How typing taught me it's possible to become good at something you are not a natural in.

I am very interested in self help books. One of my favourite books is Grit. The primary premise of Grit is that success is mostly correlated with how much grit a person has, not their intelligence or talent. Of course, this is debatable - a person's life circumstances also matter.

The author had experience of being a teacher in school. She noticed that there were certain kids who were naturally good in a subject. It became part of their identity. When they went to higher grades and encountered difficult topics, they felt bad as their identity was threatened. It demoralized them and then they turned away from the topic.

The kids who were not naturals in the smaller grades were used to doing a lot of problems before understanding the concept. They made no such assumption and were not demoralised when they did not understand a concept at first glance. This helped them to persevere.

The final chapters of the book have tips on how to inculcate grit in yourself as well as your children (from a parenting point of view). She mentioned that it is very important to go through the experience of becoming good at something you were not good at first. This is motivating and rewarding.

She suggests certain ideas like learning a musical instrument, and not quitting it till a certain level of proficiency is reached. It is also a rewarding activity that can help you tap into the state of flow.I did not know about Grit earlier on but I did realise that I have gone through this experience myself in a few domains.

One example that I would like to share is typing.I never thought of myself as a fast typer, or fast anything. I used to finish last in races in school. I thought speed was my weakness as I was on the heavier side. When I was in 10th grade, I came across an article of a programmer who lost a hand and taught himself to type with one hand. He spoke about the benefits of 'touch typing' - a form of typing where you type without looking at the keyboard.I thought it was interesting and learnt it.

I found it difficult at first and wondered if it was really possible. It felt like magic when I was able to type certain sentences without looking at the keyboard or with my eyes closed or in darkness. I noticed my typing speed increased naturally from under 20 words a minute to 35-40 purely with the correct technique. I used to think people who type at speeds faster than 50 or 100 must have a different level of motor skills - similar to professional sport, far beyond comprehension.

However, I kept on playing the typing game over the years - it was particularly a good way to distract myself during stress. It helps me get into a state of flow. My breathing becomes deep and mind attains focus organically as I continue typing.  

I noticed my typing speed gradually increased over the years to a point where I was able to hit a 100 words per minute ! And I was in no way a natural typer - Now, being a fast typer is a part of my identity ! I love typing as it makes me feel good. I could not believe that I was really able to scale the peak and the 3 digit typing score belonged to me !

This is not a very significant life skill, but it does have some benefits - when I am trying to write or clear my mind or write messages to people or make documents - I can do so by focusing purely on the content and not worry about the typing. It's easier to write quality messages to someone as I prefer well written messages. The biggest benefit of typing for me has been what it represents - getting good at something I was not naturally good in. It's become something that gives me a lot of satisfaction to type fast.

Even now when I am stressed or feeling a little distracted, I do a typing exercise for 10-15 minutes and I notice my mind goes quiet as my entire being goes into focus state. It is then easier to focus on the task at hand