Ok, I might as well go first: I wish I could draw. Not at the level where I could make photorealistic portraits, but I’ve always been envious of those who are able to scetch something together in a few minutes that perfectly captures what they want to convey. Sometimes words aren’t enough to express what I want to say, and for those situations I would love to have a simple drawing do the talking for me.
Focusing on the things I need to actually do.
I swear, if even if I was forced to do something at gunpoint, I’d manage to get distracted anyway.Robber: “Why does it take so long to stuff money in the bag?” Bank employee: “Oh, that’s what I was supposed to do.”
yes and something to control the demon that makes me want to try it this way when I should not try anything new on the task.
I literally wish I had the ability to practice.
That’s really what all my other answers to this come down to. I would love to write better, be a better woodworker, play music, learn languages, learn programming languages, etc. But my mind just… slides right off it. I can’t bring myself to put in the time necessary to cultivate literally any skill.
I’m the same way. I’ve found that I need another person to keep me accountible so taking lessons has help me. I started drums this year and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and having a teacher give me things to practice and checking in keeps me going.
This may be old advice, and I can’t speak for music or languages (where I myself have the same issue) but for woodworking and programming this is my experience: Once I get some idea for something I want to build, that becomes the goal of the project, not learning the skill itself. It could be carving a small model boat, or writing a sudoku solver, but at least for my part, once I get caught up in some project, I have a hard time letting it go. That’s as opposed to if I sit down and try to systematically learn a skill.
Some suggestions for projects off the top of my head:
- Some kind of simple encryption/decryption method.
- A nice wooden box to put something nice in (possibly without visible metal parts)
- A sudoku solver
- Model car (maybe with wheels and movable doors)
- A little “river steamer” with a rubber-band driven “propeller” (don’t know what the wheel on the back of a river steamer is called)
- A “peg solitaire” solver (because I was really frustrated at not being able to solve it)
The point is just to find something else that interests you, that can motivate you to learn the skill you want :) good luck!
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Any particular languages?
Not op, but French, Russian, and Japanese. They’re all hard for Americans to learn (vs, say, Spanish or German).
French is considered just about as hard as Spanish, maybe a little harder on the phonetics. German is harder than French or Spanish. Russian is harder than German/French/Spanish, but Japanese would be significantly harder than Russian.
am learn french
China is rumbling in the distance
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Go lay down and fall asleep within a few minutes no matter what. I know a few people who can do this and I am so jealous.
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I can at times but even if im not asleep I can get into a relaxed state within a few minutes even if im not asleep for half an hour.
I wish I was a better piano player
I’m a competent musician in many instruments but I could never get the hang of using my left hand for accompaniment
I’m a guitarist myself. Piano is certainly up there on the list of skills I wish I had.
Motivate myself.
It’s weird. I go to work, I’ll get the job done. Something comes in my inbox that shit is covered.
I’ve been home for 3 hours now, and this is the most I’ve done tonight since I got home. Not even video games. Fuck haven’t gotten chores done. What the hell is that skill that I have at work that I don’t have at home?
My guess would be the sense of fulfilment.
At work you have a purpose, and so you fulfil it.
At home, to motivate myself to do the chores, is to find a rationale for it to be done.
- Laundry? So I can wear them to work / be ready to look nice when going out.
- Dishes? So I can have nice big servings of meals and be able to cook.
- Cleaning? So I can enjoy a nice, cleaned house without getting dirty when I walk around (walking barefoot inside is a good indicator when to clean)
Etc. Etc. Plus it helps to enforce the thought that I’m “adulting”, like the kid in me and others would say.
Learning to say no. Many times or not to say all my life I have always tried to get along with everyone, and I always say “Yes” to everything, committing myself to things I really don’t want just because I don’t know how to say no.
Musical talent. I’d love to be able to sing and play guitar but I have no aptitude for it at all.
I wish I could do things carefully. Doesn’t matter how hard I try; if I wash up water goes everywhere, even when I’m trying not to let it. I can’t do cutting in when it’s time to paint a room. I can’t move things around without bumping them, usually. Just incapable of doing things carefully.
ONG this! No matter how many times I measure, something always goes wrong during a project. I get too little. I get too much. I cut too short.
Even with my most careful planning, I get something wrong and have to make extra trips to the hardware store.
One thing that I have learned is that concentrating on something means doing it, whether concentrating on doing it right or wrong. So trying to not do something generally means doing the wrong thing because that is what I’m thinking about.
Doesn’t help with clumsy stuff that just kinda happens, but at least I stopped focusing on avoiding mistakes and then making those mistakes and reduced the overall number.
I wish I could write better…
Bad handwriting literally runs in my family, and as hard as I’ve tried I’ve never been able to improve it. I’ve resorted to writing in block, and even then it still looks scruffy.
Yet some of my colleagues have wonderful handwriting, and it makes me wonder why I couldn’t have been born with better hands.
I’m going to start trying to learn how to draw in the New Year, so I hope that helps in some way.
If you do practice, thicker pens or markers can make shaky printing look nicer. Maybe a fountain pen or a thicker roller pen might help a little.
Here’s what changed my handwriting: turning it into a hobby
At school, writing stuff all the time was more like a job, so naturally I wasn’t really that interested in it. However when you don’t have to write a ton of stuff every day, you can approach it form a different angle. Go to the library and find a book about calligraphy. Pick a style you find interesting, and start practicing.
Motivation is key. Don’t write stuff you hate in a style you despise. That’s just basically a long way to say: school. Let’s say you fall in love with textura quadrata, so you start practicing that style instead of cursive. Eventually you’ll try italic, humanist, uncial and other styles too. Then you’ll start writing longer things; not just shopping lists, but journaling too. After a while, you start to notice that your handwriting has improved.
BTW don’t go with a dip pen at first. Instead, get a Pilot Parallel Pen, because it’s good for for most styles. Once you’re familiar with a specific writing style, you can start learning how to manage the ink flow of a dip pen, because that’s a completely different ball game.
aquarium plant growing
every time i buy them they die
I wish I didn’t break down so easily. Sometimes I feel like I’m made of wet paper and the smallest mistake sends me spiraling
Focus on reading a book.
I can do it but I have to be in the mood. I wish it were all the time but it’s more like once a month. I’m trying to wean myself away from screens and be more mindful about spending more than a few minutes on a task. It’s a lifestyle change and a struggle.Also; spelling, typing, and writing in print and cursive. I always type and write letters out of order.
My wife can read a a cookbook (or a recipe in general) and instantly contextualize what she’s reading. If I could do that, too, there’d be a lot less strain in our marriage.
For that matter, remembering a list of more than three things for more than twenty minutes, that’s abother one.
Woodworking, or any activity that involves crafting useful and/or beautiful things with my own two hands. I live in a flat so I lack space to do it, but the idea of using an object or a furniture everyday while knowing I actually made it from scratch is just so appealing to me
Same.
I took a few classes at a local wood shop that were very fun, maybe there’s a local shop you can buy a membership at or do courses with.
I’m now planning my home workshop and it’s expensive + space consuming, but I love doing it and making something tangible with just my hands.
