“I tried to learn dance, but I gave up”
“I tried writing but lost interest”
“I tried to learn cooking but was not successful”
You can substitute your effort to learn in any of the above sentences and it will ring equally true. Many of us wish to learn some skill but give up after a few trials. When you talk to people who have mastered a skill, they don’t tell you they ‘tried’ something but they will talk about having ‘trained for it’.
“I trained to be a musician”
“I trained to become a black belt”
“I trained to be a writer”
One can be successful with ‘trying’ but the chances of success increases if you ‘train’ for it instead of ‘trying’ for it. We are not fighting over the meaning of the words ‘trying’ and ‘training’ here. Far from it. It is the attitudinal shift.
“Trying'' implies you gave it some time, put in some efforts and nothing more. Maybe you read a book, watched some Youtube videos for the skill and tried your hand at it and gave up. Training on the other hand is a more serious approach to learn a skill. When you want to train for something you first find someone who can teach you what you want to learn. Then you start with the basic practice of the skill which often sounds and seems repetitive and boring but it lays the foundation for higher skills in the field. You need a coach if you are training for skill. Training is committing to a long term practice.
Often we cannot see our shortcomings. We would be blindsided to it. You need someone who is trained to train others to spot your errors and correct them. You need someone who is neutral and is willing to correct your flaws. You bring a sense of dedication when you train which is absent when you try something. You set apart a fixed time for the activity and don’t miss the practice sessions. Hardly anyone has become a good musician, dancer, athlete, writer, programmer, bodybuilder without good training. Training for any skill is doing a lot of repetitive tasks day in and day out until the task becomes automatic.
Today, if you can read and write, it did not come about because you ‘tried’ reading and writing. You trained for it. You went to a school for ten years of your life, had fixed hours of practice, had a teacher for a coach who corrected your errors and pointed out the correct path.
So the next time you talk of wanting to learn something ask yourself if you want to try to learn the skill or want to train for it. Trying is a light-hearted approach and training is the rigorous work ethic for people who are serious about learning a skill.