Can you master any skill you want?

• If you are consistent, you will always produce something. But does it matter if nobody wants to see it?
• If you learn from your failures, you will improve your craft. But will anybody follow you for one piece of work a year ? Someone might, but nobody likes inconsistent people.
• While if you only replicate successes, you limit your reach and never evolve. People will get bored , and you will eventually lose your audience.

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Experts have a strict practice routine that allows them to become the best in their field. But their routine is nothing special, and you can apply it too.

So here is the 3-step routine that will help you master any skill you want in life.

You can’t set average goals when trying to improve a skill. Improvement is a challenge, so your goals should be challenging.

• Set intense goals focused on a specific skill instead of the overall performance.
• Leave out the skills you have already mastered. I used to concentrate on all my tasks at the maximum. But most times, I was so tired I couldn’t focus on the skill I wanted to improve. So, prioritize critical tasks and give them your undivided attention.
• Work on a weakness. You can’t be good at everything. But you can become better or decent if you work on your weaknesses.

You can split your weaknesses into two categories:

• The Improvement Bucket contains every task you could improve and master. 
• The Delegation Bucket includes the activities you don’t like. Even if you become decent at them, you will never excel. So it’s better to give them to somebody else.

• Give your goal undivided attention. Have you ever tried to study with the TV on? You can’t. So, reduce distractions to the minimum.
• Work with great effort. You should know the task will be challenging from the start. So give everything you have because it could make the difference between success and failure.
• Start with nobody watching. I used to practice my critical tasks publicly because I thought it could help me. But public practice adds up to the stress and makes you nervous. Plus, it can distract you easier. So don’t start with it if you are not ready yet.

You set your narrow goal and reach it once. But once is not enough. You have to be consistent and practice a lot.

Here are a few deliberate practice rules:

• Total concentration and effort. Just because you reach your goal once, it doesn’t mean you can get distracted from now on.
• Immediate and informative feedback. Find somebody like a mentor or a public that can give you honest feedback.
• Repetition with Reflection & Refinement. Take a moment of reflection between training sessions. Try to understand the feedback and decode it into actionable steps.

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Stay consistent and stay strong!