For the First Time...

Trying something new can be scary… I recently listened to this Podcast from Brené Brown where she talks about how it feels when we are doing something for the very first time. She has an acronym for this that I think is brilliant: FFT. I’ll do my best to describe it but let you check out the podcast to see for yourself what it stands for (the last 2 words are “First Time”, I’ll let you color the first word yourself – it’s a fun one).

When trying something for the first time, there tends to be waves of vastly different emotions going on from excitement to fear, uncertainty to an “I got this” kind of confidence. These emotions can motivate us to jump in but also give fear space creep in and send us running for the hills.

Let’s talk about something that I went through the FFT, hard: Baking. Baking brings me joy. I like baking for others and sharing with friends of course. But the main reason I bake is to challenge myself, to bring myself to a new place when trying new recipes and creating something I never have before. This is a challenge for me mostly because I don’t traditionally get psyched about following recipes. Cooking is more my speed where where I can be more free flowing, cater to my preferences and eyeball just about all the ingredients as I see fit. So, getting to a place of confidence with baking took time and adjustment of my natural tendency, especially if I was going to share the end results with my friends and family. I wanted it to be something I was proud of. This took many confection disasters, transitions from the first batch to the last batch looking so strikingly different there’s no way it could have been the same ingredients. But eventually, I learned and slowly got more comfortable with baking ingredients, following recipes and directions. I can now say I proudly share baked goods with friends and family and it’s something I truly enjoy. I moved past the FFT into a space of confidence and most importantly, joy while doing it.

I’m brought to a place of complete amazement when I think about our creative ability as humans. We create art, music, culinary, structures, buildings, ideas, plans to help those in need, the list goes on. We have a creative nature that has been instilled in us, in our being. But in order to reach it, in order to release it and let it grow, we must challenge ourselves. We must get out of our comfort zone. We must take a step into the uncertainty and fear but also excitement and open opportunity of a first time.

What does your first time look like? How does trying something for the first time make you feel? What are some of the coolest things you have done? We all have been at our own FFT at some point or another (seriously, go check out the podcast). I encourage you to think back on new experiences, challenges from before and what new experiences or new thing you can go try right now. We can all find excuses why not to do something, find the reason to just do it. Buy the Peloton and get started (Brené knows about this one), book the singing lesson appointment, open that bag of flour and get baking. Whatever it is, remember “arrival is not the end game, the journey is where you are” *.

All the best,

MW

Find Brené’s podcast and episode referenced here.

*Lyric from the song: Father’s House by Cory Asbury