That's the thing though, even with something you enjoy you will, or should hopefully, hit 'the grind'. That point where it gets hard and you force yourself to keep going even through.the parts you don't enjoy.
School forces you to do this, if you're teaching yourself something, you need to force yourself to do this.
I can't count the number of times i've heard someone say something like
'I tried learning/doing this new thing and it was fun for a bit but it ended up being way harder than I thought.'
And that's usually the point where they've given up or moved on.
But that's usually the point where learning breakthroughs happen and getting through the grind tends to cement those new facts or that new activity better.
That's usually the point where it starts being fun again too, until the next hump to grind through.
It's like an old nintendo game or something. One of those really hard ones that forces you to replay the same thing over and over again just to gain the tiniest bit of progress. Even though the game's probably fun, that's the point where people start throwing controllers and stuff. Yet when you get past those hard sections and make some progress. Suddenly, you feel good and have fun again.
Learning things is very much the same process. Even things you enjoy. The secret is to push yourself through the less fun parts.
Just quickly too, more of an aside, I feel like modern games lack this aspect and i think it's a big part of why many people complain about modern games. They don't stimulate and teach you through failure and repitition, there's usually no consequences, you have no breakthrough 'Aha I can do this now' moments, there's no learning or lessons to be had. Just mindless progression that never really feels like progress.
School often forces you to do a grind, but it's often an endless-treadmill grind, not a over-the-hump grind.
I'm with you that practice is a king but blind struggle ruins passion. I've took salsa lessons for several years, drummed it wrong, have to unlearn bad practices. I've took guitar recently, overcome in a few months what could not in school (good enough instrument and youtube videos).
I was "good," for a time, but pursuit of excellence never met my cost benefit analysis
> It's only a 'grind' if you don't enjoy the process though, right?
I'd summarize my answer as "no, it's still a 'grind'." To answer your followup, "yes, it can be even worse if you hate the basic act."
On a meta level: life sucks and involves hardship. There's value in grinding on things you hate. If you've only succeeded at things that you love, your success is quite likely fragile. Resiliency is developed by accepting, and grinding, your way to success at something you hate.
I do. I wish I could play them well.
Wow, I'm happy for you and only a little jealous.
I wish I could play them well, too. The sound and feeling of butchering them is what makes me dislike the experience.
I would argue that Type 2 is desirable but doesn't fit in this framework.
I think 'grind' is caused by a disconnect between what the learner is being made to do and what they want to do. Grind can therefore be reduced by providing people with the opportunity to study things that interest them, for instance by offering a broader range of educational 'tracks', or by reformulating lesson plans to make the material more interesting (explaining the real world applications or consequences of the subject matter.)