How to Get Better at Any Skill

hey—

I don’t know where you’re at right now, but maybe it feels like nothing’s clicking.

Like you’re showing up, trying, doing the things they say you’re supposed to do—but it’s just not translating.

You’re not getting better fast enough. Not seeing the results you hoped for. And deep down, you’re starting to worry you never will.

That negative voice in your head can be loud. But it’s not the truth…

It’s just the tension you feel when your effort hasn’t caught up with the outcome yet.

You’re still early, and early feels like failure.

But you’re not failing, you’re learning. And yeah, it’s messy, it’s slow, and it can be frustrating as hell.

But it’s working. Just not in a way you can measure it yet.

Everyone loves to share their before and after. But no one talks about the middle.

The clips that didn’t go viral. The attempts that went nowhere. That stretch where you’re showing up and it still kinda sucks.

But that’s where it happens. That’s where skill is built. And it’s where most people quit.

Picture this:

A kid out in the driveway, holding a basketball. He shoots… airball.

He shoots again… clanks off the rim. Again, he shoots… it comes short.

His mechanics are off. His rhythm sucks. He just looks like someone who’s wasting their time.

But he keeps shooting.

A hundred shots. A thousand. Ten thousand.

A year later, his shot looks clean. Ten years later, he’s in the league.

Not because he was gifted, but because he kept showing up even when it looked like it wasn’t worth it.

Most people want to feel like they’re playing in the finals. But they’re still in the driveway, still missing.

They’re just not giving themselves enough time to become dangerous.

That’s how every skill is built.

Writing. Business. Fitness. Design. Communication. Leadership.

You suck. You repeat. You reflect. You tweak. You keep going. And one day… you’re good.

Most people miss that. They think skill comes from knowing more, but it doesn’t. At least not by itself.

You don’t get better by just learning. You get better by doing.

By stacking reps. Failing fast. And using what you learned to go again.

The hard part is continuing, when you suck, when it’s boring, when no one’s watching, when you don’t know if it’s working yet.

But that’s where skill is born.

Every skill moves through the same phases:

The Skill Curve

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1) Ignorant Hope - you’re excited, motivated, and completely unaware of how bad you are.

2) Conscious Struggle - the high from when you first started wears off, and it starts to feel like work. You have to use double the effort to see less than half the results.

3) Repetition Fatigue - you’re putting in reps, but it’s not clicking fast enough. It feels like no matter what you do now, there’s no noticeable improvement. This is where most people quit.

4) Flow - the reps start to pay off. You move more with instinct than overthinking.

5) Mastery - it looks effortless. But it’s all built on years of quiet work.

The goal isn’t to skip steps. The goal is to stay in it long enough to move through them.

Put in more reps than other people. Be honest about what’s working. Adjust faster. And repeat longer.

The 6-Step Operating System

If you want to get better at anything, you need to build this mindset:

1) Start before you're ready: Stop overprepping. Start building data. Bad reps > no reps.

2) Log your reps: Track what you do. Build volume. Make your effort visible.

3) Reflect weekly: Ask - What worked? What didn’t? What confused me? That’s where the upgrades come from.

4) Double down on what works: When something works, lean harder into it.

5) Embrace long-game boredom: Real progress looks like repetition. Learn to love that.

6) Build an internal scoreboard: Don’t chase comparison. Chase consistency. That’s the edge.

If you want to make this stick, try these self-reflection questions once a week:

• What did I actually do this week?

• What felt a little easier than last time?

• What still sucks?

• What am I going to try next week?

That's it. You track your effort. You notice your edge. You adjust. You get better.

There’s no trick. There’s no shortcut. There’s no “one thing” the greats all have.

They just do more. They reflect better. And they stay in the game longer than everyone else.

So if you’re feeling stuck. If you’re waiting to feel ready. If you’re wondering what it takes.

This is it.

…

— Johnathan

(Creator of Striive)