4 min read
“How To Set New Limits For Yourself (and outperform everyone)”
Introduction
This is going to be a little more of a personal one, but I feel like tackling it because even now it still remains as a challenge for me.
In this world, we see limits as these non-physical (and rather mental) blocks, or even sometimes physical objects that prevent us from becoming better. They make us weaker, more vulnerable, and more resistant to improvement. By all means, it’s not good at all.
Limits make us feel that, no matter what we do, we can never be enough. No matter how long I spend practicing on the field, these other kids are just better than me. They’ve been at it for far more years than I have. They possess far greater talent that I simply was never born with. All of them manage to see the game in a way that I can’t. (if you’ve watched Blue Lock though, you probably don’t feel this way)
The truth is that someone will always be better than you at something. Always.
If I want to be the greatest player on a specific character on PC in the world on a specific game, I’ll have to prove myself among thousands of other faces. I’ll have to show them all why I am better. Although they might have better gear than me, or have been playing the game longer than me, that won’t stop me.
I’ll show them who’s really the best.
Delusion
Let’s make this clear. I don’t refer to delusion either. The best are the best for a good reason. Although not all of them had it as hard as others, it still doesn’t deny them of their skill and knowledge. Delusion is the false belief that you’re better than everyone else when you probably aren’t.
To set new limits means to set new boundaries for yourself. What it really means is to set new possibilities far how far you can reach and extend. You might think that you’re a terrible artist right now (trust me, I’ve tried 3D art and it’s no good), but it doesn’t mean that you will be in a few months from now.
Given that you give it enough attention and practice.
Recently, trust me this will make sense, I saw a person on YouTube create a scene from “Into The Spiderverse” in Blender. And it was absolutely amazing. A full 20 or 30 (forgot exactly how long) second scene made in a couple of months with just his brain. That’s it. It took no money, no one else’s literal help, just his effort. That’s it (again). He came across a variety of challenges along the way, but worked his way through it.
In it, I saw something very enlightening. He had spent around 14-15 hours (an entire day pretty much) trying to figure out some lighting strategy to make the city setting more realistic. Only with that lengthy input of time was he able to figure it out and continue.
Big Things Take Time
It was a wonderful project and it just barely looks different from the real thing. When you watch the movie itself, you just watch it and say whether you liked it or not. It was only with the lengthy input of work and time behind the scenes that you see how magnificent it really is. The result looks minimal compared to the work done behind the curtain.
And the most surprising part of all? He had 6 months of experience.
Imagine being in that same position and recognizing how far you’ve come. Anyone starting Blender 3D for the first time would probably never believe in their ability to make something as good as he did with such little experience. I can guarantee you I probably couldn’t have done the same with 9 months. Although 9 months is a long time to master any skill, and usually is far too much, to complete such an astounding project is beyond crazy.
Okay but let’s not get too carried away.
The point here is: With just 6 months of experience, he was able to create a masterpiece that looked almost like the real thing. Doesn’t that say something about you?
Hard Expectations Are Not Always Too Realistic
Just because you set a harsh deadline in your mind, or literally, for something, doesn’t mean it will done in time. You set expectations that simply can’t be met. I completely agree on setting goals that you can’t achieve easily or even decently; because it challenges you to step further and take the next step beyond what you can clearly see. It’s the blurry and fuzzy steps that have the greatest impact.
However, if too blurry, you’ll end up misstepping and falling all the way back to the start (except this time of a new thing).
The limit that he pushed up further was he ability to improve and create spectacular things. A beginner would never even conceive the idea of recreating a scene from one of the most beloved animations in the last 10 years; let alone doing it within half a year. However, the journey will only make sense if you look at it from the standpoint 6 months later. Until then, you have to just go with the flow. Even if takes you longer than expected, or you end up wasting an entire day or two on some ridiculous feature that brought no value; you still took a step forward.
There’s a good chance someone else would pay good money to know what you know without the cost of time. The cost of time is a cost most impactful to the wealthy class of society; yet it impacts all of us. No one wants to spend months or years of their life on something to still not be the best.
What New Limits Really Mean
When I say new limit, I don’t mean “limitless”. No, those are two entirely different concepts. New limit is the definition for setting a new limit; or a new boundary to your potential. Before you maybe were limited to a certain skillset. But with practice, you could expand that skillset. That is the establishment of new limits.
