Lessons From the Range, Part II

This picks up where Lessons from the Range, Part I finished. 

After shooting the rifle for a while, we went over to the shorter range to take a "shot" at the handguns.  After a few shots with a .38 revolver, he moved on to the 9mm semi-automatic.  Its a fun gun to shoot.  You can take up to 15 shots per magazine as quickly as you can pull the trigger.  My friend lined up about 7 yards away and got the target in his sights.  I was hoping he would hit some part of the target.  I needn't have worried.  He didn't waste any time.  He lined up the sights and hit the target a few inches from the bullseye.  After each shot, he adjusted as he saw where he was missing.  Eventually, he hit the bullseye a few times.  And when he missed, he wasn't missing by much.  I was impressed.  It didn't take long at all for him to get used to shooting and doing it well.

What if he had stood there, not shooting, trying to get it just right before he would pull the trigger?  He could have read a book on holding a gun steady, controlling his breathing, using just the right amount of energy to pull the trigger without moving the gun, positioning his feet, bending his legs, rounding his back, using one eye, or both.  And, he would have not taken a shot for days.  Instead, he stepped up to the line and gave it his best shot with what little knowledge and training he had.  It took him minutes to go from his first shot to a consistent good shot.  He was willing to not be perfect, but to take that first shot, so he could learn and adjust.  The shot that was most critical to him hitting the bullseye was the shot just before the one that hit the bullseye.  Until he took that first shot, his chances of hitting the bullseye on his next shot were pretty slim.  Each shot after that increased his chances of success. 

What are you waiting to do because you may not hit the bullseye with the first shot?  What are you taking days, weeks, months or even years to do because you haven't taken the first shot?  What are you waiting to do because you might fail the first time?

I read a quote posted by Michael Hyatt this week.  "Perfectionism is the mother of procrastination".  Now, there is a time and place for "perfecting" something but often we don't even start something worth doing because we might fail the first time.

The title of a sermon I heard years ago by David Bowen was "If it is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly".  It's the same lesson.  The quickest way to doing something right is start doing it now and learn from the mistakes.