You don’t have to walk up to a stranger and make them laugh hysterically.

In the same way that you haven’t got to be able to play your guitar magnificently.

Or juggle three balls in the air at once.

Take the pressure off yourself. There is no need to prove how good you are. There is simply a need to begin right now.

An audience of excited onlookers may watch you one day. Perhaps they’ll marvel at your perfect performance.

Anything that is perfect is a performance.

A slick show.

No longer the real you.

Practice is raw, free and messy. It is a deliberate and heartfelt process that enables you to develop yourself. Make your life a practice, not a performance.

Set the bar low: study, refinement and revision all come later.

Be the person who is happy to simply say hello.

The one who picks up an instrument and learns a single chord.

A juggler who playfully throws one ball into the air and catches it, maybe.

Tinkering as you go along will outperform too much planning. It is the best type of practice that leads to fast results and, one day, mastery.

Marcus Oakey

Marcus is an author, consultant and entrepreneur. He divides his time between writing, mentoring global leaders in the science of charisma and a borderline obsession with the lost art of mind mastery.