Limitless, on the other hand, is getting better at everything at a virtually exponential rate without stopping because there are no limits placed on your brain. That’s not true of course. You can only learn, despite maximizing, at a set rate. You can, and will never exceed that rate (unless some new technology is invented). We are humans and all have limits. Don’t let online media convince you otherwise. I take this especially personal because of a show I finished watching a few months back, called “One Punch Man”. I seriously recommend it if you’re somewhat into anime. It’s actually really inspiring.
Anyways, by establishing new limits, I also mean the set back of your, well, limits. Before you were limited to reading at a pace of 0.75 pages per minute. Now, you can read 1.25 pages per minute. Really good progress! Or maybe your mile time jumped from 5:30 to 5:15! Also really good.
However, those aren’t exactly what I mean by limits. So excuse me for the poor example. What I really mean is process-wise. Something about the process is easier than before. Maybe you have a new method of drafting ideas. Or maybe that new sleep schedule really started kicking in and paying off after all. Things work magically when you just set them as expected. And the best part? It’s not really magical at all. It feels that way, but that’s the way it’s supposed to function.
How To Set New Limits
When we hit a limit, we tend to think “this is my limit”. It’s natural to think that way, so don’t downplay yourself for thinking that way. If you take a look at some of the strongest and most powerful characters in fiction, they likely went through the same event. They come across a roadblock that’s so hard to defeat that they think “I just can’t win.”
Of course, life isn’t fiction but is real. However, you can apply the same idea.
A “limit” is just “a limit”, not “your limit”. A limit is where your current training stops, and when you’re forced to self-transform. Almost all of the time, when you come across a limit, it tends to be that it’s actually just your current capacity. If you’ve ever played a simulator game, especially the ones in Roblox, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
A Really Good (fictional) example
If you’ve ever played a simulator game on Roblox before, you’ll know that everyone has a certain capacity limit. At one point, their backpack can only carry so much of X, and it’s impossible to surpass that limit. Having a higher limit is only possible if you have a larger backpack capacity.
In a majority of games, especially lifting or strength simulators, this is possible with rebirths. The more rebirths you have (which usually also doesn’t have a real limit), the higher your limit is. Rebirths make you stronger, increase your potential, and make it easier to surpass your old strength and feats.
In other games, with a famous one being Bee Swarm Simulator, you don’t utilize rebirths but rather just power through it. There will be times where gameplay will be boring, and where you will have no suitable multipliers, but you have to just power through it in order to get better gear and therefore a higher limit. Having a higher limit in this game means higher potency, better collection, and plenty more.
Two different games. Yet both feature two completely different realities. One requires you to power through but then restart and shoot back up. The other requires raw will.
At the end of the day, capacity is temporary. A limit is permanent.
Real vs False Limits
You will be happy with your real limit. You’ll look back at all the failures you endured, all the challenges you were forced to persevere through, and the journey in general. It was tough, but you got here. This is all you could’ve ever dreamed of. This was more than you could’ve ever asked for. You surpassed the potential you knew was always inside of you.
False limits will break you down and will have you question the meaning of everything. You will be filled with doubt. You will question your thoughts and ideas. Your own mind will force you to reflect and ask why it was hard. You’ll look back and realize how much a failure you are and how if you did it another way it would’ve worked out. They’re hard to see through, but if you recognize this, you will never miss it again.
Other Important Signals (and advice)
- Growth is consistently encountering discomfort. This is great. Discomfort is a landmark and a sign that you’re moving in some direction – whether it’s in the right or wrong path. Your mind or body will tell you “this is new”, and that’s even better. Lean with it.
- If you want to keep moving forward, you need the mind of a limit-breaker. You need to fall in love with exploring new capabilities rather than staying the same. Modern media is really good motivation these days.
- Habits are better than raw willpower. Using your willpower to organize activities and do them drains you far too quickly. Make these activities habits instead, like brushing your teeth or tying your shoes, and your brain will dedicate all net force on the activity itself.
- You will burn out, fail, and get stuck. Just breathe. Regroup. Reassess. Then continue.
- Move your limit across all dimensions. A single dimension might be hours worked, but others could be cognitive endurance, net output, creativity, and so much else. The higher the dimensionality, the further your limit will move.
- Adore new problems, higher stakes, and deeper complexity. Make your brain do things it can’t do now; because, with enough adaptation, it’ll pierce through absolutely anything.
Please Don’t Forget
Limits have a purpose. No one is limitless. It’s important to be cautious and considerate because sometimes the wrong vision can cost you everything. You can only be so good. There’s a breaking point that no one can overcome because that’s who we are. No indomitable human spirit can break that.
