When I started gaining an interest in self improvement it was very easy to think big. I thought that through reading books and listening to podcasts, I would be able to become one of the most confident, motivated, and disciplined people on the planet. The issue I had was that I thought these skills would just come to me because I was passively consuming the information. I thought that after listening to a podcast on confidence, I would just automatically become confident. I was missing the key ingredient. ACTION! Sure you will gain knowledge and become more aware through just consuming, but the way you start to master these skills is through applying. The best way to get the ball rolling, in my opinion, is to START SMALL. I was trying to build a Youtube channel without first knowing how to film a video. I was trying to run a marathon without first running a half marathon. I was trying to hold a conversation with people without knowing how to ask questions. Talking to people becomes a lot less scary when you have a few questions in your back pocket ready to be used. And a conversation becomes even less scary when you realise it is just a chain of events: 1. Smile  2. Shake hand  3. Say hello 4. Call them by their name  5. Ask them question 1  6. Listen intently 7. Nod along  8. Comment  9. Ask question 2  10. Listen 11. Answer their question  12. Say nice to meet you 13. Say goodbye That seems a lot less scary than someone telling you to go off and have a conversation with someone you have never met before. You can even break parts of that down even smaller so it’s easier. The key to building skills is to start small. If you’re struggling with motivation, use James Clear’s Two Minute Rule and just do the task for two minutes. Chances are you will carry on long past that. Let me know below how you scale down difficult things and share your thoughts!