Shuffling a deck of cards reminded me what it takes to learn
Experience is the best teacher. Just do the darn thing and you’ll get better.
I host a game night with my friends every two weeks. We play board games, card games, and sometimes end the night with Mario Kart. Occasionally, we’ll play a game that calls for a traditional deck of 52 playing cards.
When we play a card game, typically we cycle clockwise such that everyone has the opportunity to shuffle and deal the cards. There comes a point where you’ve played card games long enough such that you can no longer poorly mix-up the cards or let someone else shuffle for you 😆. My friends offered to teach me to shuffle correctly, and I took them up on the offer. I’ve been shuffling cards the right way ever since then (perhaps 18 months ago).
Shuffling a deck of cards is a tricky skill to get right the first time but it’s mechanically simple. From my first ever try to the last time I shuffled a deck, I’ve made immense, noticeable progress. Sure, I mess it up sometimes, but it’s almost instinctual at this point on what I have to do with my hands. You can call it instinct, muscle memory, intuition, whatever. The point is that this experience was a small but potent reminder of what it takes to improve. It’s obvious, but sometimes it just takes something as seemingly trivial as improving your card shuffling skills to internalize a life lesson like this: do the thing enough times and you’ll get better. Duh.