(photo: @olegixanovpht)
Over the course of the past couple of years in self-development, I’ve come down the these conclusions:
- You are an outsider before you are an insider
- Everything is hard before it is easy
- There is an acclimation time before hard becomes easy
- Once hard becomes easy, it will be something you “do”
- Something you “do” becomes who you “are” over time.
- Who you “are” is changeable moment by moment.
Everything you want to do in life comes down to skills, which are essentially habits, which make up your self-image.
You don’t start out as a “guitarist” or a “songwriter” or an “artist” or a “coder”. These are things you become over time through repetitions.
You start out knowing nothing about the guitar. Your first chord fingerings are very flimsy and your strumming is weak. Over time, when you push past this period of ignorance, you start to become familiar with the instrument. Even further, the guitar eventually becomes an extension of yourself.
Anything you want to do, be, or have in life comes down to repetitions for the most part, which leads to skills.
Want a girlfriend? Talk to more girls. Do more repetitions.
Want a job? Apply to more jobs. Do more repetitions.
Want to sing better? Practice singing every day. Do more repetitions.
Want to get more muscular? Lift more weight over time. Do more repetitions.
You have an identity shift from someone who “wasn’t good with women” to someone who can easily get a girlfriend whenever he chooses. You have an identity shift from someone who could “play guitar sorta” to a “guitarist”. You have an identity shift from “someone who writes on the side” to a “writer”. That’s who you are. And that’s very powerful.
But it’s not just about doing any old reps, it’s about doing the right reps in the right way that lead to a result.
There’s a way to play the guitar so you produce beautiful music. There’s a way to talk to the opposite sex to produce a spark of attraction. There’s a way to apply to a job that will get your application seen. There’s a way to do things that produce a good result. These are the rules. Your repetitions need to line up with the “rules of the game” to produce a favorable result.
Football without rules isn’t football anymore, it’s a free-for-all. English without grammar isn’t English anymore, it’s gibberish. Music without rules isn’t music anymore, it’s just noise.
You need to make sure you develop the fundamental skills in the game that you’re playing. Once you get to a high level of proficiency, then you can color outside the lines a bit. And it comes down to repetitions.
It comes down to doing something every day even in the face of little results.
So don’t stop. Don’t give up. Have the discipline, practice, and consistency even in any small way. Every. single. day
– iamsmcamp
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.