#008 - Surround yourself with people better than you
As I mentioned before, in order to get good at anything you have to build consistency. Everyday no matter what try to make progress either by learning a new skill or improvement of existing ones. Only so much of that improvement can happen by yourself. Large leaps and bounds of improvement happens when you surround yourself by people better or more skilled than you. Simply by watching you can pick up on small intricacies and attempt to add them to your skillset.
When I was younger I was obsessed with soccer. I remember watching the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. I would see incredibly skillful players carry out the most flashy and intricate moves to deter opponents and gain a slight advantage. With a ball I would attempt to emulate the likes of Zidane or Ronaldinho in my basement or backyard. Slowly I could improve that skill and use it in a game even. Not being afraid to fail consistently when trying new skills was imperative. It's easy to just give up immediately or not even try at all. As always, the hardest part is trying. That is still something I aim to improve on.
As a part of my training for a half marathon, today's workout called for a pretty lengthy and brutal track speed workout. Normally I run alone, but today I invited some friends to join me. They are much better runners than I am. I might run an 8 min/mile pace they can easily run 6:30-7 min/mile. As then sped away from me it allowed me to push myself just a tiny bit more than I normally would. I aim to be the slowest person on the fastest team. As Confucius and many others have said, "if you are the smartest [fastest] person in the room you are in the wrong room."
