I know I’m not the only one who enviously looks at some skilled person, sighing about how they’re just so talented and I can never get on their level. And while inherent talent does have something to do with it, the fact is that most of what we’re admiring so enviously isn’t talent, it’s skill. And skill is just a fancy word for doing something that you kinda suck at until you eventually stop sucking at it and actually get really good at it. By that token, almost anyone can do almost anything, however, there are inhibiting factors like equipment, instructors, and such that mean casually picking up glass blowing might not go so well. So, with that in mind, here are just a few low barrier to entry small habits that, if done diligently, can lead to some serious skills.
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Draw/Doodle every day
This is a great one to start with since most of us already doodle pretty regularly. So, it only takes a little more effort to go from just sort of doing it whenever to doing it more purposefully. This isn’t to say that you need to set up a specific drawing time or space, even though those are great steps to take if you so choose. All you really need for this is to buy a small, easily portable sketch pad and make sure you always have a pencil or pen on you. Then, go through the book and date every page. After that, all you have to do is start filling out every page. Not every work needs to be a masterpiece, which is great since I can almost guarantee they won’t be, but if you work at it, you’ll probably a notice a big difference between the first page and the last. And, as if you needed even more reason, and an added benefit is that this sketchbook can end up kind of like a diary and is a great way to reflect on your day, week, or even year.
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Write something every day
This is a habit I am also working on and I don’t always succeed, but I’m working at it! Much like the first one, this is also a really, really easy one to start since a lot of us write in some capacity almost every day. You could pick up a nice diary and do the same as you did with the sketchbook, but, if that seems clunky or just not very enjoyable, there a ton of great alternatives. Since most of us won’t be caught dead without our phones, use them to help build this healthy habit! Whether you post daily on a blog or on a social media platform, it doesn’t really matter. The key is to get used to and comfortable with arranging your thoughts on a blank page. However, if the blank page of possibilities is too intimidating, there are several books that give writing prompts or even vocab words to work into a prompt, and those are a great way to get your creative juices flowing.
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Exercise just a little every day
Yeah, yeah, this one is a lot less fun, but it’s also very important. I know for me, and I’m sure for a lot of you all as well, it can be intimidating to head to a gym and try to bumble your way through a fitness routine, surrounded by strange equipment and much, much fitter people. Usually, I end up giving up and watching the gym rats seemingly effortlessly bang their way through rep after rep. And sadly, as entertaining as that may be, it’s not really helping my own fitness at all. So, a great way to build up to that is making a habit out of getting exercise through something you usually do daily anyway. Make it a habit to always take the stairs or park further away from the door so you can walk or jog there. Make it a habit to do a few reps of push-ups or sit-up as soon as you get up. No, these little tips aren’t fun, and no, they won’t magically make you lose twenty pounds and gain a six pack, but just making it a point to spend the extra five minutes doing them will make it much easier to tackle the more intense workouts with the confidence and ease we often admire in other gym-goers.
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Pick one important task to do every day
I’ve had to learn this one the hard way time after time, as have most of my friends. It may seem like some magical power to set a schedule and keep it, but I promise it is not. Instead, anyone can build that “magical power” by just starting small. Make yourself do one thing that you need to do every day. Whether it be a homework assignment, an application, or a tax form, it doesn’t really matter. And what’s great about this habit is that not only are you getting the stuff you need done, well, done, but you’ll also lessen so much of your situational anxiety! Often, knowing you have a lot of important things to do can make you so stressed and anxious that you can’t even begin, which just makes things worse and worse as those tasks build up. So, by making sure you’re doing at least one important task per day, not only will you feel more proactive and in control, but, after a while, you may not even really run into massive build-ups of stressful tasks at all.
Happy habit building!