As a follow up to an earlier post on achieving greatness, being great at something typically involves a certain level of commitment of keeping at it. How else are you ever going to get the requisite 10k hours of practice? Here are two simple techniques that I frequently use to reach my goals:
Solve problems in smaller pieces
Well, start by breaking a problem down into smaller pieces. For example, recently, I committed myself to pick up programming little apps on iOS. Instead of telling myself that I need to code apps (a big problem), I simple tell myself to commit at least 20 mins of my day to coding (comparably smaller problem). This guarantees that I'll have to get past the initial inertia of figuring out what to do every time I get down in-front of my computer, and after I get past that, I usually find that initial 20 mins stretching way past 1-2 hours as I get more excited about whatever I'm doing. On days that I can't really seem to get up to speed, I usually spend my time updating a fix-it list, breaking it down all the things that need to be done.
Breaking problems down into smaller pieces can be considerably more effective if you stick closely to the MECE principle. Doing things MECE helps to ensure that you have all fronts of a problem covered, and also forces you to break down things to certain level of discreetness required for problem solving.
Maintain balance.
Keeping your life in balance is critically important to maintain the consistency required to reach the 10k hour mark. Focusing all your energy and efforts on a single task and neglecting all other aspects of life, will probably cause you to run out of steam at some point of time. Either that, or you'll get there, and realize that that's not exactly where you wanted to be. Here's how I keep my focus on maintaining balance.
Physical - Rest well. Eat healthy. Exercise.
Intellectual - Read widely. Write frequently.
Emotional - Learn to love people for who they are. At least, try your best.
Financial - Plan your income, savings, and spending. Be realistic.
As a reminder that there is no point in achieving success in only a single area of life, while being a failure at all other aspects of life, here are some videos that I find especially helpful in maintaining my perspective of things.
Being rich won't make you happier.
Even more evidence (especially so from 17.30 onwards).
