The biggest battle you’ll ever have towards your goals is the battle with yourself.
Have you ever wondered what it really takes to become successful and good at something?
For the longest time, I used to think the people who seemed to be the best at things were the ones who were just born with it or had a natural proficiency at the skill they were practicing.
How wrong I was…
This was the mindset that stuck with me ever since school days where the brightest of my friends would shy away from being honest and instead simply respond with “I don’t know, I’m just naturally good at it”.
Reflecting on it now, It was clear why this was the case. They simply didn’t want to own up to the fact that they would spend hours studying and not owning up to it for the fear that they would get called out as nerds or geeks.
The older I’ve gotten, the more clear it becomes of the reality of what really takes to become successful, and it’s pretty obvious.
Brian Clark from Copyblogger wrote a simple but powerful article, which really captures this to its bare essence.
It’s so simple that if I were to read it while I was at school, I would probably look at it and laugh at how obvious it is. Because deep down, all of us intuitively know what needs to be done but constantly hope and wish for the magic pill that can allow us to cut corners.
If you’ve been following my articles and understand the premise of this blog, you will already know what it takes.
So to use Brian Clark’s article as inspiration, I’m going to list the exact steps you need to take to succeed at anything:
Becoming a Better Painter
- Paint
- Paint some more.
- Paint when you can’t be bothered to paint.
- Paint when you are.
- Paint when you’re tired or ill.
- Paint when you don’t know what to paint.
- Paint when you do.
- Paint when you’re lacking in motivation.
- Paint when you’re inspired.
- Paint for the sake of painting.
Becoming Better Socially
- Interact
- Interact some more.
- Interact when you can’t be bothered to interact.
- Interact when you are.
- Interact when you’re tired or ill.
- Interact when you don’t know what to say.
- Interact when you do.
- Interact when you’re lacking in motivation.
- Interact when you’re inspired.
- Interact for the sake of interacting.
BROKEN DOWN
- Practice
- Practice some more.
- Practice when you can’t be bothered to practice.
- Practice when you are.
- Practice when you’re tired or ill.
- Practice when you don’t know how.
- Practice when you do.
- Practice when you’re lacking in motivation.
- Practice when you’re inspired.
- Practice for the sake of practicing.
While the process looks simple, it’s really difficult. With this process comes the self-doubt, the mental barriers, the motivation issues, and the limitless external circumstances that stop you from following it in its simplest form.
I challenge you to get started and to have faith in the journey because it all starts and ends with you.
The biggest enemy we’ll ever have to face on a daily basis is ourselves. So I urge you to take action.
