understanding how bad you are

[Asayake]

On 7/4/2026 at 7:19 AM, Joseph Maynor said:

You do need right practice though and right advice in artistry.  For example, I wasted probably 10 years trying to learn Jazz trumpet and even practicing for 4 hours a day a lot of time, but because I was not practicing the way I do now, I wasn't making much improvement at all.  

This is correct, you need deliberate practice. Which is easier said than done! I played a ton of video games and I never got good at them, 

[Olaf]

@Asayake Of course, that is just laziness, hard work is fundamental. Maybe it was too obvious for me, but for some they might be in this durp state where they are not proactive and not practicing with discipline. 

[Asayake]

49 minutes ago, Olaf said:

@Asayake Of course, that is just laziness, hard work is fundamental. Maybe it was too obvious for me, but for some they might be in this durp state where they are not proactive and not practicing with discipline. 

Yeah that's a blunt way to capture it but there's something to it. I'd say most people are stuck in that state which is why meeting someone who's genuinely really good at something is pretty rare. I had some insight into this once when I talked with a guy who's a really skilled musician. When he told me that he doesn't practice endlessly all day because that would create a bunch of bad habits but that he was thoughtful with his practice, such as stopping when he noticed he was starting to make too many mistakes as to not ingrain them into his playing it make me reconsider my career as a musician and as a gamer. I basically practiced being a mediocre gamer lol.

[Olaf]

@Asayake yep smart plus hard work, actually it is harder work, because you are using your brain, just repeating something endlessly anyone can do. Maybe you can even say it is being conscious, as most people are unconscious and durping and therefor almost never seem to use their brain. If you work a job for a while, you probably have no need to use your brain in the first place, because you can do everything drunk, that is how easy most jobs are, with exceptions. 

[LordFall]

I like this mindset. It hurts to see yourself as unskilled and not good enough but if you have a victim mindset and blame the world for your shortcomings then it's even harder to fix. 

Personally I'm not that great at content creation and work ethic, I need to level up on both to accomplish my dreams. 

[Olaf]

@LordFall I have had a couple of times seen people much further ahead of me in specific areas and talked or befriended them and everytime the same thought came up `I am bad at this`. You realise what real excellence looks like. It is humbling and makes you not be blaming everything and everyone else, thinking someone was `lucky`, what the hell does luck even mean? Imagine Messi just relied only on luck, we wouldn't have known his name, because talent and luck without hard work is nothing at all.