"A key aspect of deliberate practice is pushing yourself just beyond your current capacity. The purpose of pushing yourself is to make the capacity that is out of your reach, your natural capacity over time. That requires consistency, which is why scientists describe deliberate practice as not being enjoyable; you’re actively fighting against the body and mind.

Weight lifting: I start off each month with a max on each machine, and aim to increase the amount I can lift by at least 5 pounds. With each session I’m less exhausted afterwards, and by the end of the month I can lift that amount with zero effort.

Studying: When I first started it took me 5 days to completely master a chapter, to know all of the definitions, all the examples, and all the models. By “master,” I mean being able to recall at least 90% of the chapter from pure memory. At the current moment that only takes me two days (took a year to get to this point); aiming to be able to do this in only one day.

In highschool I played soccer: I would hang hoops in the goal, and not count a shot unless it swerved, passed through the hoop, then hit the back of the net, exactly how I pictured it in my head. After a summer of doing that I came back averaging 1.8 goals per game, the previous year I was averaging 0.4 or something very low like that.

If I fall short of a goal I’ll increase the time I spend working on it. For example; I usually study 2 hours for each subject, but if I score lower than 90% on an exam I’ll increase that to 3 until the next one.

I can attest to the fact that it isn’t fun, but it works. Progression is very rapid."