5 Powerful Ways to Become Limitless in Real Life
How to go beyond your limits and advance
Remember that 2011 Bradley Cooper movie? A drug dealer gives a desperately unproductive writer a pill that grants him access to 100% of his brain. After taking the “NZT” for a few months, Cooper transforms his life — from unsuccessful writer to millionaire stock market investor.
Those pills don’t exist in real life, but there are ways to challenge your limits and unlock hidden potential. In short, certain powerful habits can help you become limitless.
What kind of limits are we talking about?
Most of us have anxieties, procrastination issues, and mental blockages that prevent us from achieving our goals. In other words, we all face obstacles in life.
That’s where the following habits come into play. By fighting against negative impulses, channeling our creativity, and defeating our apprehension every day, we can gradually go beyond our present limits.
On this basis, here are five powerful ways to become limitless in real life.
Consistently picking up new skills
The first step toward becoming limitless in real life is to acquire new skills consistently.
Most of us subconsciously think that we can’t learn or pick up a challenging skill.
Learning Japanese is impossible. How could I understand a different alphabet? I can’t become better at photography. I didn’t study it at university. And how could I become skilled at personal finance without a college education?
In simple terms, you believe that your lack of formal education or prior experience in a subject disqualifies you from the get-go. It’s one of the most common limits, but in the 21st century, new skills are more accessible than ever.
As such, it’s not about focusing on your past experience. It’s about building a habit that allows you to learn new things quickly. If you want to become limitless in real life, you need to master the art of processing knowledge, and by extension, acquiring new skills rapidly.
As Cal Newport writes in Deep Work:
“One of the two core abilities to thrive in the new economy is the ability to quickly master hard things.”
Consequently, to advance beyond your current limits, focus on becoming better at learning. The following are some of the most effective ways to acquire new skills quickly:
- read books and consume content on novel subjects;
- do learning exercises like memorizing crucial information;
- challenge yourself every day by learning something new, even if it’s just a new word in a foreign language;
- ask people to share knowledge in their areas of expertise;
- always carry a notebook with you; and
- prioritize learning over random entertainment.
In conjunction, these habits will kick-start your learning groove, and over time, you’ll become better and quicker at mastering new subjects — unlocking heaps of hibernating potential.
Using personalized techniques to fight against procrastination
The next aspect of going beyond your limits concerns procrastination.
We’re all guilty of putting off work to pursue entertainment, look at our social media feeds or play with our cats. It’s natural, but it also creates limitations.
Just imagine how much more you could achieve in the time that you lose to procrastinating factors. That’s where anti-procrastination tactics come to fruition.
In this context, one of the best ways to become limitless by defeating procrastination is to combine acts of instant gratification (procrastinating factors) and acts that provide long-term rewards.
Simply put, combine an activity that’s challenging but critical for your long-term success with a habit that’s easy and provides instant rewards.
The idea is the brainchild of University of Pennsylvania economist Katy Milkman. Her basic formula — as cited by James Clear in a blog post — is the following:
“Only do [THING YOU LOVE] while doing [THING YOU PROCRASTINATE ON].”
You could, for example, combine challenging work with instant gratification by listening to your favorite music. Another idea would be to watch a movie while ironing your clothes.
To sum up, find ways to stop procrastination from hindering your progress. By winning the fight against the master procrastinator in your head, you’ll unleash a massive amount of time and energy that will help you overcome your current limits.
Prioritizing like a pro
Aside from fighting against procrastination, prioritization is another essential habit.
Many of our limits are the result of having too many irons in the fire. In this regard, we try to become better at everything at once — putting strains on our mental strength, time resources, and physical energy. And those strains prevent us from going beyond today’s limits.
That’s where we need a minimalist approach toward becoming limitless. As such, try to focus all of your energy and resources on one project at a time. Dedicate your efforts to that one side hustle instead of building five income streams at the same time.
Of course, diversification is crucial, but if you’re trying to build one particular skill or become better in one area of life, you’ll have fewer limits by concentrating your energy. Always ask yourself whether diversifying too much might create obstacles for each project.
Letting your creativity flow at any time
Creativity is the key to becoming limitless in real life.
If you want to advance in life — and smash your present limits — you need to let your creativity flow. New ideas, attitudes, and challenges will help you build new habits and achieve higher goals.
That’s why it’s paramount to open up your mind for new ideas.
In the words of Thrive Global:
“Creativity demands that you are constantly coming up with new ideas, ideas that you’ve never thought of before. In order to do this, you must first rid your mind of the ideas you already have in order to make room for new ones.”
As an example, you might never have thought of solo traveling before. You know that some people do it, but you never saw how it could make your life any better.
By letting your creativity flow, in a journal, for example — you might come up with a plan of driving solo across the US. It may sound crazy at first, but once you seriously consider it, you’ll suddenly realize how rewarding such a trip could be. You could see intriguing places, connect with nature, and meet new people. In short, you could overcome various limits that you previously had, opening the floodgates for more potential to arise.
Letting your creativity blossom is the best way to come up with fresh ideas. And those new mindsets will help you defeat your current limits. Keep a journal with you at all times, and write down whatever comes to mind. Out of 15 ideas, 13 might be ridiculous, but two will undoubtedly challenge one of your present limits.
Not letting anxieties hold you back
Finally, most of our limits come from anxiety.
I am scared to start my online business. It might cause financial ruin. I don’t want to talk to that girl. She might reject me. And I would never try a new job. My career is too stable.
We tend to focus on risks, things that could go wrong, and threats to the comforts we have today. In plain English, we are scared to take the risk and go beyond our current limits.
There is, however, a difference between the real risks of an endeavor and the perceived risks.
Lots of external factors contribute to the perceived risks of our projects. We think that becoming an entrepreneur is risky because few people succeed and because society tells us to stay in our corporate jobs.
The real risk, however, has a lot more nuances. There is the project itself, your starting position, your experience, and your risk calculation skills. Consequently, the actual risk of failure depends on many factors. And once you know those factors, you can make an informed decision.
These informed decisions are the key to overcoming your anxieties. There is no reason to be scared of a new challenge when you understand the real risks are and make your choices accordingly.
That’s why you should focus on calculating the risks of your endeavors. Once you master that assessment, your anxieties will have less room to expand, and you’ll overcome lots of limitations that you might currently have.
