How to Become the Best at What You Do

Guys if you've 'failed' at something recently, remember these words: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

Eliminate all distractions and single mindedly pursue whatever you are interested in mastering.

I think the biggest reasons why people give up is the sheer amount of failures that is often required for you to be successful. Imagine going thru ur day, everyday feeling like a failure, a piece of shit, yet still putting in 16 hour days with no guarantee that you'll make it. On top of that, often times sacrificing family time, friends, relaxation, security, etc. It takes grit and sort of a masochistic mindset in order to make it. No wonder most people are mediocre, can you really blame them?

“We think that if we’re successful in public, we will be happy in private. But it’s actually the other way around. When you’re happy in private, you will be successful in public.” – Jay Shetty ✨

Key point: 1. Effort beats talent. If you want to excel in sth you must put more effort than anything else into it. 2. Get out of ur comfort zone and find enjoyment in what u are doing. This makes it easier to spend 1000 hours doing it

I might add, practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. In a way, if you just do something for 10,000 hours, but you aren't learning or reflecting on your failures, you won't grow as fast you want. I've seen people who've spent WAY more hours than me in something and I could still do the activity way better than them. It depends on how you reflect/adjust after your failures. This is where coaching is huge. I mean, learning a small amount compounds over a longer period, but I think that there's more to becoming excellent than time spent. I think this quote (and others I'm sure) can help illustrate what I mean: 'you don't know what you don't know.' Teachers can expedite proficiency greatly.

I was born being able to sing. As a child I was told again and again and again how I had "such a great voice" "the voice of an angel" and "you can/should become a singer". However, as I grew up, and teen life happened, I lost confidence in myself and singing. Plus, others began singing (with practice) and were better than I. One girl from my school obviously had an average voice as a kid but had gotten after school lessons, after school practice as a teen. She sang and sang and sang. Practiced and practiced. I didn't, at all. Instead I turned to reading books which I loved more. Anyways, so came time for someone to sing the national anthem at our school, and obviously she was picked. (I didn't even audition, though I could have) She sang beautifully too. Everyone praised her. Teachers, students, and the principal. Meanwhile, I sat in the bleachers with the other students and watched in awe of what hard work/years of practice could do compared to natural talent that hasn't practiced. Anyways, a year later it was the end of senior year and our choir teacher asked us to sing individually for an assignment. (Yes, I was still singing but I sang low/tried to blend in) So I went into the room and sang for the music teacher. She just stared in awe. "Why didn't you tell us you could sing? You are really really good. I would have given you private lessons!" I thanked her but said it wasn't my thing. Then we graduated and the girl who sang in school became a lead singer in a band and still is. I worked as a cashier to pay for school and graduate college with non music degree for an office job. So, does natural talent trump hard work and practice? I don't think so.

Thank you for this motivation. I'm a first year physics major in university, and I've been seriously struggling with imposter syndrome. I spend so much time with the type of people who ran through every AP math class in high school that I forget that type of accomplishment isn't just talent. It's dedication beyond belief. I watched this video while taking a break from studying calculus, and now feel ready to double down and make my studies and athletic performance the best they can be.

First identify why & how much you value your goal that will will justify to you all the hours you sacrifice to do the hard & deep focused work for the reward many years into the future. As you said in the past

I watched a video on this guy that had 10,000 hours in a video game and yet was hard stuck in gold (below average, average being platinum) to improve you need to first be good at learning from mistakes instead of blaming the world or lack of ability, mindset is everything

As much as I agree with the biggest part of the video, as a classical concertpianist that worked with dozens of violinists I have to point out a huge and crucial flaw in this video. You indeed HAVE to get in your hours, but you also have to know WHAT and HOW to work on in these many hours. These violinists all came from different teachers and had different guides. It is very well possible that violin students from different professors study equally much, but lack the focus and know-how and building of their physical control that they do depending on their teacher. One student might practice 30000 hours (ten thousand simply doesn't do the trick for a classical musician) and end up getting a world fame. Another one, that practiced 20000 hours with a different teacher, might just end up getting an injury and becoming unable playing the violin altogether for the rest of his/her life. You do have to get in your hours, but also consider a way that will get you results and get proper guidance. Otherwise I often compare it to throwing a fish a million times against a wall again and again, hoping the wall will crumble down at some point (and get an eternally numb arm) or to get yourself a hammer/drill...

On principle, this is a nice sentiment to have; if you spend enough time working at something, you'll rise to the top. Unfortunately, anyone who has played a sport up to an elite level knows there is a physical ceiling that is different for everyone. Even in cognitive or creative tasks this is true. You and everyone else that hits 10k hours of training or practice will have different maximum potentials. If you recognize that your ceiling is going to fall short of the best, your best option could be to master skills and abilities from a variety of disciplines. Becoming an expert in multiple fields will allow you to stand out and create novel well informed connections that other 10k hour masters will not have conceived of. Its really important to be cognizant of your limitations, otherwise you will not figure out the optimal path towards your goals. Sometimes becoming the best at something, means you've discovered a way to be the best that no one else has. You still need to put in 10k+ hours of work, but if you spread it out effectively in a creative way, you might bypass your own physical limitations. Keep in mind that each person has different motivational drives, so this advice may not apply to you. In the end, you as the individual will need to figure out what limitations you have in order to get past them.

Very true. I find this applies perfectly to me. Being to comfortable and being scared to step out of the comfort zone but also loathing being stuck in this comfort zone feeling like not going anywhere, achieving nothing and just looking at succesful people and wishing I could be them, not understanding that you need to step out of your comfortzone and embrace failure and setbacks to get there. Through videos like this I see its not just me but its normal human behavior. Understanding this better I think is the first step to improvement ! Thank you

I would also like to amend this video and assert that dedication/obsession are even more important than putting in time. As cool as it sounds to put in time, you have to be singularly motivated on making sure that you ARE the best one in your field to accomplish that purpose. The person who is obsessed with their task will crave being the absolute best. They will pour over every opportunity to win and be the #1. They will seek to be better than even themselves, proving themselves right.

I agree with this sentiment, in my experience the talent for becoming great isn't talent for the specific skill, but having an innate obsession with the thing you do. 99% of people in any field will struggle mentally to sink 1000s of hrs into something they love, the 1% will find it easy to put that time in

I think it’s helpful, at least for me, to not get caught up in the idea of mastery. I focus on small steps and enjoying my hobbies in the moment because I love them. I used to fantasize about the far future and compared myself to other people, and that nearly caused me to toss aside what I love. Now I’ve learned not to do things to get good, but because it’s what makes me happy. Life has so much to offer and I try to appreciate what I have and be the most well rounded person I can be.

please don't stop making videos this content is super insightful and motivating!

Read the book by the actual author of the study, “Peak” by K Anders Erickson. Outliers doesn’t come remotely close to explaining that study. Also read “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle. There is also the matter of practicing correctly and passion and putting in the hours has very little to do with that.

I just saw this video when I needed it the most. Thank you so much for reaffirming my decisions!

Everyone who is watching this, * be careful not to burn out *, you should put effort into whatever ur trying to be good at, yet do breaks, stop if your feeling overwhelmed and so. Instead of forcing urself to keep doing it, take a break, 15 mins, 1 week, even 1 month, just go back at it later, it’s important to value ur stress and not letting this take over your anxiety. You got this, just take your time, there is not the best, you can just be amongst the top ones, and no one will force you to get there so soon, better baby steps than rushing into a burn out <3