Give it a go

There was something in the James Clear email I liked this week.  There were actually a number of things, but this one stood out to me.
"Learning more will increase knowledge, but only attempting more will reduce fear. The more you try it, the less you will fear it."
It took me back to something years ago.  I am comfortable with mics these days but that was not always the case.  I remember when I first had a mic on a stand in front of me.  I looked at that thing and thought “what if I have to adjust it?” No one would have known what was going on in my head, but that mic represented the great unknown to me.  These days handling a mic is second nature but to me something only becomes second nature after first nature.
I knew stuff but I had not done stuff.  As the quote above says, it really is through applied learning that I learn, rather than by just learning itself.
Probably one of the best training sessions I ever had was a guy teaching me how to use a video camera to take over what he was doing.  He showed and described and then had me do the same as he watched.  Then he did it again emphasising the things I was vague on or missed.  Then he had me do it again.  Naturally it was different doing it when he was not around, but I felt the session was good enough for me to find my way when lost.  I did that job for a few years and got very comfortable with the process.  Fear turned to confidence.
To me not all fear is bad.  Sometimes fear is healthy and causes me to perform better.  It seems even the fear in the quote - though diminished should always be partially present to optimise performance.  Players about to compete at the highest level often talk about butterflies and one of the best rugby league players ever always had a spew before a big match.  When asked about it, players always say a bit of nerves is good for performance.
For me there is a bad fear I will do all to get rid of, and a healthy fear that enables peak endevours.  I reckon the acknowledgement of my short comings is healthy - the fear of a bad performance encourages a good performance. It is like an ingredient that improves.
But even if all goes pear shaped, I have given it a go.  My greatest admiration is for participants rather than spectators.  At the Ed Sheeran concert I loved that he started a song in the wrong key and had to start again.  Or that Vance Joy forgot the words of a song and spent a few seconds remembering them.
Even the best “blow it” but the best give it a go.  Fear can motivate in a good way.  It does not need to hold back.