24/08/2026
the price of getting better: 10 years of being cringe.
i started posting videos when i was 18.
i had a free huawei phone that came with my mom’s mobile plan.
the camera sucked.
and back in 2017, gopro was the hype.
i wanted one badly.
couldn’t afford it.
so i bought a fake action camera for around rm70.
terrible video quality, terrible audio quality.
but i didn’t care.
i started anyway.
then slowly, i worked. saved some money. bought a second-hand lumix g7.
later, i used an old canon that was passed down to me.
and only much later did i finally start buying my own sony cameras.
even my english was bad.
i only really started learning english when i was around 20.
so whenever i watch my old videos now, i cringe so hard.
my pronunciation, the way i spoke, the way i presented myself.
but i’m also incredibly grateful that version of me was willing to look stupid.
because people always ask:
“what’s the secret to getting better?”
reps.
that’s it.
there is no secret.
do it again. and again. and again. and again.
put in so much work that eventually, it becomes unreasonable for you to still be bad.
most people never get there because being bad at something hurts their ego.
so they make excuses.
“i’m not naturally good at this.”
“i don’t have the equipment.”
“i’m not ready yet.”
“people might judge me.”
but if you’re already bad at it…
what exactly do you have to lose?
you can either use that as a reason to hide,
or use it as permission to become obsessed with getting better.
be cringe.
be awkward.
be bad.
just don’t stay there.
your first attempt is not supposed to impress people.
it’s supposed to give you the reps required to become the person who eventually does.
