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Don't overlook the basics. Don't ignore the foundation. How long can a tree remain standing without the roots?
Getting back to quotes with another great one by one of my favorite authors from recent times.
James Clear is famous for writing "Atomic Habits" but he also has a weekly newsletter, which he calls "3-2-1 Thursday" where he sends short but very insightful messages every week. This quote is from the most recent edition of 3-2-1 Thursday.
I can relate to this in many, many, levels but I will use a rather mundane example to illustrate my point here.
I'm an amateur guitar player and, even though I have been playing for the best part of the last 15 years or so, I'm not anywhere as good as I should be had I taken my music lessons more seriously.
I think my problem, and I'm sure many other guitar players of the most varied skill levels would agree, is that I often skipped a few steps in my guitar player journey.
When someone picks up the guitar, or any other instrument for that matter, they usually want to start learning songs by their favorite artists because, more often than not, that's the very reason that made them want to learn how to play an instrument.
The problem with that is people sometimes end up skipping the foundations of learning music. Very basic stuff like intervals, scales, chords and so on and so forth.
Not to say that's impossible to be a good musician without those - hell, I dare to say that is the case for many famous musicians nowadays - but there is a big chance you find yourself very limited in the future.
And I believe that can be applied to most aspects of life.