There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Your life gets better when you get better – and you get better by being a lifelong learner. We live in the information age. It has never been easier to find out what we need to know. It’s also easier than ever before to learn how to do what ever you need to do on the internet (Lynda.com – YouTube). Whether you need to fix a leaky faucet, learn to read a balance sheet, or play the bass guitar, the “how to” information is easy to find with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Don’t worry about getting better immediately. Focus on incremental improvement. Alan Weiss, known as a rock star in the consultant industry talks about the 1% solution. If you improve your performance by 1% each day, in 70 days you are twice as good.
Here’s something worth giving some thought to; Every great (fill in the blank) was once a beginner. They didn’t know what they know now and they didn’t have the skills they have now to make them what they are today. They had to start where everyone has to start – with limited knowledge, talent and skill.
Who’s knowledge, talent, skill, do you admire? Looking at what that person has now can cause you to forget what they had to do to get what they have now. Good things and great accomplishments don’t magically happen. Success and achievement are based on learning – incremental improvement – and lots of hard work.
Commit to being a lifelong learner, accept the fact that (real) improvement will be incremental and realize you’ll have to work your butt off to become a great (fill in the blank).