Swimming in the deep end

"A discouraging word from a well-meaning adviser: 'Ooh, that’s very brave of you – are you sure you won’t be in over your head?'
...Swimming works better when there’s more water than there is swimmer. Ever try swimming in the shallow end, where the water is not over your head? Very difficult. At best, clumsy. Worse, you could be at risk of crashing your head into the bottom of the pool...

...Of course, all of this assumes the ability to swim, float, and tread water. Basic skills are necessary. But, simply put (and without metaphor), in the real world, when you want to grow in a particular area, you have to try stuff that feels risky, that pushes you past your place of comfort. Experience has to begin somewhere. Every expert at one time was a newbie, at one time took that first floppy fish dive out into deeper waters."
Kelly Belmonte

You can read the whole thing here.