At some point in your life, you’ve probably met one of those seemingly lucky people who just do well at everything they try, whether that’s competing in sports, playing an instrument, taking an advanced course or all of the above. Here’s the good news—being able to excel at anything you try isn’t some special ability possessed by a chosen few. There are several common ways to perform well regardless of what you’re doing, and when you use these techniques, you can become one of those people who gets good at whatever they want.
Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
Just about any time you’re learning something new, instructors will tell you that you’re going to make mistakes. It’s not something to be embarrassed about, and in fact, being comfortable making mistakes is the best way to learn.
You can’t expect perfection with something you haven’t done before, and if you’re trying to avoid mistakes right off the bat, you’re only hindering yourself from developing new skills. Reframe every mistake so that you see it as a learning experience, turning a negative into a positive.
Break Large Tasks down into Smaller Steps
It can feel overwhelming to learn certain skills because of all the moving parts involved. Let’s use phone sales as an example. If you listen to an experienced salesperson handle a phone call, they sound confident and relaxed as they go through the conversation. It’s natural to wonder how you could convert someone from a lead to a paying customer in just one call.
That’s why you don’t focus on the finished product. Instead, you need to break down a skill into individual parts. Using the same example, on a sales phone call, you’ll need to go through your pre-call preparations, your opening, qualifying the customer, making your pitch and closing the sale. Together, that’s a lot to handle. But when you focus on just one step at a time you can put all the pieces together later
Focus and Put in the Work
As simple as it sounds, one reason certain people excel at things is because they focus and they’re willing to work hard at it. If you get distracted easily or you start only giving half-effort when you aren’t a natural at something, you’ll get poor results.
When you’re doing something, keep your mind on just that. If you find yourself getting distracted or worn out, it may be time to take a short break. And remember that there’s no substitute for time. To get good at anything, you need to be willing to devote enough time to it without looking for shortcuts.
Learn from Others
When you’re trying something new, one of the first things you should do is learn from people who have already done it. Attend seminars, and listen to motivational speakers like Dallin Larsen and others. Look at what worked for them and the path they took. You can use that as a model and follow the same steps. This also gives you the opportunity to see what mistakes they made and avoid doing the same thing.
You may find people to learn from in person or by looking up successful people in a particular field online. Whichever option you choose, keep an open mind and be flexible.
No task is impossible if you take the right approach and work hard enough at it. By using the four tips above, you’ll pick things up better and excel in areas where you previously would have struggled.
