Being an amateur in any field can be a daunting prospect. It’s akin to being the new kid at school — simply terrifying. You’re thrust into an unfamiliar environment, feeling as though all eyes are on you, waiting for you to make a mistake. Anything new can evoke fear because it requires vulnerability. However, in the journey of life, advancing often requires taking calculated risks and making sacrifices in the hope that they will one day pay off.
Sometimes these risks don’t yield the desired outcome, but for those who excel, they often embody a single mindset that propels them to the top faster than others: curiosity.
The truth is, everyone starts somewhere. The earlier you become comfortable with being the new kid, not knowing everything, or not yet leading teams, the better equipped you’ll be to focus on building and growing, rather than being consumed by self-doubt and distractions. Embracing a mindset of lifelong learning is a rare trait, but a powerful one. As you advance in your field, there comes a point where you want to be recognized as an expert, not just a beginner anymore. However, many people mistakenly believe they have learned enough and stop learning altogether.
No matter how much you think you know, there’s always something new to discover. While morning routines, bedtime rituals, and bootcamp workouts can work for you in powerful ways, the perspective toward continual learning is far more crucial. Health is wealth, but having the willpower and confidence to embrace failure and recognize that there’s always more to learn is half the battle. Complacency and making assumptions about your knowledge can be dangerous pitfalls.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Embracing Life’s Struggles
There’s an analogy I often remind myself of when facing challenges: Life isn’t meant to be easy. If it’s hard, you’re doing it right. Sacrifice brings appreciation in the end. Adopting this perspective can unlock hidden skills and enable better forecasting of the future by understanding past events and learning from them.
Over the years, I’ve studied and worked with high-performers. They fascinate me to the point where I even took a class on the subject in college. It seems I’ve tried almost everything under the sun that they recommend. From diets to morning routines, all these habits are strong building blocks however, what I learned for the long-run, is adopting a certain perspective with these traits in mind yield the highest success rate to the top:
Self-awareness: High-level individuals know who they are and how to perform at their best. They understand their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to navigate any environment effectively.
Easy to work with: Being smart is essential, but being approachable and collaborative is equally important. Building relationships and being compatible with others are vital for success.
Not afraid to fail: Embracing failure as a learning opportunity is crucial. Failure is the key to success and the best learning lesson.
Open-minded generalists: Flexibility and adaptability are essential traits more than being a close-minded specialist only good at a few things. Being well-rounded and having a broad understanding across disciplines can unlock new opportunities and experiences.
Consistently, consume less, produce more: Taking action and creating anything daily instead of waiting for opportunities to come to you is essential for success. Time is valuable, so use it wisely.
With these traits in mind, it’s important to note while the journey from amateur to expert may seem daunting, remember that everyone starts somewhere.
With curiosity, resilience, and consistent effort, you can uncover your potential and achieve virtually anything. As they say, ‘never fail due to a lack of effort because effort requires no skill.’ Embrace challenges, continue learning, and never stop exploring in the most curious way. You deserve to be there as much as anyone else.
Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life. You have more control than you think.