How to be a deliberate amateur

I don't have it all figured out. Neither do you.

One of the things that’s helped me create a better world for myself is the happiness practice of being a deliberate amateur. I realize I don’t have it all figured out. If I’m being totally real, I admit I have very little figured out, and I’m still learning - a lot - about the world and about myself.

So I practice being a deliberate amateur almost every day. And you can too!

How to be a deliberate amateur

Practice your craft daily - what is it you want to be better at. Practice that every day, or nearly every day, even if just for a few minutes.

Learn from everyone and everything - You can learn just as much from people who are bad examples as you can people who are good examples. Learn from their mistakes. Learn from their successes. Put it into practice in your world.

Share what you’ve learned - The learning curve from Ebbinghouse says we forget what we read but we remember what we teach. I’m oversimplifying of course. But basically, take the time to share what you’ve learned and teach a little bit to someone else. Create a blog like I have and write articles or share it on Facebook or Instagram or Linkedin. Or you could even write it down in a journal and teach yourself.

Improve based on what you’ve learned - Make new choices. Do new things. Improve and be a little better than yesterday.

Repeat daily - Do it every day. If you miss a day, don’t miss the next one. Don’t miss twice.

Being a deliberate amateur is simple but not easy. What I’ve found is that is what I can do that actualluy works for me to build a better life and more fun work.