Being Inexperienced

I don't play League of Legends, and I have no plans to ever change that, but I am subscribed to their Youtube channel because I like (some of) their animated advertisements. Recently, they posted an advertisement that wasn't animated, and I liked it so much that I thought I'd share part of it with you.

The ad is titled "Go Noobs | League of Legends New Player Advertisement." It's part of an ad campaign that seems to be designed to make it less daunting for prospective players to start playing such a competitive game. This particular ad is noteworthy because it shares thoughts that are applicable to far more than just starting to play a video game. In fact, this message can be applied to doing just about anything:

At some point, everyone is a beginner. . . . We're all trash the first time we try something, but remember: Being bad is the first step to not being bad. . . . And when you're, like, new at a thing, every moment is a discovery, every discovery is a win, and every win is the best thing ever.

Not quite the wording I would have chosen for a blog post, but they're trying to appeal to teens and young adults. Still, I like the concept and the encouragement. Everyone starts out inexperienced. In every game I've seen that has an Experience system, each new character starts off with zero Experience. The idea is to gain experience (and, thus, gain skill) over time. That's basically what we came to Earth to do. We came here to gain experience, develop our talents, and, to borrow another phrase from gamer lingo, "Get good."

Then the ad took the message one step further, encouraging its audience to look of the bright side of being inexperienced. "Stop and think about it: This moment right now. It's the very last time you'll ever be a beginner. . . . So enjoy being clumsy. Embrace being new." And I wish they had added this, so I will: It won't last. One can't be a beginner forever. Every moment you spend trying something new gives you experience and makes you less new at doing that thing, whether it's practising a talent, playing League of Legends, or just living life. The longer you keep at it, the more experience you'll gain, and the better you'll get at it.

So I would like to leave you with the same advice League of Legends would like to give me: "Embrace being new." Learn to tolerate being inexperienced. It won't be very fun. The advertisement admits that early on in the video. But it can be rewarding. Each moment gives us experience, so being inexperienced won't last long, so long as we're willing to keep trying and keep learning how to do better. We can keep doing new things until they're not new to us any more, but first, we have to be willing to embrace being new.