Do Anything
Most people don't realize what they are capable of accomplishing. So they don't try things. Whether it's running a marathon, writing a book, learning to play the cello or just asking someone out on a date -- you can do pretty much anything you set your mind to if you follow the steps... and learn to live in peace without the fear of failing.
Contents
Steps
Getting Specific Help
- Relationships! In our Relationships Category, you'll find some of the best, most balanced advice on the web, helping you get and keep your ideal significant other, as well as navigating your way through those tough relationship hurdles.
- Computers and Electronics. In our Computers and Electronic Category, you'll find how-to's covering nearly every operating system, teaching you how to install, delete, navigate, use, and hack all sorts of equipment.
- Work World. In our Work World section, wikiHow offers great information on everything you need to succeed in the work world. From jobs to stress management, we've got you covered.
- Youth. In our Youth section teens and kids get advice just for the problems that affect them! Everything from relationships to school, fashion to your changing body, wikiHow has you covered.
- Education and Communications. In our Education and Communication Category, you can find help with writing, school, the education system and other related topics.
- Finance and Business! In our Finance and Business Category, we cover budgeting, starting and growing businesses, navigating the stock market, and other useful information.
- Travel In our Travel Category, you can find helpful advice for everything from traveling on the cheap to getting around your destination. Since wikiHow is an international community, you can expect great advice from locals and seasoned travelers.
Researching and Understanding
- Decide the most important part. When you decide you want to do something complex or hard to do, the first thing you'll want to do is determine what the most important part of that something is. What is the heart of the matter? This will be what you want to focus your efforts on the most.
- For example, if you wanted to learn figure skating, the most important part to learn is how to ice skate.
- If you wanted to open a restaurant, the most important part would be to become a good enough cook to keep a restaurant full (if you'd be the chef) or to develop the skills to successfully run that type of business (if you're just the owner).
- If you wanted to move to another country, the most important part would be to get yourself a job in that country.
- Break the task down into secondary parts. Once you've identified the most important part of a task, you'll need to figure out what the supporting skills or tasks are. These will be a sort of secondary focus or, in some cases, the things you have to conquer first on your way to the main goal.
- For the ice skating example, the secondary parts would be learning special movements and learning to time your skating to a routine or music.
- For the restaurant example, the secondary parts would be things like running the business if you are the head chef or navigating the health codes for either approach.
- For the expatriating example, the secondary parts would be things like learning the language, navigating the cultural norms, and making it through the immigration process.
- Eliminate unnecessary aspects. Before you proceed, you'll want to look at the thing you're trying to do and figure out if there are any parts that are unnecessary. These may be things that are common or that some people say you should do, but really aren't necessary and would distract you from the goal or waste time and money.
- For the ice skating example, unnecessary parts would probably be things like getting an outfit or extremely fancy skates. Yes, these are common things but they're really just window dressing.
- For the restaurant example, an unnecessary thing would be getting a bunch of extra kitchen gadgets or designer furniture. Gadgets won't serve a purpose if you can do the same act in the same amount of time without them, and good food will go much further than fancy tables to impress customers.
- For the expatriating example, unnecessary parts would be things like wearing particular types of clothing or getting into the local pop music.
- Determine your goals. Decide how far you want to go with this task. Do you want to master it? Is there a level of success with which you would be comfortable settling? You need to know where you reasonably expect to end up, or you'll find yourself feeling aimless and quitting.
- Identify the necessary skills. Once you've determined what you want to accomplish, start figuring out what skills you'll need in order to do this thing. For sports goals, you'll probably need to work on your physical fitness. For job goals, work on your marketable skills. For our expatriating example above, you're going to need to work on language skills, etc.
- Plan the steps. Plan out what you'll need to do and in what order. Having a sort of game plan will make it much easier for you to accomplish your task. It will also be useful for checking against sources of information as discussed below.
Learning the Necessary Skills
- Find sources of information about those skills. Find quality sources of information about the skills you need to learn. These sources of information should be reputable and accurate for the subject that they cover. You will need these sources of information to get a better idea of how and what you need to do.
- For example, for things like expatriating, you'll want to look at official government websites. For things like sports, look at official association websites. For many crafts and hobbies, there are often dedicated online communities which can help you.
- Get a mentor. Find someone who is well versed in the thing you are trying to do. They will help you by telling you the information that you can't always easily find on the internet. Asking people nicely for help will often get you off on a start to a good relationship.
- Consider a formal education. Sometimes when you want to do something, you'll have a much easier time if you just get a formal education in that topic. If you find yourself struggling, consider this option. It doesn't have to mean school: for crafts, technical projects, and other activities, you may be able to apprentice in order to learn the skills you want.
- Take things one step at a time. Don't expect that whatever it is you're doing is just going to happen overnight. Things that are hard to do or skills that are rare are hard to do or rare because they take a great deal of time to learn. Stay dedicated and just take things one step at a time. You'll get there eventually.
- Stay focused. If you really want to learn to do something, it's going to take at least a certain amount of focus. Don't jump from one thing to the next and then be surprised that you can't do anything you try to learn. Skills take dedication. Focus and you'll be there before you know it.
- Keep up your determination. Don't lose steam. This is how most people end up not doing the things they really want to do. Yes, things may get hard and sometimes the boring parts of life get in the way, but you have to just sit down and power through it. You'll like the person that you are when you reach the other end.
Finding Everything With wikiHow
- Believe that wikiHow has everything. Because wikiHow is built by average people like you, our articles cover just about every subject! Understand that even if what you're looking for is very specific, we may very well have it covered. If we don't, we'd love it if you helped out other people like you by building a how-to for us once you figure it out!
- Get over your fear of Slenderman. Learn about things you don't understand.
- Make a Motorcycle Diaper Cake. Learn about things you didn't know existed.
- Learn Gibberish. Learn things you didn't know you could learn.
- Date a Nudist as a non-nudest. Learn things you'll probably never need to know.
- Apply for a Guiness World Record. Learn things you wish you needed to know.
- Act Immortal (Cosplay). Learn things just for fun.
- Find these and so many more from our main page. Click our logo at the top to navigate to our main page. From there, you can find loads of other great articles. You can also use our search bar! And remember, if you have just about anything you need to learn: there's a wikiHow for that.
Tips
- Don't care what anyone else says about what you want to do just believe in yourself and follow your dreams. Good luck.
- Fear of failing, or of embarrassment will ruin your life. Get used to the fact that you will not be good at whatever it is for quite some time. That is the learning process. Don't let that stop you. Hemingway was not born a great writer. Everybody sucked at some point in their evolution.
- Don't ever doubt reality because even the unexpected can make your dreams come true. It could be through success or failure.
Warnings
- Some things are better left to the experts. This is not to say that you can't become one though!
