Skill Improvement Through Practice

Comments focus on the necessity of consistent effort, deliberate practice, and persistence to get good at skills, rejecting innate talent myths and advising against quitting too soon or spreading efforts too thin.

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3,567
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1040
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
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2009
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187
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164
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94
2015
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Keywords

SWAG e.g HN improve mindset best incompetent aptitude unconscious fixed ambition 1000x just don think

Sample Comments

throwaway14356 Aug 4, 2023 View on HN

what you do you get good at. if you don't have to maintain there is no point in getting good at it or any reason to think you will gradually get better at it.

nxrabl Oct 8, 2025 View on HN

This is normal, most people are like this. The idea that there’s something out there that you’re just amazing at without even trying very hard is a trap and believing it will destroy your life. You just have to pick something you want to be good at and do it until you are.

abrookewood Aug 4, 2016 View on HN

You don't have to be the best at something to get use out of it. Sounds like you need to think a bit more about what you actually want to achieve.

dgritsko May 7, 2020 View on HN

Whenever someone says they "aren't good at something" I'm fond of reminding them (and myself) that "you don't get better at something by _not doing it_".

d4rkd0s Jul 26, 2018 View on HN

Not hard enough. You can't become better if you aren't challenged.

lxe Sep 10, 2020 View on HN

Just because you can get good at something, doesn't mean it's not hard :)

coolThingsFirst May 29, 2024 View on HN

You keep this up you will be mediocre at all the things that you do.You are seduced by the feeling of excitement which is easy to conflate with progress and competence.I guess some interests will have be postponed for some other time some other life some other you.Peace.

toomuchtodo Nov 2, 2022 View on HN

Don’t feel bad! To get better at something, you must be bad at it first. Consider improvements from feedback in this thread.

jimmyvalmer Sep 15, 2019 View on HN

How about this: "Don't despair! If you lack aptitude, you can make up for it with time spent!"

IshKebab Oct 26, 2024 View on HN

Saying it's a skill issue just shows lack of imagination and ambition to make it better.