Embrace inexperience and use it to grow.

I have a lot of experience being the youngest. I’m the youngest in my family. I’ve been the youngest on my team and in classes. And now, I'm the youngest member of Team Athletes for Yoga. Being young has its pros and cons. With youth comes energy, enthusiasm, and resilience. It also comes with inexperience.

Honestly, being inexperienced can suck. Inexperience is a tough teacher because it often tests you before you feel totally prepared. And, more often than not, these tests are thrown at you full throttle. But, inexperience can also be incredibly empowering. Without preconceived notions, you are free to absorb anything and everything. Without fabricated and self-imposed limitations, you’re free to think big. Without fear of failure, you’re free to test, free to learn, and free to really be creative. While there is much to be said for the value of experience and the wisdom that stems from it, it’s important to balance that with the good juju — the optimism — of inexperience and the excitement that comes from climbing beyond of your comfort zone.

One thing I’ve learned from being the youngest is that inexperience doesn’t equal ineptitude, as long as you stretch yourself so that you continually grow. I’ve also come to embrace opportunities to learn from the experience of others so that I don’t always have to learn the hard way. When you’re surrounded by the right people, inexperience becomes more ease-ful, and that is what I’ve found on Team Athletes for Yoga, where I continue to soak up the experience of my “elders.”

So, strike a balance between inexperience and experience, and surround yourself with the right posse so that you have more space and more support to grow. That’s what I plan to keep doing.

How has inexperience helped you?