I liked this blog quite a bit. I liked that your emotions and behavior around painting, failing, trying, waiting, trying again, and achieving a higher level of mastery and success can apply to most pursuits in life.

For my dog training students, I tell them about "peeling the onion" where they can hear a piece of information or idea to execute and have a ground-floor understanding of what I meant. That's great!

The interesting thing is that when they've matured as handlers a bit more, they can hear the same information, but they take something more from it. I hear "Oh, THAT is what you meant..." With more time, practice and thought, the same information given yet again leads the handler to more in-depth understanding and ability. And again I hear "Oh, THAT is what you meant!" That is when I see that the more seasoned student understands differently, and can run with it herself.

For awhile when I was new as a coach, I feared that I just wasn't clear about what I meant in the first place. But that wasn't it. People have to be ready to peel that next layer, they can't just get it all right away without effort and experience. Each layer of that peeled onion yields surprises, understanding,and insight, but only when you've mastered the outside layers. To me, this is the process of mastery. It's often not a straight line from Novice to Expert - there are many side trips and double-backs. Sometimes we retreat into what is known and safe, vs what is new and challenging (and maybe scary). But moving forward can come after you have logged some miles.

Each of us has to go through the cycle. Nobody else can do it for you. You can take in the information at each level only when you're ready. You know when you're peeling that onion, though - the discovery process is quite reinforcing! And the journey itself, rather than just the summit, is something to celebrate.