It gets easier after a few tries

In games

Fighting a new enemy for the first time is always rough.

You don’t know how many attacks it has, how it reacts when you get close, or when to dodge. You fumble around, probably die a few times.

But after a few attempts, you figure it out.

Oh, it only has three attacks. That move is easy to dodge. Standing here is the safest spot.

The same enemy that took 30 minutes the first time takes 5 minutes by the tenth. Your body remembers. No thinking required. Your hands just move.

New enemies are hard. Once you learn them, they’re easy.

In reality

In real life, we often get stuck on the first attempt.

It’s not that we don’t want to do it. We’re scared to start.

Things we’ve never done look intimidating. We don’t know how long it’ll take, what problems we’ll run into, or whether we can even do it.

So we start “preparing.”

Watch tutorials. Buy equipment. Take notes. Make plans.

It feels productive. It feels like we’re getting closer to the goal. But even after all that preparation, we still can’t take the first step.

Why?

Because it’s fake knowledge.

You know how others do it, not how you’ll do it. Without real experience, you won’t have that visceral feeling. You won’t know where you’ll get stuck, what mistakes you’ll make, or what unexpected problems will arise.

Watching someone else fight a boss is completely different from fighting it yourself.

When you watch, you think, “That attack is so easy to dodge.” When you’re actually fighting, you’re panicking and can’t dodge anything.

Real knowledge only comes from doing it yourself.

And avoiding it only makes it harder.

Like talking to someone you’re not close with. The longer you avoid it, the more awkward the next conversation becomes. But once you start talking, after a few chats, you’re comfortable.

Skills work the same way. The first time is rough. The second time is smoother. By the tenth time, it’s habit. Muscle memory kicks in. Your brain adapts. Once you start, it only gets easier.

The value of the first attempt isn’t doing it well. It’s turning the unknown into the familiar.

After running through the process once, you see the full picture. You discover where you actually get stuck, what’s simpler than expected, and what the real problem is. These are things you can’t see without doing it.

Starting is always the hardest part.

It gets easier after a few tries.

Player notes

When I started blogging, I planned to publish weekly.

But my first post took forever. Problems everywhere. No writing habit. No system for capturing ideas. I didn’t even know what style I liked. I couldn’t even manage monthly posts.

But at least I completed one cycle.

The second post came faster. By the fifth, I had a rhythm. A year later, writing two or three posts a week feels natural. I don’t force myself. When it’s time, I just want to write about what I’ve been thinking.

Only after that first attempt did I realize: collecting ideas takes the longest. I need an outline first. This is the style I like. Publishing works faster this way. These “oh, so that’s how it is” moments were impossible to know before actually writing.

YouTube has even more resistance for me. Writing scripts, setting up equipment, talking to a camera, body language, editing, subtitles. Just thinking about it is exhausting.

But I remember Ali Abdaal saying: “Your first 100 videos are going to suck, so you might as well get them out of the way.”

That’s liberating. And something I need to learn.

The point isn’t to nail the first video. It’s to get the first one done, then the second, then the third. Along the way, you get familiar with the software, find what topics suit you, and discover your most natural way of presenting.

The first video will be bad. But the fiftieth won’t be as bad. The hundredth might actually be good.

Neil Armstrong said when he landed on the moon: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Every video I make means nothing to the world. But to me, each one is a giant leap. Each video turns a piece of the unknown into the known. Each one makes the next less scary.

The point isn’t to be great from the start. It’s to give yourself the chance to become great.

And that chance only comes from starting.

Of course, as of writing this post, my YouTube channel still has zero videos. I still need to muster the courage to fight this new boss.

Leveling tips

□ Find something you’ve been “preparing” for but haven’t started. Ask yourself: am I actually preparing, or just procrastinating?
□ Change your goal for the first attempt from “do it well” to “just finish it.” Complete the process first, then worry about quality
□ Set a deadline for your first attempt. Preparation without a deadline lasts forever
□ Right after finishing the first time, do it again. Iterate while the memory is fresh. Build familiarity
□ After your first attempt, write down three “oh, so that’s how it is” moments. These are things only experience teaches you