Personal and professional development gurus LOVE to use the analogy of toddlers learning to walk.

I heard the incomparable Seth Godin say, “I’ve never met a toddler who learned to walk from watching a YouTube video or reading a step-by-step tutorial.”

To paraphrase Brooke Castillo, “We never look at a toddler and think, I just don’t think they’re gonna get it. We all trust that a toddler will figure out how to walk.”

And I love it. I take inspiration from it. But I also have a unique perspective because I HAD TO LEARN TO WALK AS A GROWN-UP.

Learning to walk as a grown-up is not the same as learning to walk as a toddler.

The stakes are much higher.

When you fall, you will fall further. Falling further might result in injury. In my case, the synapses between my brain and the muscles weren’t firing the way they used to. Instinctual necessity was overridden by more of a linear, step-by-step model of learning.

And I needed to think a lot harder to make even the smallest amount of progress.

Learning to walk as a toddler, you have cheerleaders and parents to catch you if you are falling. You have colorful, fun, musical aids to help you develop the skill.

Learning to walk as an adult, you’re your own cheerleader. If somebody’s going to catch you when you fall, that person had better be awfully strong. And the aids we have are clinical, and sometimes even painful.

So what do we have to do, to learn to walk as adults? We need to practice being our own best cheerleader ALL THE TIME, regardless of the stakes. We need to seek mentors and coaches and people further in the journey than we are that care enough about us to be willing to use their strength to catch us. And we have to find FUN in the pain of learning.

What do you think? Are you finding people who are further ahead than you are? Do you cheer for yourself? And are you capable of finding (or creating) the fun in the pain of learning?