The Key to Learning and Improving is All About Reps

reps and practice is the key to improvement and mastery
The often-overlooked key to improvement in any skill is many repetitions.
The way to gain success in anything you want to achieve in life is all about practice, practice, practice. People who are exceptionally skilled at what they’re talented at have attained their level of mastery, not just from talent alone, but because they put a bunch of practice into what they’ve done to the point that it became second nature. Anyone can attain a level of mastery at whatever they choose, but it will require sacrifice, pain, and sometimes slow progress.

Having fun with what you're doing is key.

Many people often look at what is needed to practice at their chosen craft and get immediately discouraged by what it takes. The level of dedication that is required involves work, and looking at the sheer amount of it can be discouraging. I would recommend that you shift your focus a bit if you start feeling this way.

Are your chosen skills something that you genuinely enjoy doing? If so, you should view practice as having fun doing an activity that inspires passion within you. For example, I enjoy Salsa dancing. It won’t drastically improve my life and isn’t something that I do in order to gain income or any economic benefit, it’s just an activity that gives me joy. Yet I understand that if any progress is to be made or improvement is to be seen, I will have to put in time every day to practice my footwork and how to move my partner as I perform those moves.

Like it or not, you'll have to do many repetitions of what you want to excel at in order to eventually excel.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger said in his autobiography “Total Recall,” life is about “reps, reps, reps.” Such as it is with improving at anything in life, no improvement or mastery comes without putting in the reps, the work to make that happen. Self-belief is a key factor in believing that a level of mastery is possible, but another major factor is the drive and willingness to take the time and effort to make that mastery happen.

This applies to everything, from public speaking, dancing, and playing a sport to even basic social skills like starting a conversation with another person. Any skill that you want to improve can be done with another practice and dedication to becoming better. It helps if you enjoy what it is that you’re doing, but even if it feels like grueling work, know that the level of competency that you’ll achieve is something that you’ll earn, and it makes reaching it that much sweeter!

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