So you want to learn to be a great pickup artist? decent at chess?  to juggle? What happens when most people try to learn something new is that as time progresses it gets difficult and they don’t see the results they had built up in their head. Humbled that their dreams of being a Cirque de Soleil performer after 2 days of juggle have been crushed they quit dismissing it as too hard, impossible or not worth the effort.

Let me lay this out there first:

Things worth doing are hard, they are going to require effort and you are going to most likely have your ass handed to you numerous times until you start to succeed. Talk to anyone that is exceptional successful in their field and they will collaborate this theory.

Have a look at this graph (yeah, I know, it’s made in mspaint, but it’s here to get a point across, not to look pretty)

At the very start the difficulty of the skill shoots way up in difficulty, it will plateau and then as you become practised it will slowly decline until the difficulty is low. The red zone is the critical zone, this is where most people quit.

It’s too hard

I’m not seeing any improvements

It’s not worth my time

I don’t like it as much as I thought I would

etc.

In reality they haven’t given it enough focus, dedication and do not have enough drive. If you want to get good at something, continue, work hard (and smart) until it becomes easy.

Any stories of something you found difficult and have managed to become good or even great at? share them in the comment box below.