How to get slightly better at things

Why you should take my fitness advice, not my writing advice

A while back, Nate Silver wrote some advice for succeeding on Substack that I generally agree with. But I also wonder the extent to which it’s useful.

Much of his advice hinges on the point — which is clearly true — that “writing well quickly is essential.” This is certainly a big help! But having worked over the years with many young writers and tried to give them useful advice about their careers, I don’t think “just write faster” is actionable advice for most people.

I do think it’s worthwhile, as an exercise, to try to force yourself to write really quickly, just to see what happens. But most people will find that they fail. And as far as I can tell, it’s not a very teachable skill. German Lopez learned a lot, I think, during the years we worked together at Vox. But from day one, it was clear to all of us that he was a writer who could crank stuff out. Journalists can cultivate more and better sources or learn SEO if they get good advice and work at it. But some people write fast and others don’t, and that’s the way it is.

I think this speaks to a broader problem.

If you want to get better at something, it feels natural to look to the people who are best at it and try to learn their secrets. And if it’s something you’re really into and show some aptitude for, that might be a good way to go about it. But sometimes, it’s important and useful to obtain marginal improvements at things you have no natural facilities for. And here I think getting advice from the really good performers can be misleading.

I’m a pretty unathletic person, but I’m a successful writer, so your intuition is probably to ask me for writing advice rather than fitness advice. But the fittest people, in my experience, are often the kind of people who genuinely enjoy exercising. It’s hard work for them, of course, just like I work hard at writing. But they enjoy it in much the way that I enjoy writing takes. They find it relaxing to get a good workout in. They genuinely feel bad if some happenstance prevents them from getting to the gym. The morning run is a ritual that clears their head and gets them ready for the day.

And obviously the best way to be in really good shape is to be an exercise-enjoyer, and then build on that exercise-enjoyer foundation with some really good, high efficacy workouts. But if you’re in really bad shape, it’s probably because you’re like me and hate exercising! If you start a workout plan, you’re probably going to give up and fail. And some people will tell you that the plan didn’t fail, you failed, and you’d be in better shape if you weren’t such a lard-ass quitter. Others will tell you you just need to try whatever specific program works for them.

Sometimes those things are true, but as adults, most of us just are who we are. And sometimes, it’s important is to find a way to get better at the margins.