I share a story about Kevin Hart a lot because I used to believe that comics were just naturally funny people.
If you were funny, you just got on stage, grabbed the mic and let it rip.
If you weren't, you never got on stage.
But that's not entirely how it works.
You and I usually have the privilege of practicing our skills in the peaceful quiet of our garage or home. No one is watching us. No one knows if we have a bad day or mess up. We can get our daily reps in without anyone watching us.
Not comics.
They literally have to build their skill set in front of people. It's the only way they can see what jokes and stories work and which don't.
A comic gets onstage and tells jokes. Some are good and some will absolutely suck. But instead of worrying about what people think about them or what will happen to their social media popularity if they tell a bad joke, they simply focus on their craft.
They're constantly making notes of what jokes work and scraping the ones that don't.
They go back night after night after night, constantly working the material to make it better. They put themselves out there to be ridiculed in hopes of making people laugh and making themselves better.
Are you doing the same thing?
Are we putting ourselves out there every day in an effort to get better? Or are we playing it safe by avoiding the necessary growth work because we're worried about what someone else might say if they found out?
There's only way one to get better - and it doesn't involve sitting around worrying about what other people might say about us.
It involves doing the work.
What's the one thing you can do today to improve your skills before tomorrow?
Get after it.