The learning process – like riding a bike

My 5-year-old is learning to ride a bike.

What surprises me, in watching her go through this process, is how frustrated she becomes when she can’t just get on the bike and ride like a pro. I can see her agitation – somehow she has decided that if she can’t just hop on and be great at it then something is wrong.

Wherever this idea comes from, we all fall prey to it. We think that if something is not successful the first time we try, then maybe it wasn’t the thing for us, or we aren’t capable, or it wasn’t meant to be.

The conversation I have with my daughter when she is frustrated is one we should have with ourselves regularly:

• Of course you can’t do it perfectly right away – this is the sort of thing that takes practice.
• You are new at this, it will take some time to figure out how it works.
• You will fall a time or two, and when you do, the best thing to do is to think about what happened and what you could do differently, then get up and try again.

And, remember that there are people around you that have been riding bikes for years and can give you tools to succeed.