[krykp]

There are multiple points in the article, each of them probably deserving its own article. I want to focus on the two.

One is the peer effect. Who you surround yourself with absolutely matters. This applies to the content consumption, and this applies to your surroundings too. This can be as simple as going to the library, having surrounded by other people working and researching is great, even if it's just schoolwork. Beyond that, I have found I enjoy spending time with people who are deeply interested in some kind of a craft. Listening to someone talking about a piece of software they are working on, or a music album they are recording, is absolutely interesting. It sets sort of a benchmark for yourself too.

The other one is the point about how 'little' time it actually takes and how easy it is. This is a point that is both true and false, in many ways. If you have general software development expertise, finishing[doing the exercises as well] a single book on a language/technology/framework will absolutely get you to the intermediate level on that piece of technology. Finishing a book isn't hard, you can do it in a weekend.

At the same time, as easy as it is, it is also hard. There are lots of obligations in life. You probably have somewhere to go that weekend. You are also a bit tired, you have been working during the week. And well you have to socialize a bit to be healthy, so shutting yourself off every weekend isn't something you want to do either. I find occasional, short retreats healthy for this reason. That seems to be a nice balance.

In the end, it is simple, but not easy, that's the word I was looking for. It can be achievable if you plan ahead and are purposeful in your actions.

[MPSimmons]

My godson wants to be a storyteller of some kind, either video, or music, and he was fretting about not being good enough. My advice to him was, "look, if you just sit and THINK about what you're going to do before you do it, you're going to be better than 80% of the people out there".

That's about what I've run into in my life. Most people do things on autopilot and don't think about what they're doing, or don't consider it worth thinking about. If you want to do something and be good at it, wanting to be good at it is enough to move you past most people, as long as you have a growth mindset.

[strken]

It is obvious to me that there are two types of thinking: there's planning, which only goes so far, and there's ongoing introspection into the work you're doing, which is what most people really need.

I'm trying to write fiction at the moment. It's far, far harder than technical writing, programming, writing a reply on HN, or anything else that's remotely similar. I'm not used to it, at all. My brain suggests things that just aren't good ideas, and then I spend time eliminating those bad ideas, and then my brain suggests more things, and I find one good one, and so we continue. I have to work in ten minute stretches and then go for a walk to clear my head.

I think this is how most skills are learnt. You try something ("write the first chapter of a novella"), you analyse what went well and what went poorly ("I felt my writing was boring, and I noticed that nothing really happened because all I wrote was description and exposition"), you deliberately practice ("I read through the first chapter of some books I enjoy and tried rewriting my first chapter with similar interactions and events"), and then you go back to the base task and get a little further ("the first chapter was compelling but I didn't leave any story hooks and don't know where to go for a second").

[Earw0rm]

There are lots of obligations in life.

And bros in their late 20s / early 30s (as I suspect the author is) tend to underestimate the extent to which that's true.

Kids is the obvious one, but hidden claims on time and capacity are much more common than some think.

[Balgair]

> it is simple, but not easy

Mom always taught me the polite way of saying this is that something is then 'straightforward'.

The matrix here is:

Steps are clear, but difficult to take > 'straightforward'

Steps are clear, but easy to take > 'trivial, easy, simple, etc'

Steps are unclear, but difficult to take > 'hard, impossible, non-trivial, etc'

Steps are unclear, but easy to take > 'should be a lark, non-obvious, etc'

[baxtr]

Not sure I understand. What are the two axes?

Clarity and difficulty? If so what are examples?

- Clarity high, difficulty high: Iron Man

- Clarity high, difficulty low: online shopping

- Clarity low, difficulty low: ??

- Clarity low, difficulty high: starting a new business

[achierius]

An example for clarity low, difficulty low might be making an app in an unfamiliar framework, or something like "organize that pile of boxes in the corner of my room".

[Balgair]

Yes, pretty much.

Difficulty of the next achievement/step vs. the ability to know what that next step is

> - Clarity low, difficulty low: ??

I'd say navigation here. Like, finding that new restaurant or traveling overland without maps. Easy to just drive/walk there, hard to find the place though.

Kinda relates to David Epstein's kind vs. unkind learning environments too.