What are willing to suffer for?

I’m currently learning how to speak German.

My girlfriend is from Switzerland. Thankfully she speaks perfect English, so we have no issue communicating deeply with each other.

Her family, though, speak little or no English. When I’m in Switzerland, I can just about get by speaking English. It’s far from ideal.

In certain situations, getting my point across can be a challenge. More truthfully, it feels ignorant not speaking the local language.

So, I’ve made a commitment to learn how to speak German. They speak Swiss-German in most of Switzerland, which is a slightly different dialect. It will be a journey to get to where I want to be. But I’m committed for the long haul.

My desire and intention is to speak German proficiently, and to be able to communicate effortlessly with German (and Swiss-German) speaking people.

I’m about six months into the journey. I’m definitely not a natural linguist. In fact, I’m really bad at speaking German. That’s my present reality.

There are some noticeable improvements. I can celebrate the progress. But I’m nowhere near where I want to be.

There are times when I get frustrated. It would be easy to convince myself that I’m never going to get to where I want to be.

When progress feels difficult, it’s tempting to give up.

I remember having similar thoughts when I first launched my business. Like most new business owners, I had dreams of running a successful company, but it felt so far away.

There were skills I needed to be good at that I wasn’t very good at. I looked for short cuts. I tried a lot of things that failed. I still attempt many things that fail.

For a long time, I thought I was missing something. I thought there was a ‘trick’ to running a successful business that I had yet to figure out.

Social media is full of promises of ‘proven’ processes, methodologies, and systems that are ‘guaranteed’ to bring success.

It took me a while before I realised, trying something new, and mastering something worthwhile, is not supposed to be easy.

There are no guarantees. There are no shortcuts to success.

You’re supposed to try lots of things. You’re supposed to fail a lot. You need to try things before you’re ready. You need to be willing to fail.

If you want to be really good at something, you need to be prepared to be really bad at it.

There is no way around this. You don’t get to hide away in secret location to learn a new skill and then return to civilisation once you feel ready. You’ll never feel ready.

The world is your playground. It’s the only place that provides real-time feedback on your performance. You do your practice in the real world.

The feedback can be unforgiving. You run the risk of being laughed at, ridiculed, embarrassed, or humiliated.

We spend so much time cultivating an image of perfection, and an impression that we are in complete control. We want others to believe that we have all the answers.

Nothing feels scarier than being fully exposed in front of our community.

But here’s the thing,

you can do scary.

I can speak English fluently. It comes easily to me. Thoughts and ideas are converted effortlessly into words.

How did that happen?

Very simply…. I’ve been practicing speaking English every day for over 40 years. Sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously.

My current German ability is very much at the Conscious Incompetence level. It feels like a backwards step when you bring consciousness to a skill that you lack competence in.

Of course, that is only a perception. My ability to speak German is drastically better now than when I was unconsciously incompetent. I just wasn’t aware of my incompetence when I wasn’t exposed to ridicule.

Comparison is an ambition killer

When I compare my German speaking abilities with someone who’s native language is German, it doesn’t look good for me.

Comparing ourselves against others is not helpful, and rarely accurate.

Here’s why:

If you’ve ever gone for a run, or a bike ride, or a swim:. you will most likely see other people doing the same thing.

And while you’re running or cycling or swimming, you might see someone who is travelling slower than you are. You will overtake them. It feels amazing.

You’ll see others who are faster than you. They will overtake you. That can feel demoralising.

But you have no idea what game other people are playing on any given day. The person who overtook you might be a professional athlete who’s training for the Olympics, or they could be pushing themselves to the limit and collapse from exhaustion once they’re out of sight.

And the person who you overtook, might be exercising for the very first time, or they could be an elite athlete who’s coming back from injury and taking it slowly.

You just don’t know what you’re comparing yourself against. It’s a useless measurement.

Let go of the need to compare your progress with others. You will feel liberated.

Play your own game. Set your own rules. Define success for you.

Identify something you truly want to succeed at. And then commit to mastering the skills that will take you there.

My top 10 recommendations to achieve mastery:

1. Be honest about your desires and ambitions.

We’re all destined to take on the things we care about the most at some point.

2. Be willing to be bad at something.

It’s the only way you can be really good at it.

3. Celebrate every win, no matter how small.

When you feel progress, you are more likely to persevere.

4. Fail a lot.

Successful people fail more than most. We just never hear about or see their failures.

5. Believe that you can succeed.

Choose your thoughts carefully, or you’ll convince yourself to quit.

6. There are no guarantees.

And there are no shortcuts to success.

7. Don’t wait until you feel ‘Ready’.

The world is your playground. It’s the only place you receive any meaningful feedback.

8. You can do scary.

Noting feels scarier than being naked and exposed in front of people who know you.

9. Give up comparison.

You have no idea what game others are playing.

10. Life is 1% Theory, and 99% Practice.

Understanding how to create success counts for very little. It’s your commitment to practice that lights the path toward MASTERY.

What are you committed to?