Many of us dream of excelling at a sport, music, art, cooking, writing, public speaking, or some other skill. Yet misconceptions abound about what it takes to achieve mastery.

No, you don’t need to be a child prodigy.

No, you don’t have to practice for 10,000 hours.

What you need is the combination of learning science and strategies used by world-class performers to master a skill — a combination that Nicolas Velasquez teaches readers in his new book, Learn, Improve, Master: How to Develop Any Skill and Excel At It.

Nicolas studied masters across a variety of disciplines — from Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Jordan to Ernest Hemingway and Garry Kasparov — to learn how they reached the highest levels of their field. Now, he’s sharing what he learned to show how anyone can achieve mastery. I recently caught up with Nicholas to learn more about what inspired him to write the book, his favorite idea he shares with readers, and how that idea has impacted his life.

What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment when you realized these ideas needed to get out there?

I’ve always wanted to learn too much. Every subject has its magic, and I wanted to learn it all. But learning anything takes time and effort, and I soon realized I would either have to cut down on the things I wanted to learn or become a better learner. I chose the latter. I began studying learning science, cognitive psychology, and skill acquisition in search of ways to optimize the process and add more learning to my life.

After years of research, I had enough information to create a learning guide that compiled the principles and strategies of effective learning. I initially didn’t plan to publish it; it was meant to be my master manual for all learning. But then I thought of all the people that could be in the same situation, frustrated by all they wanted to learn and how difficult it could sometimes be.

I decided to write the book to help them in their path of learning and mastery, and to save them years of research on how to optimize the process. Had I known what I was getting myself into, I’m not sure I would have done it. I’m glad I was ignorant of the amount of work in front of me, and that I was so passionate about the subject; otherwise, I don’t think this book would exist.

What’s your favorite specific, actionable idea in the book?

Willingness to make mistakes and suck (at first). Throughout years of formal and informal learning, I’ve noticed that those willing to try things and make mistakes are the ones that move faster through the learning process. You see this often in learning foreign languages. The students who push themselves to practice despite making mistakes and “failing” are the ones who learn faster. The rest (which I’ve been part of many times) are too concerned about looking “foolish” and revealing that they are not good at the language yet. They end up avoiding practice, and because of it, it takes them longer to improve.

The same is true for all other skills. If we want to get better at anything, we must embrace mistakes as a natural part of the process and be willing to face them so we can improve.

It’s important to note that this is not advocating failure, I’m advocating courage, which inevitably brings with it failures and setbacks, but as a side effect, not a goal.

What’s a story of how you’ve applied this lesson in your own life? What has this lesson done for you?

In the years writing the book, I became more interested in the writing craft. I started writing essays and short stories. It’s hard to accept that your first drafts are always going to be bad writing. And for a beginner writer, even the fourth draft is going to be a poor attempt at the craft.

It’s important to understand that that’s part of the process. Everyone has to start as a beginner and make mistakes to get better. Without that lesson, I probably would have never written anything. I would have been too afraid of making mistakes and embarrassing myself. Or maybe I would have given up after the first few tries, thinking I didn’t have it in me.

I kept going and made significant improvements. But more importantly, since I stayed with it, writing has become an important and gratifying part of my life. A hobby (quickly turning into passion) that I hope will stay with me for years to come.

Sadly, many times we avoid learning new things because we don’t want to make mistakes and look foolish. The world is full of fascinating subjects and domains. If we are not willing to be beginners, fail, and go through the process, we’ll deprive ourselves of one of the greatest joys we can experience: adding more knowledge and skills to our lives.

For more advice on how to master any skill, you can find Learn, Improve, Master: How to Develop Any Skill and Excel At It on Amazon.