One night last fall we had some friends over for dinner. A guest watched me draw out a knife, reach for my cutting board, and get busy on some garlic.

“Isn’t it amazing how quickly celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver (the naked chef guy) and Rachael Ray can chop things up? Incredible!” he said.

Yes, it is entertaining to watch a skilled chef. We watch them wondering how is it that these demi-gods prepare vegetables so gracefully, elegantly, and easily, whereas us mere mortals might cut off our own fingers.

Or the thirty-something bartender I met in the Philadelphia airport who whips up tasty concoctions as he juggles half-empty bottles of rum, blue curacao, and rum, while sliding them to his patrons?

Or just how mindblowing it can be to listen to your favorite singer or musician. Sometimes I get goosebumps.

Giotto di Bondone. Italian painter and architect

photo credit: McPig

And think about how enthralled you can be, slouched in your couch, watching your favorite actor do her thing.

So where am I going with this?

Well, are you ready to make some changes in your life?

Good, because the thing is, there’s nothing technically incredible about chopping vegetables, is there? In a lot of cases, things like these… they’re something that you and I can do too… with practice.

The people demonstrating these amazing feats are not all born with that ability. They gained the experience, developed more confidence, and honed their techniques over time, with practice.

And there you have it… pick one of the 7 areas of life where you want to change the most, and practice, practice, practice. This is the single thing we can do to improve ourselves.

It should be nothing new really. I know you’ve heard it before, “practice makes perfect.”

The advice is simple. Like most good advice that we seldom follow.

The more you practice something the better you get at it.

When we practice something, and when we repeat it, we improve. It is automatic. It is inevitable.

The chef who practices now can bake a perfect yorkshire pudding. The musician who practices chords tirelessly till his fingers blister does a great solo.

Like these men and women, we too over time can become practiced. And before you know it, someone less experienced will watch you in wonder accomplishing something that now is easy for you – no big deal.

Maybe you find this hard to believe. So let’s go back to when you were a child…

At first tying your shoes wasn’t easy, right? If you’ve ever seen a toddler or a preschooler trying to tie his shoes, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

And yet each of us, after much fumbling, and frustration, and stress, eventually learned how to do it, and do it so well that those laces would stay tied.

In Your 21st Century Personal Renaissance, I share the story about a young painter born near the city where I was raised.

Giotto di Bondone, better known as Giotto, was an Italian painter. Today he is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to and developed the Italian Renaissance.

I was eleven when my art teacher told us how one day Giotto, ever the playful apprentice, painted a fly on the nose of a figure. Giotto painted the fly with such skill it practically came to life, causing his teacher Cimabue to repeatedly try to brush it away.

So start practicing more and watch your dreams come true.

And let me know what you think.

Ciao!

Taylor

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed growing mint, basil, and lavender. Mostly outdoors. And more recently indoors too.

The smell is wonderful. And that’s why over the holidays I picked up a few small windowsill pots.

We had so much going on that I never got the chance to seed the pots. That is, until I walked past a flower shop about ten days ago.

There sat rows of basil planters, their powerful fragrance detectable three stores down. In that very instant, I remembered my own little pots. I knew the time had come for me to dig them out of the basement and get my basil growing.

New life on my windowsill

Admittedly, I would glance at the pot several times the first three or four days. As if somehow by staring at it, suddenly a plant would pop up.

Then I realized it was a waste of energy to check on it so much, and I stopped. That was about a week ago.

Today, I had doubts. Maybe I wasn’t watering it enough.  Perhaps I’d given it too much water. Seemed like a good excuse to me to check it again.

And lo and behold… Life!

I took a picture for you. If you look closely, you can see 2 small green sprouts.

What a pleasant surprise. And how rewarding.

…To see progress. To see growth. To see something take form. To see life… especially when you are part of the process.

I got thinking again how great it is too to witness people growing.

People discovering and using their natural talents, and developing new ones.

People finding their new purpose.

People breaking through their limitations.

People getting clear on what they want.

People setting goals.

People charting a new course for themselves.

People living successful lives.

People being fulfilled.

Personal growth. How wonderful it is to help others experience it. Some times it can take a bit. Some times you have to be patient. Still, when it happens… well, you already know… it’s great.

So what’s happening with you… How are you growing or how do you want to grow?

Ciao!

Taylor

I hope you had a good weekend.

Everyone here was sick and it’s taking me a little longer to launch Podliminals …and therefore the Podliminals of the Month Club is being made available in the next few days.

…Can you believe it’s already December?

Ciao!

Taylor