The 1 thing to know when you develop a new skill

Developing new skills all the time is going to be the key to sustained success in the future. When you start to learn new skills (not if, but when), you need to keep 1 key thing in mind:

When you start, you will be bad at it.

Everyone is bad when they are learning something new. Whether that be knowledge or a physical skill, immediate mastery is left to the savants. Guess what, that is the rarest of the rare. If it happens - awesome. It won't happen for most of us.

Once you realize this, the next thing to know is you won't always be bad. Every time you practice or use the skill, you get better. In some cases, the improvement will be big quickly. In other cases, the improvement will be slow and incremental.

Find a coach who can get you to the next level (someone who is just a little bit better at the skill than you). Focus on that small step. Keep at it. Eventually, you get to where you need to be.

A great example: losing weight. It would be awesome if we could do a few pushups, run a mile or so, eat 1 or 2 salads and drop 25 pounds. That doesn't happen. Most people who try to make dramatic changes like a tough diet and a strenuous exercise program to start tend to fail more. It is hard.

You aren't going to be able to run a marathon on the first try. You aren't going to be able to eat healthy without cravings right away. It takes time. Successful people get 1% better every day and do it consistently.

The one thing you can't do: use that first time as justification that you can't do it. You will be bad at it at first - keep going and you'll get better.