Keep Iterating
Somehow sheer emphasis on repetition as a mean of improving feels incomplete. As the saying goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” 1 Yet the value of consistency and showing up even when it is unfashionable cannot be understated. I propose here then a better way of going about things than mere repetition:
What truly matters is that you keep iterating.
Notice that I emphasize both keep and iterating. They are both key. You have to learn from each repetition at least a little but what truly matters is that you keep doing it. What truly matters is sheer quantity.
From Marc Andreessen’s blog archives:
The odds of a hit versus a miss do not increase over time. The periods of one’s career with the most hits will also have the most misses. So maximizing quantity — taking more swings at the bat — is much higher payoff than trying to improve one’s batting average.
One can argue taking more swings will inevitably lead to having better swings (and perhaps then improve one’s batting average). But this only adds more importance to the keep part of keep iterating. You cannot learn if you don’t keep doing it, whatever that is.
I have found this idea on keep iterating now several times. For instance, I wrote about it indirectly on chances. What I would pull from that writing is that you need courage to keep iterating and not become unfazed by failure, because you don’t really fail unless you stop trying. And again, to take from quotes that have dubitable origins, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” 2
Keep taking hits at the bat. Keep showing up. Keep iterating.
Note: The main ideas had been marinating on my mind for a while but I made the realization about the nuance between repetition and iteration thanks to the following podcast: 44 Harsh Truths About Human Nature - Naval Ravikant.