Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with your identity, you will fail to put them into action. - James Clear

People spend a lot of time talking about other people's bodies, gossiping about other people's relationships, critiquing other people's business, etc.

Keep your eyes on your own paper. Work on your body. Nurture your relationships. Improve your business.

We all have plenty to improve.

In the beginning, your skills are raw, your knowledge is sparse, and you lack experience. At best, you will be able to produce work that is "just okay." And even then, you'll only manage to reach "just okay" by giving your best effort.

Nobody wants to produce something that is "just okay." You'll feel like it's beneath your standards. You'll worry about what others think of you. You'll wonder whether you would be better off taking a different path. But it is impossible to reach that stage unless you are willing to work through your current stage.

And so, one of the main obstacles between who you are and who you could be is courage. The courage to keep trying even if you're not yet as good as you hope. The courage to keep trying despite your fears of what others may think. The courage to keep trying without knowing how the future will unfold.

Your great work is on the other side of your early work. The only way to be exceptional later on is to have the courage to be "just okay" right now. This is how it is for everyone.

The first step—perhaps the most enormous step—is to find what you are genuinely interested in.

If you are genuinely interested, you will discover endless opportunities for improvement. But if you are disinterested, even obvious improvements will feel like a chore.

And, if you can maintain your genuine interest and curiosity as the years accumulate, you will become hard to compete with because you will have skill to go with your passion. If you're interested, you're dangerous.