A word about trying new things.

I walked tonight.  I listened to Brene Brown’s first podcast, “Brene on FFTs”.  Her podcast is “Unlocking Us”.

She recorded while isolating during pandemic, in a closet, sitting on her son’s dirty gym clothes.

She talked about trying things for the first time.

And lately, we’ve all had our share of trying new things.

She gave the feelings of new experiences a name!   Her code word is FFT (F****** First Time).  That yucky feeling when trying something for the first time.   She suggested parents use the code word, the TFT (Terrible First Time).  Referring to that awkward feeling when working on a new skill.  Or trying something new.  Or facing a new situation.

Rather than avoiding the queasy feeling, she named the feeling.  That’s the FFT or TFT.

In her research, she’s found that in the last 20 years, folks have begun avoiding new experiences …  because they don’t like discomfort.

But when we stop trying new things, because we feel weird trying something new, we start to shut down as a person.

We stop growing.

When we stop growing, we start declining.

There’s no neutral.

We’re either growing or declining.

She encouraged recognizing the gawky feeling as a First Time feeling.  As in, “Oh yeah, I should feel weird, I’ve never done this before!”  Or, “Oh yeah, I should feel clumsy, I’m just learning this!”  Or, “Oh yeah, in the history of the planet, this has never happened!”  Or, “Oh yeah, this should feel different.”

So good to realize as an adult!

A priceless skill to teach children!

I love that Brene labeled the feelings with her code word.  She then encouraged putting the feelings into perspective with a healthy dose of reality and expectations.

Listen to the podcast yourself.  Pull out the gems.

Make your own code word!

Such a good strategy to teach children!

Good thoughts when trying new things!