go near a hot pan, you’ll remember your previous experience and change your decision (hopefully).  Our ability to learn and apply lessons from one experience to another is a wonder.  People who do this really well are a marvel to watch on their path to success.  Of course there are different ways to learn.  You can take things in first person (your own experience) or you can learn through other’s experiences and apply those lessons to your life.  You just have to note that even if you do exactly as someone else may have done, you’re almost certain to have different results.  You’re a different person, and no to applications of any skill can be applied the same.  It’s one of the great things that make people, well, people and not computers. 

When I was younger, one of the things I often did was find someone who was doing what I strived to do, be it animate, draw, write or direct, and study as much as I could about how they got to that point.  I wanted to learn what skills they used to get there, what lessons they learned, and what tricks they commonly pulled from their bag.  Where I often failed was in trying to mimic what they did or the path they took to get there.  It’s like trying to copy a drawing style without knowing all the things that led to that style or attending a school and expecting to have the same experience as someone else.  At best, I would achieve a poor imitation of their results.  

What I slowly learned over time was to not look at the results, but try to look at the exercises that lead to those results.  It’s like looking at the ingredients someone is cooking with.  You may note how they apply them, but then it’s important to cook from your own recipe.  There’s nothing wrong with studying what skills have lead to other peoples success.  But the key isn’t to try and copy their success, but learn from the ingredients that culminated in that success.  I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of the tools I used every day to get things done are made up of bits and pieces I have learned and witnessed other people using successfully.  What I try to do is use them in a way that is appropriate to me and my experiences.

So when you find an example of someone achieving something you also strive for, don’t focus on the achievement, but study the skills that got them there.  Go ahead and fold in the bits and pieces you learn into your own life, but in a way that works and respects who you are.  In this way you may use different things you have learned from others in life, but the results will be uniquely yours.

—————————————-

I highly suggest that all of you guys go to bobbypodesta ’s blog and follow it because it is full of food for thought and amazing advice.