Identify and improve the aspects of your skill that you are weakest at

Divide and conquer - that’s the basis of isolating the aspects of a skill you are weakest at and practising them until you can do them perfectly.

1. Isolate a slice in time
   Look for parts of your chosen skill that can be sliced into a specific moment of time that has heightened difficulty or importance. For example, if you’re a musician, you may practice a specific part of a song over and over again

2. Isolate a cognitive component
   Skills such as learning a new language require various cognitive components to function together. Isolate the one you have the most difficulty with - for example, if you are trying to learn Mandarin, you may want to try doing tone drills where you practice saying pairs of words with different tones.

3. Copy the work of others
   For example, if you are trying to learn how to draw, start by copying the drawings of famous artists. You’ll learn a lot just by trying to follow their techniques and processes.

4. Learn the prerequisites of your skill
   If you find that all your learning efforts just aren’t working, it may be because you do not have the appropriate foundational knowledge. Go back a step and learn the prerequisites for your skill, then try again.