Why do I never improve at anything?

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Why is it that no matter how hard I obsess over something, my skills never improve or stay stagnant? Also, I grew up not understanding the whole "practice makes perfect" crap. How do I actually improve at things, or is it possible that me (or my thinking) is broken?

Stop putting yourself into binds.

I can see that you want to improve your life. The only way to do it is to start college. That's the only way.

This was what happened my entire life. I was never dedicated to even the smallest thing once in my life to the point where it became a routine, obsession or that I excelled in it.

I think you're growing up a little bit. I think you've been thinking a lot about things.

You want to improve. The only way to improve is to follow through on your good thoughts.

I find that I often have to work at something for 100+ hours to get good at something.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaanders ... e9a2aa7f24

What exactly kind of things are you trying to improve at? I find it hard to give you an answer if I don't know what you're really aiming for.

Typically you need to re-wire your brain. This takes time. Ideally you could practice an hour a day for a couple months to make this happen. Thinking about it doesn't really help--you need to actually do it.

http://www.baseball-excellence.com/inde ... tail&id=12
What baseball players do when they turn pro.

Others have said it, but the key is practice. Lots and lots of practice. I love photography, but just reading about it or looking at other people's photos (important as both are), won't translate into better photographs. I love learning about and memorizing all kinds of arcane information about vintage and new cameras, but that just makes me a walking encyclopedia on the subject.

When I first got into photography at 16 or 17, I was passionate about taking pictures. There was no digital photography back then, so after my one photography class in high school (where I had the luxury of using the school darkroom for free), I had to pay to get each roll developed. A lot of my PT job income went to pay for film processing and prints, and there was an agonizing wait to see what I'd shot! With digital, I might have learned faster, but I was persistent. Aside from the occasional lucky, shot, though, my photos weren't that great. A lot of my peers, who didn't share my obsession, seemed to take consistently better images than I did with little effort.

Over the years I dabbled, and never really saw big improvements in my work. Most of my photos - film or digital - were technically adequate, but boring. I got really serious again about photography starting back around 2007 and haven't put it down since. I still wasn't that great (I'd be embarrassed to show you some of my early attempts at shooting amateur models), but I kept at it diligently. I began noticing improvements as experience taught me to recognize whether I'd be happy with the shot later. I learned how to change my framing, my angle, my compositions, deal with challenging lighting, etc. I experimented with different lighting techniques - setting up test shots of things I knew I'd never do anything with.

And I got better. Slower than most to really master the craft (and I wouldn't even claim I've mastered it), but years of persistence have paid off. So just because you don't see progress in a year or two (or 10 years, for that matter), doesn't mean that you won't get there. But you have GOT to stick with the thing that you're pursuing, even when you're thinking "I should be better by now!"

If you give up and decide to move to something else instead, you'll likely have to begin the process all over again. Just make sure that whatever it is you're trying to improve at is worth that level of commitment.

The answer is that obsessing is not skill-building. I don't know what exactly you would like more skill in, but the way you build skill is to repeat a skill until it becomes automatic, and then you push yourself to a higher level. Coaching helps, too.

Maybe your self-assessment is too negative and you are not giving yourself enough credit. Or maybe you are failing to set appropriate short-term goals to meet a longer-term goal in time.

Good point! You can't be a professional baseball player if the only practice you get is hitting fastballs thrown right down the middle of the plate. Most people learn faster if they are constantly challenged.

I've often noticed that I'm learning the most when I'm feeling the most stupid, which is exactly the point when I want to give up. I think learning is like that, you don't feel the gains you're making until later.

I also think that the human mind can solve almost any problem or learn almost any skill if it just focusses on it for long enough. Sometimes it takes a while. Though there are some things one needs a particular aptitude for, so to some extent it's horses for courses. It might pay to do some aptitude tests to find out what your particular strengths are.

Translate all your thoughts into action.
If you think a lot, there is a lot to do