If you’re here to learn a magic trick or hack that will make you instantly good at something, then you’re going to be disappointed. There are no shortcuts. The shortcut comes when you’ve mastered a few fundamental methods that make you good at things, and only then will picking up new skills come naturally because you already know how to get there.

It takes time and effort to get good at things, especially things that involve a decent amount of skill for one to be considered ‘good’ at that thing. You have to be willing to put in the time and the effort. Think of that skill you wish you possessed and treat it like an investment. The more time and effort you put into it, the more your skill investment grows.

The greats are great at what they do because they live the life that makes their skills next level. The incredible athletes are who they are because they put in time and effort at practice and in the gym and get the results they do because of their efforts.

If you’re unwilling to put in the time and effort to be good at something, then expect to be mediocre and blame no one else but yourself. Think of it like a sacrifice. To be good at that skill, you have to be willing to sacrifice time and effort to attain it. This sacrificial exchange is essential; don’t expect to get something you want by giving nothing.

Practice, practice, practice. Developing the spirit of practice is a skill in itself. Practice is the key to progress, and learning how to be nonjudgmental towards yourself when you are practicing is how we get out of our own way to really develop.

When I practice, I do so with the intent to execute perfectly, which I know I won’t, but that perfection is the aim, and when I fail I accept that failure is part of the process and not a personal stab at my competence.

When I practice, I do so with the intent to make every cut better than my last. It’s a lesson I learned when becoming a sushi chef and it carries over into the development of any skill. Every time you practice or attempt to be good at that thing, you do so to be better than you were the last time.

You aren’t trying to be at the professional level when you begin; its unrealistic. You can aim for the professional level because aiming high means you fall shorter of the goal than if you aimed low, but the true spirit of practice is to do better than you did the last time.

Give genuine effort when you practice. No half-assing. Try and give your 100% effort with no fear of failure. You’re only practicing. Every master was once the fool. The one who is unafraid to be a fool will progress more rapidly than the one who fears judgement and never takes enough risk to break through boundaries. You will make more progress when you develop the spirit of practice and abandon fear of judgement and have the patience to persevere.

My martial arts teacher used to tell me, “perfect practice makes perfect.” We aim for perfection because that is the ideal, and getting as close to that ideal as possible with our efforts is what brings us from the realm of the mediocre to the realm of greatness, but somewhere in-between those two realms is the realm of the fool where judgement is lost and progress is gained.

Get really good at one thing. Before you dive into trying to be good at a million different things, choose one thing and master that first. The skills developed through practice and mastery over one thing will bleed over into how you do other things, but that mastery of the spirit of practice must first be developed by concentrating fully on one thing.

This is a key that I learned from practicing martial arts. I focused solely on my martial arts practice for a few years and attained a level of mastery over the skill and, more importantly, mastery over myself.

I learned how to practice. I learned how to be the fool and take the risk of looking foolish so I could push myself to new levels. I learned to be disciplined and patient so that I could be true to my commitment to be good at martial arts. I wasn’t the best, but I was good, and the personal development I experienced through my practice was worth all the time and effort.

Another important skill I developed was the skill of building skill, which I saw bleed over into everything else I did. I had a degree of mastery over myself and that gave me a degree of mastery over my mind and environment, making it easy to be good at small things because I had already done what it took to be good at something difficult.

Brainwash yourself into it. When I want to develop a skill and I want to make it the center of my attention, I have to brainwash myself into thinking about it all the time. That means instead of watching whatever interesting podcast or YouTube video pops up on my feed, I watch videos about the subject related to the skill I want to develop.

Let’s use art as an example. If I want to watch something, I’ll watch an art tutorial or a documentary on a famous artist, or an animation that has artwork I really enjoy because sneaking in entertainment can help when brainwashing yourself. If I’m looking for mindless Internet recreation, then I’ll search for awesome tattoos or street art and browse through those pictures.

I’ll set up my environment to support practicing that skill. I’ll keep my art supplies in an area that’s easy to see so I can be reminded to practice. When I lock my iPad, I’ll keep Procreate open so it’s the first thing I see when I open it back up. I’ll keep my most current project out where I’ll easily see it and be inspired to keep working on it. Or I’ll change my phone’s lock screen to an awesome piece of art that inspires me.

It’s easy to lose your momentum when you constantly let yourself get distracted by random things. Why are you watching random TV shows and YouTube videos that have nothing to do with what you want to become?

That kind of behavior steals your mental activity away from the things you want. To develop focus, create the ideal environment and brainwash yourself into thinking about it constantly. Once you develop habits of doing that thing and thinking in that way, it will become more natural to you to practice your skill and get good at it.

There are lots of creative ways to brainwash yourself into keeping your attention focused on that skill, but the point it to constantly remind and inspire yourself to concentrate your mental activity on that skill and things related to its development. The above are just a few examples of how you can brainwash yourself into it, and can be used until you develop your own brainwashing methods.

I’ve seen a common trend that seems to be progressing more and more, which is that a lot of people aren’t too good at anything. A lot of people go to work and come home and lose themselves to a screen, the focus of their lives being getting home to entertain themselves. They don’t ever become great at anything, and never amount to much more than an expert consumer.

If you want to be good at something, sacrifice the time and effort, practice relentlessly, be comfortable being the fool, focus on one thing, create the ideal environment to support that development, and brainwash yourself into it. You have the tools, now get to work.

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