Have you ever wanted to learn to code, start a business, or perform a comedy set but get stuck watching tutorials and reading books?

I have.

"Just one more video/article, and I'll be ready."

An approach that has worked for me is these three steps:

1. Get Going

2. Get Good

3. Get Smart

Get Going

Most people never get to this stage. Whatever it is, people will often "prepare" but never actually do the thing.

People are often held back by fear of failure or judgment, but the truth is nobody cares at the start because you suck at the beginning.

The first step is to do it.

If it's stand-up comedy, write down some jokes and perform at an open mic.

Action > Strategy at this stage.

Put down the book/article/video and just fucking start.

Get Good

Congrats! You've surpassed the most challenging stage and are in motion. It is time to level up and focus on improving.

So, start executing with optimization: finding the highest-leverage areas (high impact, low effort) to improve.

This is the stage people usually mistakenly start with. But, if you've never performed a comedy set, optimizing more won't help as you lack experience and context.

Get Smart

This is the final boss. You are good at whatever you set out to do but want to scale.

This is the stage where Strategy > Action; you need to take a step back, analyze your process critically from start to finish, and see how you can systematize it.

You want to free up your time and energy for the things only you can do.

I am applying this approach to projects in my life, and I am enjoying the process and am excited to see the results in a year.