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How to get better at just about anything 🙌🏻

So before we get stuck into the topic of getting better, I wanted to address the *ironically obscure* elephant in the room! It’s still the same me, the same general musings and awful jokes, but just a new platform and hopefully some better writing!

I’ve spoken to the boss, that’s me by the way, and decided 2023 is the year to up my writing game. I love reading and writing and while a lot of my time is spent in front of a camera I wanted to pour some energy into a seemingly neglected form of communication as a way to offer more, create a community and (selfishly) do something I enjoy - let’s call it a form of self development 😉.

So welcome to the new and improved newsletter where you can expect all the general musings and topics covering any and all things health and fitness, mindset and oversharing, I am so excited to have you here!

Let’s get to it…

I have been sitting on writing this newsletter for a while. Waiting for the perfect topic, the perfect research, the perfect amount of value and yet it’s taken until February to actually write it. I’m sure we don’t need a genius to work out that I was being crippled by that pesky infliction… self doubt. The familiar security of not being good enough. So what better place to start?

Here’s the thing…

We know the only way to truly get better at something is simply by doing it. That really is the magic medicine we are all looking for, yet, struggle to action. Of course it can be daunting but spending hours, days and months in limbo questioning your ability to do something is simply procrastination at it’s finest.

By simply just doing the damn thing you not only get the ball rolling but you learn. Through making mistakes and taking on (sometimes unwarranted) feedback you will get better. Realistically it is only with this experience that you can improve.

The Action Plan

Step 1. Practice, practice, practice.

As we have spoken about the first port of action is to practice, practice, practice. Using an example from not only my career but also my experience let’s look at learning a handstand.

It’s not normal to stand on our hands. Our bodies don’t understand what we are trying to do and while we can work on specific drills for handstands and the theory of what our body should be doing, the key to handstand success really is to get air time. To practice, practice, practice.

Step 2. Listen to the feedback

Whatever we are trying to improve, as soon as we start practicing that skill, we start receiving feedback. Whether it’s through analysing how each attempt differed and focusing on that when you try next time. Or an external source of feedback, hopefully in the form of constructive criticism; tuning in to the feedback and more importantly actioning it is how we grow.

It is also worth remembering that actively asking for feedback can be daunting at first but rather ironically gets easier the more you do it (a real ‘get better at things’ double whammy)!

Step 3. Keep going and aim for 1% better each time

We all know ‘progress is not linear' and ‘perfection is the thief of good’ are hard pills to swallow. These beliefs seem so ingrained in our subconsciousness that they are unshakeable, even from our rational brain but really, all you need to ask yourself is… ‘am I trying more or getting better each time’. It really doesn’t matter how much more. The 1% rule is infamous… if you get 1% better at something consistently it leads to exponential improvement. In a years time if you got 1% better each time at whatever you want to get better at just imagine where you could be.

When all else fails…

Here’s the thing though, we aren’t always going to be motivated to get better, listen to feedback, push ourselves to be 1% better and that’s when we start to look at how to stay motivated (I’ll save that for another newsletter), but one thing that never fails me, when literally everything else fails me, is telling myself JFDI - Just Frickin’ Do It. Sometimes a bit of tough self love goes a long way…

The final note!

There will always be things we want to get better at. Always having something new to learn or improve really is the spice of life and as soon as you get better at one thing there will be something new and shiny to learn or improve at, so building a habit to just get the proverbial ball rolling is a great skill to have. That being said, don’t take it all too seriously either. Life is too damn short to be beating ourselves up over every tiny self perceived weakness or flaw we have, so remember that often the joy is in the journey, not just the destination!

Leave a comment below to share what skill or habit you are currently trying to get better at and what your top tips are, I would love to hear them!