Learning a new skill

In this economy it is more important than ever to keep your skills up-to-date.  It also is important to keep learning new skills to keep yourself valuable and able to handle new tasks.

I’ve been experiencing the roller coaster of learning new skills for the last several months.  I’m trying to become adept at the technology involved in creating and running an online business.  There have been moments of sheer frustration.  And there have been moments of sheer exhilaration.  I’ve learned to insert products in my shopping cart.  I finally figured out how to create my own website templates.  The long hours of trying to understand Joomla, WordPress, Dreamweaver, blogs, squidoos, article marketing, linking and much more is finally starting to make sense.  I feel like I’m trying to learn a foreign language and living in a foreign country.  I’ve had major meltdowns. I’ve had to walk away from it all to regain my perspective.  I’ve had celebrations to acknowledge mastering a task.  I’ve gotten excited to see articles I’ve submitted to directories being viewed by website and blog editors.

And to my surprise, I kept coming back to try again and again.  There were many times I thought about just walking away from the frustration and expense.  But every time I walk away, I come back, try it again, and make small gains.

So what’s the lesson in this?  Persistence?  Try and try again?  Don’t give up?  If it is your passion, you will prevail?

What do you think?  What experiences have you had as you try to learn a new skill or job? How does the “trying” affect the harmony in your life?