Recently, I had the pleasure, or more accurately, the pain, of taking my first golf lesson.

Now, I’m not the sportiest of people. Since my neck and back surgeries, I have the manual dexterity of a goldfish and the spinal mobility of a plank of wood.

I’m much better suited to clicking a computer mouse than whacking a ball across a field.

But I love trying new things, and during my recent holiday to South Africa, it was time to try golf.

As you can imagine, it was not my finest hour.

Out of several hundred swings, I hit it straight and in the air twice. I felt awkward and clunky. My instructor's tips made no sense (I am rotating my hips, you buffoon). And after the hour, I knew it would take a lot, lot more to get me playing 18 holes.

But I loved every second.

There used to be a time I hated the start of a skill. I didn’t enjoy the pain of being a beginner, the sting of sucking and the frustration that comes from stepping outside your comfort zone.

But since I started writing, I’m a huge believer in the attitude, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’

I used to look at popular creators and tell myself that if I gave it a go, I could get there, too.

The truth is for most of your desires, you’re not trying to master quantum physics or build rocket ships. Many people have learned what you want to learn. You might not become the world’s best, but there are simple steps you can take to at least get good if you are curious enough to enjoy the learning process.

Two things are key:

First, you must identify the fundamentals.

In golf, that seemed to be how you hold the club, how you move your body, and how you connect with the ball.

In writing, it’s crafting engaging hooks, communicating concisely, and connecting with your reader.

Once you’ve found the needle-movers, the rest is about putting in the reps. Of course, you’ll suck at your first long-form post, but you won’t suck at your 100th. The same applies to tweets, emails, and golf swings — confidence is earned one iteration at a time.

Now, I’ve decided not to pursue golf because I live in England, and you couldn’t pay me enough to walk around wet and windy fields dressed like my grandad during my Sunday afternoons.

But I am pursuing mastery in writing.

And I’d love to help you do it, too.

I’m not an expert. But I have built frameworks and systems that have helped me go from complete amateur to attracting a large audience, building a profitable business, and hopefully creating a few fans along the way.

I’ve also taught many clients to do the same.

This is one reason I built and am currently rebuilding High Impact Writing.

Most advice I see about audience ‘building’ is mind-numbingly boring. Commenting a million times per day is not my idea of fun, and advice like ‘write about 𝕏 or LinkedIn to grow on 𝕏 or LinkedIn’ sucks too.

Writing should be a pleasure.

It’s about expressing and exploring your curiosity and connecting with your audience on a deep emotional level so that you pull people into your world.

P.S.

What did the dentist say to the golfer?

Your tooth doesn’t look good — you’ve got a hole-in-one!

I know, glorious.