NEW YORK — Many people assume that accomplishments are tied closely to innate ability, so they give up on pursuits they find challenging. That’s a mistake, the organisational psychologist Adam Grant writes in his new book, “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.”

I spoke to Dr Grant about three key takeaways from his book that could help you unlock your own hidden potential.

LEAN INTO DISCOMFORT. You may have heard that people learn better when lessons are tailored to their “learning style” — visual, aural or verbal, and so on. But Dr Grant presents research suggesting that the opposite may be true: We might grow more when we step outside our comfort zone.

It’s OK — even good — to make mistakes along the way, he says. “The way that you master knowledge and skills is by using them as you acquire them,” Dr Grant said. “If you don’t even make enough attempts to make mistakes, then it’s pretty hard to make progress.”

KEEP THINGS INTERESTING. While we should be wary of burnout, Dr Grant writes, it’s just as important to avoid its opposite, which he calls “bore out” — the emotional exhaustion we feel when we’re chronically under-stimulated.

One way to do this is through incorporating play and novelty into your learning routines. In his book, Dr Grant attributes the basketball player Stephen Curry’s rapid improvement after college to a coach who emphasised variety and games in his training sessions, rather than repetitive drills.

ASK FOR (AND GIVE) ADVICE. Rather than ask others for feedback, which focuses on what we’ve done in the past, Dr Grant points to Harvard Business School research that found it’s more helpful to ask for advice, which focuses on what you can do better in the future.

We tend to perform better after we give other people advice, too. That’s because we are more likely to heed advice that we have already given to others, Dr Grant says.

“The advice you can give to others is usually the advice you need to take for yourself,” he said. “And sometimes you need to hear it out loud in order for it to resonate.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.