Quantity over quality

The fastest path to mastery isn’t perfection.

How do you actually get better at something?

There’s the famous story of a pottery class where the teacher asked his students to “build the most beautiful pot in 30 days.” He split the class into two groups:

1. Group 1 – Spend the next 30 days building, designing, and perfecting one pot
2. Group 2 – Build a new pot every day for the next 30 days

At the end of the 30 days, the two groups would be judged on the quality of their final pot.

Which group do you think won?

Group 2 won, by a landslide.

Their first few pots were terrible — far worse than what Group 1 would produce. But consistent daily repetitions created a massive divergence in skill.

The group that got more reps in, won. It’s just that simple.

Don’t believe me?

This pattern holds true in every field.

Business

One of my favourite people in business, Pieter Levels, is an indie hacker who’s built multiple million-dollar businesses. The reason I love him though, is because of his mindset around building.

Just look at the pinned post on his profile:

Only 4 out of the 70+ projects I ever did made money and grew.
95%+ of everything I did has failed.
My hit rate is only ~5%.
So… just ship more.

Content

MrBeast is the biggest Youtuber in the world. Here's the advice he gives aspiring Youtubers when they come to him.

Go make 100 videos. It doesn't matter what they are because they will be terrible, but do something you like doing. Your first 10 videos will be garbage. Then make 10 more. These will also be garbage, and so will the next 10. But eventually, things will start to improve. You'll get better little by little. The best way to improve your content is to make content and see what people like. Then you'll notice something with your 101st video. It will be in a whole different league from your first video.

Only the serious ones actually make the 100 videos — and by the time they do, they don’t need his help anymore.

Comedy & Writing

Jerry Seinfeld has gone on record to talk about his writing process, and it’s both powerful and hilariously simple. Every single day, he writes. It doesn’t matter how much — as long as he writes even one word, it counts.

He marks a big red X on his calendar for each successful day. His only goal? Don’t break the chain.

PS: In a hilarious turn of events, Seinfield’s “ground-breaking” advice has spurred tons of habit tracking apps that have this “chain" feature. He said that he doesn't understand why his advice is so "profound", it seems like common sense to him.

My Own Life

When I decided to take cricket more seriously, the only thing that dramatically changed my performance was repetition.

I was practicing like a rec-league player - once or twice a week, with little direction, and my performance reflected this. The moment I started taking the sport more seriously, practicing daily and treating each practice as an opportunity to improve, my game also shifted.

I've seen this with my dad as well - he started doing vocal singing classes at the age of 51. Initially starting off with a group of other students at the same level, he quickly skyrocketed past them in terms of ability.

Why? They only practiced once a week during class, whereas my dad would record his sessions and religously practice throughout the week - while driving, walking, showering.

The reps compounded, and the results followed.

This seems obvious, right? Do more of something and you’ll get better at it.

Then why do so many of us act like "Group 1" when trying to build a new skill?

We try it once, dabble here and there, and call it a day. Or worse — we blame genetics, talent, or some other magical force as the reason why we aren’t improving.

Ah that thing? Naah, it wasn’t for me. I’m not built for that.

It sounds ridiculous, but it’s so common.

So why are we like this?

I have a couple of guesses:

1. Perfection feels good — but it’s just productive procrastination.

Group 1 thinking is trying to get every detail right before you commit. It’s trying to plan for every thing that could go wrong, but forgetting to do the act itself. It feels like progress, but it’s just procrastination.

2. We’re moody and wait for “inspiration” to hit.

Steven Pressfield talks about this in The War of Art.

The way to build any skill, and stack up creative output over time, is to just show up.

Have the mindset of a “Professional” instead of an “Amateur”:

• Amateurs wait for inspiration to strike, or the mood to be right. They need energy, mood, and the stars to all be aligned. They hit creative blocks.
• Professionals show up every day, without fail. It doesn’t matter if they’re tired, didn't sleep well, or don’t “feel like it today”. They push through blocks. And the reps stack up.

So there you have it.

If you want to get better at something, do it every day.

Be a professional, not an amateur.

• Don’t think about whether it’s good or bad.
• Don’t wait until you’re in the mood.
• Don’t judge it before it’s done.

Just keep shipping.