That’s far too many asses in a row. Sue me!
We all know that guy who is naturally good at something that you want to be good at. There is the guy who gets all the women without even trying and the guy who owns all the jokes at a party.
Do not let him make you jealous, because I am gonna let you in on a secret. You can be better than him!
During my high-school days I believed that the kids who did better than me in studies, or art were gifted and more talented than me. I believed that you had to have that talent by birth. I was not competitive, I never even tried to beat them.
It took me until I got good with WordPress to realize that with consistent effort I can be good at something.
And then I was introduced to the 10,000 hour theory by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers where he observed that all the top violinists in a school had practiced for over 10,000 hours and they were all better than the ones who had practiced for 8,000 hours and all those who had practiced for 8,000 hours were better than the ones who had practiced 6,000 hours and so on, irrespective of their natural talent.
And then again recently, I came across a TED video that said how 20 hours of focused effort was all it took to be moderately good at learning a new skill. Here is it for you guys:
Being a natural is good, it gives you a head start over your competition. But if you take it for granted and do not go through all the stages of learning and learn it systematically, here is the problem: you will not have a fall back plan. On that day when things are not working out for you, you will not be able to stick to the basics and start over because you do not know the basics. You never went through the training. And your trained competitor will score all the chicks on that day. In fact, he will score everyday consistently regardless of the competition.
Remember this, when we were born, all we knew was to cry and eat and poop. Everything else was acquired over time. Try watching a baby trying to walk, don’t we take that for granted? That’s because we have achieved that state of natural awesomeness by consistent training.
With all the skills that I have acquired over the years, both professional and inter-personnel I was not naturally good at any of it. Yes, I had an aptitude for some of them but mostly I have tried and tested and failed and spent countless hours to learn them and I am still working my way up. In the long run, I can kick the ass of anyone who claims to be a natural!
So, if you want to be good at something, break it down, find out what you need to learn and work on them day after day until you get it right! Kick some ass!
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