You wake up in a clearing in the middle of a forest. You’ve never been there before and have no idea how you got there. The forest appears vast and impenetrable on all sides. How do you get out? As far as you can tell the land is flat in every direction. No direction looks more promising than any other.

Picking a direction at random you set off into the trees. A short while later you stop. Is this the direction you should be going? Will this direction get you out? You look ahead into the trees hoping to see something that will tell you you’re going the right way. Seeing nothing you head back to the clearing.

The next day you go again. Picking a different direction at random. Again you stop, see nothing ahead that tells you that you’re on the right path. Again you turn around.

You do the same the following day. And the day after. And the day after.

If you keep trying new directions but don’t stick with one you’ll never get out of the forest. Commit to a direction and eventually you’ll emerge on the other side of the forest.

We can learn how to do anything. Writing, web design, film making, photography, basketball, football, guitar, drums, science. Anything. We try things and discard them. Sometimes because we don’t like them once we’ve tried them. Sometimes because we get lazy or it gets too hard. Sometimes picking a different direction is the right thing to do. But eventually you have to choose, pick something, tackle the difficult bits and work through them. Otherwise you’re stuck in the clearing.

Escape the clearing.