It is absolutely essential

Regardless of who you are, one thing remains true.

You are a human being. You aren’t going to do things well, efficiently, or with proficiency right off the bat. The learning curve is what it is for you and largely depends on your current skill set, level of experience, and ability to pull from those two aspects to accelerate your own progress.

Nothing you do is ever going to be easy at first. Ever.

In an age where speed is glorified and worshipped as king, especially in business, it’s worth noting that if you are pursuing the digital front, this brand new age where it seems like everyone can just walk up to a keyboard and make millions, that you remember that 99% of those who do jump on this bandwagon end up in a purgatory of their own making.

Don’t forget this one thing: that if you’re committed to doing this as well and mastering it, it takes Time, Effort, and Discipline.

To be honest, I feel a bit lost at the moment. I’m struggling to get ahead of the hamster wheel of content so that I can feel like I have a bit of a buffer, and I’m trying to accelerate and “bulk write” so to speak. I have a lot to say and a limited time to say it as a 9-5 parent. The point that I’m making here is every bit as much for me as it is for you, and in times like these, I remind myself of all the skills that I’ve cultivated through the same three aspects.

This is my mini-T.E.D. talk (if you will indulge me).

Three skills that require T.E.D.

Faster. Stronger. Better.

This is the never-ending loop we find ourselves on that gradually expands as you progress. The basics and the “quick wins” are often easily mastered (or at least it seems that way). Once these are abstracted away to the back of your mind, you tackle the more advanced topics, techniques, and concepts. These are substantially tougher to get your head around or to physically execute, and the momentum gradually slows until all that remains is the discipline to continue and the faith in the outcomes.

This is where most stagnate or give up altogether.

Those who make it through this phase are greatly rewarded, and often in obscenely lopsided ways. The last phase of the process is the endless pursuit of refinement, but included in this are the rewards: consistent, high-quality results that benefit those around you or give you fulfillment and pleasure.

In my life, there are three such examples that remind of this fact.

Gaming

Games (good one at least) are designed to encapsulate this magic loop.

You start out pathetically small in every way possible, a level 1 noob with little inventory other than the clothes on your back, some basic skills, and single quest. You run around the tutorial zone ham-handedly fumbling the initial requests from those who would seek your aid. You run around doing menial tasks without rhyme or reason, but you gain a small amount of experience that unlocks new options and skills. You make enough money (or whatever passes for it in the game) to buy a few upgrades.

This is usually where you determine whether or not you want to continue playing.

I’ll be the first to admit that there are tons of games in my Steam account that I’ve abandoned because I lost interest after trying it for an hour or two, always in the tutorial section. You need to make a determination if it’s worth your time upfront. Otherwise, you end up spending countless hours grinding away without enjoying the experience simply because of the sunk-cost fallacy.

The games that I continue with, I often put in about 100 hours and complete them, though.

Exercise

Running. Martial arts. Calisthenics.

In each one of these, I’ve managed to reach milestones that have taken decades to achieve. The benefits to my physical conditioning aren’t just for myself either. Because of my consistent practice in each of these areas:

• I’m can keep up with my family during the day and maintain the house to a level that is acceptable for everyone to live in.

• I can sprint to school alongside my oldest as he rides his scooter without getting winded.

• I can reach tight spaces that most people in their 40s can’t because of my flexibility and lean build.

Here in the South, we have a tradition of cooking everything in butter, lard, and vegetable oil. Just come to the State Fair that’s held in any area and see some of the crazy stuff that people will fry. I recommend trying the fried butter, the fried Oreos, or the 18-inch corn dogs.

Now imagine eating fried food like this for years.

More often than not, I stick out like a sore thumb these days. Not just because I’m an Asian American in a sea of black and white people, but also because I’m not 20 or 30 pounds overweight and on my phone.

Cooking

I grew up watching my parents fight over this skill.

Mom loves everything to be healthy. To this day, she is trolling the internet for the latest fads in strange juicing methods, top vegetables to boil or eat raw, and tending to her garden in the backyard.

Dad loves everything to be yummy. He’s also traditional in the fact that he insists that lunch and dinner require rice paired with at least two or three other dishes. He likes his seasoning and sautés or stir fries anything and everything. Butter, salt, and sugar aren’t strangers to him. Before his brush with diabetes in his 40s, he loved making sticky ribs.

Between the two, my brother and I ate well and have adopted the best of both worlds.

• He became extremely proficient at baked goods and can make all manner of cakes and cookies.

• I use the stove and oven to make any recipe I look up on the internet and have a few go-to meals that I can make within an hour.

Because of our upbringing, we went from being rather plump as children to becoming lanky or built individuals who still eat well but with a functional knowledge of knowing exactly what can or should be in the food we eat.

The juice is worth the squeeze

Each of these three areas have taken time, effort, and discipline to hone.

The results each have been beneficial to me as well as my family.

• I keep a level of sanity by playing video games, and being a YouTube gamer and streamer lead me to writing.

• My physical state is something that my family can appreciate as I’m able to stay active and engaged with them.

• I can cook just about anything that I see out there on most menus and save a ton of money in the process.

In an age where AI is being pitched as the silver bullet for just about everything when it comes to cognitive load, it’s worth remembering that the burden is still upon you to take action regardless of what it cranks out. You can prompt it tell you the best strategies to beat a game or provide an exercise routine that gives maximum results in the shortest amount of time per day or general a yummy recipe based on the ingredients in your fridge, but it’s still YOUR responsibility to execute.

If you don’t have the T.E.D. mindset, the results it spits out in seconds will remain on the screen and won’t translate into reality.

What skills do you have that you’ve dedicated T.E.D. to the benefit of your life?