Most people want to be great at something. Maybe you want to be an amazing writer, a compelling speaker, or just someone who doesn’t look like they’re fighting for their life on a treadmill. But here’s the problem: most people also want to skip the part where they’re terrible at it first.
We tend to believe that talent is something other people have—something they’re just born with. We see someone playing an instrument beautifully or giving a flawless speech, and we assume they were always good. What we don’t see are the years of struggle, the awkward early performances, the drafts that never saw the light of day.
Because here’s the truth: the first time you do something, it’s probably going to be bad.
Your first podcast episode will be awkward. Your first blog post will read like a school essay. Your first attempt at a new skill will feel frustratingly unnatural.
And that’s okay.
The Only Way to Be Good Is to First Be Bad
You can’t create your 100th video without making your first. You can’t run a marathon without taking that first ungraceful jog around the block. Everything worthwhile has a messy beginning.
The mistake most people make is quitting because their first attempt isn’t what they imagined. They expect instant competence, and when reality doesn’t match up, they assume they just “aren’t good at it.” But being bad at something is not a reflection of your ability—it’s part of the process of getting better.
Why Starting Feels So Hard
When we see people who are great at something, we assume they got there because of talent. But talent, if anything, is just a head start. The real determining factor is persistence.
But persistence is hard because being a beginner is uncomfortable. It exposes you. It makes you feel vulnerable. Your brain wants to protect you from that feeling, so it tells you things like:
- “This just isn’t your thing.”
- “You’re too old to start.”
- “Other people are naturally better at this.”
These thoughts aren’t truths. They’re just discomfort in disguise.
How to Push Through the Awkward Phase
So if you want to be good at something—really good—there’s only one way forward: embrace being bad first.
- Set ridiculously low expectations. Instead of thinking, I need to be amazing, just aim to start.
- Make consistency the goal. Showing up regularly matters more than doing it perfectly.
- Don’t judge your work too soon. Improvement happens gradually. You won’t notice it day by day, but after a year, you’ll look back and wonder how you ever thought your first attempt was good enough.
The key is to stop seeing early failure as a sign that you should quit and start seeing it as the price of admission for getting better.
The Reward for Pushing Through
Imagine if you never worried about being bad at something new. Imagine if you let yourself be a beginner without feeling embarrassed. How many things would you try? How much better would you get at the things you care about?
Because the real difference between the people who succeed and the ones who don’t isn’t talent. It’s not intelligence. It’s not luck.
It’s that the successful ones are willing to be bad at something long enough to get good at it.
So if there’s something you’ve been wanting to do—whether it’s writing, speaking, starting a business, or just trying something new—put your ego aside and start.
Your future self will thank you.