I recently completed 100 hours of practice writing with my left hand, which is my non-dominant hand. It took me a year, during which I devoted, on average, 2 one-hour sessions a week to the project.
There were weeks I spent less time on it, and other weeks when I spent more. And naturally, sometimes I felt more motivated than others. But it was important to me from the very beginning that I dedicate enough time to this effort to give me a real opportunity to improve.
And so I set a clear goal that felt right to me: one year, 100 hours.

Why did I start?

Well, to be honest, I didn’t embark on this little experiment as part of some strategic agenda. There was no master plan, and I didn’t do any research in advance.
I simply felt it was something I wanted to try. After many years of telling myself “One day I’ll practice writing with my left hand. How cool would that be?!”, I just grabbed a notebook one day a year ago, and made the decision to commit to practicing this skill for 100 hours over the course of one year.
When I decided to write this blog I thought it might be a good idea to include some information about the benefits of the project (if any), so I took the time now to do a bit of research on the subject. But the fact is, I started it out of curiosity, and because it just felt right. It still does. That’s why I’m sharing the experience with you.

How does it feel?
 

At the beginning, it was mostly awkward. I immediately realized how undeveloped my skill was. Simply put, I saw how uncoordinated my left hand really was. The first few practice sessions were humbling. 
It was also funny to see the difference between what I had in my mind and what the result actually looked like. Sometimes I felt frustrated, plain and simple. Maybe this is inevitable when you’re teaching your brain a new skill.

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I am happy to report, though, that it didn’t take long before I saw some improvement. That felt great. And I kept on improving. Sometimes at a faster pace, and sometimes slowly. There were days where I felt like my penmanship was actually getting worse. Then, there were days when I suddenly noticed a significant improvement, the kind only I could really appreciate. I saw I was forming smaller letters with more ease, or getting faster and more fluent. All of a sudden I was able to get that pesky letter right. Whenever it happened, I was over the moon. Looking back, both the “good” and “bad” days were just part of the process. Just like any new skill, if you’re patient and keep at it, you improve.

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At the end of the day, working patiently toward the goal, enduring the more frustrating days and then seeing improvement, was deeply satisfying for me.