Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, my wife and I (we were dating at the time) jumped on the self-help movement. You know, stuff like Tony Robbins’ “Personal Power.” We took seminars from a company called “Phoenix Seminars.” It was great. We learned a lot about ourselves and each other even though the company turned out to be pretty shady with “leaders” who weren’t credentialed counselors or trainers. The company ultimately failed and the last I saw of the president of the former company was on late-night TV where she was hawking some product in an infomercial.

Did any of it work? Yes and no. Yes, from the standpoint that we learned several techniques of effective communication and self-motivation, and no, as the programs were purposely designed to keep you coming back for more; that is, paying more money to get to the next level. That said, it wasn’t a scam. I met some great folks that I keep in touch with and as I mentioned above, I learned some great things.

In particular, we learned some great trigger phrases that have helped us even to this day. One of those phrases was “trust in the processs.” When we’re learning new things, oftentimes we feel that things don’t make sense. In our confusion we get discouraged and frustrated, feeling as if we’re not making progress.

A good example of this is the following clip from the movie, “The Karate Kid” with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. In the scene, Jaden expresses his frustration at having to pick up his jacket, put it on, take it off, then hang it up day after day, thousands of times. His frustration grows to the point where he wants to quit. Then Jackie Chan demonstrates that the process had meaning after all.

The learning process takes time and that can be frustrating as well. And in the fast-paced, instant gratification world we live in today, many expect to get great results in a very short period of time. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say something like, “I followed everything step on this _________ (TikTok, InstaGram, etc.) video, and I just can’t get the same results.”

Speaking of videos, they’re great. I’ve learned lots from watching videos. But as instructive as they are, what they can’t teach you is feel. That is something that can only be learned through direct experience. Some video bakers like Martin Philip with King Arthur are excellent at describing what to feel for when you’re working with dough. But until you actually feel what it is being described, you won’t truly know it. That’s the challenge I have myself as a writer. I do my best to illustrate and describe how to work with dough, but there’s only so much I can do.

But despite that, don’t be discouraged. Remember, learning any skill is a process. Trust in it and you’ll eventually be successful!