In massage therapy school, I leaned the proper way to use my hands as a professional therapist. As a professional, I have to consider both the massage I am working on at that moment as well as the six others I have lined up after it. I have to use proper techniques like taking advantage of body weight and the cumulative forces working through my trunk to my arms to my hands. If I used smaller muscles like those that control the thumbs, then I’d be wore out long before the day was over.
That doesn’t matter when I’m giving one 30 minute massage to my significant other. I can use whatever techniques work best for me without having to worry as much about the long term consequences.
But thanks to my training – because I am a professional – I can know how to handle when I should act like an amateur and when I should act like a professional.
I believe I can add tremendous value by acting like an amateur. I can build things more quickly and figure out whether they work while breaking all the professional rules. But because I’m a professional, I know the trade-offs of what I’m doing. I know I’ll need to go back and change a lot of the amateur work I’ve done. I also know that I can’t sustain the amateur pace forever but that it’s a great way to get momentum behind a project.
I believe the best way to start any project is by acting like an amateur.