This is a follow-up to the thread I wrote here and a follow-up here. I stumbled across a post the other day that exemplifies the point I was trying to get across perfectly. It’s a private board, so I can’t link it here, but I’ll basically sum it up.

A very gung-ho newbie posted saying he set a challenge for himself as far as approaching goes. He wanted to do 100 approaches in ONE DAY.

Quickly, ask yourself, think of the last 100 approaches you’ve done and how long has it taken? A week? A month? Six months? Maybe even a year? Maybe you’ve never even done 100 approaches. There’s one message board (won’t name names) that treats 100 approaches as a year-long challenge (which few guys ever meet — talk about low expectations).

So, predictably, a lot of other guys posted and commented saying, “hey man, you may want to try something a bit easier, approaching is really hard at first, etc.” But the newbie was adamant, he was going to do it that weekend.

He goes out and comes back to report on his challenge. Only 16 approaches. Extremely disappointed in himself. But then again, when was the last time YOU did 16 approaches in one day? I don’t know if I’ve EVER done that many in one day, and my guess is most guys haven’t. For most guys, 5-10 a night is a good night.

But the newbie was disappointed, so he said he was going to go out the next day (Sunday) and try again.

How’d he do? 68 approaches. Towards the end he started having good conversations and actually got a few numbers.

Guys on the board start congratulating him for his determination and his balls. But wait. He’s still not happy. Next day, he’s trying again.

And the following day? 73 approaches. A lot of conversations. A lot of numbers. At this point he has enough phone numbers for him to call and get dates for the next two weeks. This is a guy who’s been active in the community for three days and he just improved more than most guys do in six months.

And guess what? He still didn’t reach his own expectations…