A 4-step formula for your toolkit to learn or improve any new skill or talent, and the exact code I followed to improve my skillset and supercharge my business.
Two years ago, I didn’t know how to use a camera. I didn’t know anything about websites or analytics or marketing. All I had was a vision, and an obsession with touching that vision.
Through research and the help of mentors, I cracked the code to learn and improve on any new skill. And I blew my own mind.
Through this formula, I built a reputation as a professional photographer and videographer. I built my own website, learned how to sell myself, and generated a funnel of clients. Most importantly, I feel accomplished and proud of myself.
Even if you aren’t interested in starting a business, learning new skills can instill a sense growth. It feels exciting and rewarding, albeit sometimes quite painful.
It hasn’t been an easy road but the thrill of taking charge of my destiny has outweighed the challenges. It’s an addictive feeling I want for everyone.
Here is the 4-step formula to learn and improve any new skill, to cultivate joy and fulfillment and an improved relationship with yourself.
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The 4-step formula to learn or improve any skill
1. Consistency
Learning new skills can often be overwhelming. Whether it’s creative, physical, or mental, consistency is the stepladder that will keep you moving forward.
There’s a phase at the beginning of every venture that involves sucking at said-skill. And if you’re like me, you don’t enjoy sucking.
I wasn’t exactly confident when I started my photography journey. I know what a good photo looks like, and I wasn’t producing any. Frankly I would’ve quit a million times if I hadn’t been guided by my north star, Consistency.
“Trust the process,” as they say. You do something enough times, you’re bound to get good at it. That’s just how it works. And no, you are not an exception.
Sucking is an essential phase at the beginning of every journey, and we all have to learn to be comfortable with that. And trust that consistency will get us through to the other side.
Consistency feels healthy to the soul. It fosters a sense of self-trust and confidence. It narrows our vision and we learn to ignore the noise. And it moves us into a euphoric state of focus, which brings me to my next point.
2. Focus
Focus is second on the 4-step formula to learn or improve any new skill. It may seem obvious but worth including because we are a society that is getting increasingly worse at focusing our attention.
Distractions are constantly hacking our concentration. We are all notorious multi-taskers… which only means we are completing multiple tasks half-well rather than one task really well.
As I write this blog post, my phone dings with notifications. My inbox accumulates emails. And my YouTube playlist is disrupted by ads. A tactic designed by forces larger than me to guide my attention where it would be most profitable for them.
The degradation of global focus is a societal issue that requires large-scale intervention, as Johann Hari unpacks in his latest book Stolen Focus. And although this will take time and collective effort, you can start small with some simple actions to reclaim agency over your focus. If only in the service of personal growth.
First, minimise all distractions. Put all your devices on silent… Johann Hari even suggests sticking your phone in a timed safe. Download your mental gunk onto a page, as I recommend in this post on how to overcome creativity burnout. And adopt a lifestyle that naturally enhances focus, like meditation, exercise, and a good night’s sleep.
It is through our ability to focus that we can achieve a state of flow. Defined as being fully immersed in a task, flow is a physiological phenomenon that promotes maximum learning and maximum enjoyment.
Hence why an ability to focus is a crucial step in the formula to learn and improve new skills.
3. Perseverance
Ahh perseverance… the hardest step for many. And the most emotionally-charged.
Perseverance is a fascinating human phenomenon. It’s the ability to keep going despite challenges and exhaustion and all the voices in your head whispering to quit.
The reality is, most journeys feel like the road is long. Having a full-time job while building a business hasn’t been an easy ride. I know that, to succeed, I have to become an expert at refilling my cup on a daily basis. As someone who rolled her eyes at “self-care”, this was a tough pill to swallow.
If you are serious about committing to your new venture, whatever it may be, optimising your perseverance will ensure your success. You can do this by understanding how to generate energy and gather momentum.
Contrary to popular belief, perseverance isn’t about forging ahead to the point of collapse. Perseverance is an exquisite balance between pouring your cup and filling your cup. With just the right dosage between work and leisure.
To do this, you have to understand what activities bring you a sense of joy and nourishment. This, for me, was particularly difficult. I knew travel brought me the most joy but I couldn’t exactly travel on a daily basis. I had to track small-scale things that made me feel good… like reading a book, a supply of candles, or a drink with friends.
Under the “Consistency” section, I talked about the sucking phase at the beginning of learning a new skill. Perseverance is key to take you beyond that phase. And it will continue taking you to new heights, bulldozing through all the discomfort, until you reach a realm of incredible growth and new possibilities.
4. Fulfillment
When I originally outlined this post, I was curious to find I’d placed fulfillment as step #4 on this list. Clearly I believe a sense of “enoughness” can only be achieved after steps 1-3.
I had to take a moment and correct myself.
Fulfillment should be the first step on this list. And it should accompany all the other steps. Really, it’s an umbrella over the entire process.
Because if you never feel like what you’re doing is “enough”, you will never be fulfilled. And if, like me, you measure success by feelings of fulfillment, then you’d have missed the mark.
To be honest, fulfillment is something I struggle with and where I’m focusing most of my attention at the moment. After doing steps 1-3 perfectly for two years, I tripped over step #4, which has in turn hindered my perseverance, and so on and so forth.
It is self-limiting to approach projects from a state of shame, impatience, or despair. When we embark on a new journey (be it learning a new skill or starting a business), we have to approach with a pure heart. We have to be able to visualise growth and success, and how it would feel to achieve our goals.
In short, we have to believe in ourselves. It may sound corny, but pessimism does not serve us. It is worth taking time to understand how you practice feeling fulfilled in daily life. Do you reward yourself? Do you try not to compare yourself to others? Most importantly, do you believe you can improve and eventually achieve your vision?
How much will you do every day that will feel like enough?
These can be rather confronting questions, but worth pondering over.
I may not have perfected the fulfillment variable of this formula. But I’m approaching it as any other new skill… by using consistency, focus, and perseverance. And by trusting the process, I know I will keep improving.
The journey is long but it is garlanded with reward and opportunity. On this path, we unlock many life wisdoms, and that is the way forward to new heights. To me, that’s what makes life worth living.
