Push yourself to the limit

I used to be so naïve when I was younger. In my first job, I expected to be promoted to a manager in half a year. Yep. I was lucky, however, to have had a fantastic mentor. He used to gently cure my ignorance with clever analogies. When he heard about my from zero to manager in six months plan, he said:

"Look, I think you are being a bit too strict with yourself. It takes a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill to become a good manager, and one does not accumulate it overnight. Learning something new is similar to getting fit.

Let’s say we make a bet that you will lift this stone (he pointed to a massive decorative piece of rock next to the bench we were sitting on) over your head five times. You surely can’t do it now, but you could train and become strong enough to win the bet.

How would you approach the training? You'd find the largest rock you can lift over your head five times with relative ease to benchmark your current strength.

Next, and this is the crucial point, you'd pick up a slightly heavier stone. Not so heavy you could not lift it at all, but one that you can bring over your head three or four times.

After a few workouts, you'd become comfortable lifting the heavier stone five times. Then you’d proceed to an even heavier one, and repeat the process. After a while, you’d be strong enough to win the bet.

The same method applies to achieving lofty learning goals:

1. Set a goal
2. Benchmark your current ability
3. Set an interim goal that is slightly outside your comfort zone. Not too far, so you don’t burn yourself out, and not too close, to make progress.
4. Practice until you achieve the interim goal.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you achieve the ultimate goal from step 1.

The key takeaway for you is to not try to do too much in too short of a time. You want to push yourself right to the limit, and then some.