A mindset of improvement - why you should never stop trying to be better.

Improvement. Being better. These things sound cool, but are not easy to do. The two most important parts are finding your motivation and creating and sticking to the mindset that yoy need and, most importantly, CAN improve. Then you never stop doing it. This is how pro-gamers live and breathe. They strive to be better at their chosen game every day, because, after all, this is their job. But you don't need to BE a pro to THINK like one. Embrace the concept of "I never know enough, I can never be good enough".

 

Setting the goal.
The first, and probably, most difficult part is to say to yourself 'I am not good enough and I can be better at...'. While this might sound like I'm trying to make you insult yourself, it isn't. It's just about realizing the truth that, well... you are not perfect and you can't be perfect, but you must try to get as close as possible. This is a universal truth that applies to pretty much every human being that has ever lived. And THAT is why you should never be discouraged by a lost game, a mistake you did or any kind of failure. It's because your failures do not mean that you are less as a player or a person. It only means that you can still be MORE.

 

Identifying the problem.

Look at where you are and ask yourself - 'why do I want to NOT be here, and where do I want to go'? Are you in Bronze, Silver or Gold League in League of Legends? Do you want to be in Platinum? Diamond? (this is just an example, your game of choice might be StarCraft 2, Dota 2, etc...) Then ask the next question - "why do I have a ranking which doesn't make me happy'. In other words, imagine that you are not you, and you are just sitting behind yourself when you play. Then start criticizing yourself. 'That micro was bad.' 'I casted my ultimate really badly.' Find out what you could have done better. Ask your friends. Watch your replays. Embrace constructive criticism in all forms (epmhasis on 'constructive'). Watch pro games and compare what you did/didn't do in a similar situation. When you've identified the problems, start removing them.

Setting yourself a ruleset for improvement.
Think about how much time you can spend per day training and NOT playing the game. That is the time where you just practice mechanics, for example placing your wards in a MOBA game perfectly, trying different moves, watching replays. Then just choose a few things you want to do, but not a lot. Focus on a few things at a time. For example, is your creepscore lacking? Just play 1-2 games per day with bots and focus on just last hitting, not killing the AIs, not ganking, not anything. Just last hitting. Do that for a few days and then play some real games and compare them with those from, let's say... 5 days ago. Do you see improvement in your games now? If the answer is no, rinse and repeat until you are happy. Then do the same with the next thing you think you are lacking in.

Another big part to solving problems with your in-game performance is understanding where they come from at the most basic level. Do your hands get tired and your mechanics fail you? Then think about your posture and implementing a schedule with breaks. Is your game knowledge lacking? Then play with bots and explore some other heroes/champions/races so you know what they can do and how exactly they can do it. Did you not hear/see pings on the minimap from your teammates? Try to balance your sounds settings in the game. It's about all the little things that might give you an almost unnoticeable improvement, but when you add it up, 20 small improvements that you did to your habits, gameplay, etc., might be the thing that gave you the win instead of a loss. Improvement is a process of discovery, so constantly think about in what areas you are lacking, in the game and outside of it.

Finding the right reasons as motivation.
Motivation will be a big part in your journey to the next tier or rank in your chosen game, because, let's be honest, it isn't an easy thing to do. But that's why when you see that message in-game that you've been promoted, it's such an awesome feeling - because you did something difficult and you kicked that obstacle right in the face. It's because you are better that your older self. You were Bronze a month ago, Now you are Silver. This is all the proof that you need to know that you CAN be better and you WILL be better. You are Platinum in LoL/SC2? Well, go be awesome and reach for that Diamond badge. It'll look good on your profile. :D

But what about the people who are in the lowest possible divisions/ranks? How they find their motivation? It's different with everyone, really, but the one thing I truly believe is true for everyone is just not thinking about if you can do it, it's just doing it. Right now. Not tomorrow, not the day after. No matter if all your friends call you a 'noob', 'scrub' (or random people online), remember they were in your position once, too.

Even Jaedong, BoxeR, Scarra and Patoy, and every other pro-gamer that you've ever heard of have one thing in common - they all once sat down at a PC and played the game they are famous for the first time. There was a point in time where all these people knew almost nothing about their games. So what if you are there now? So just go and do what they did to become legends - train. Work hard, think, analyze. Be the guy or girl who doesn’t say 'Well, I'm Bronze and I'm kinda bad'. Be the one who says 'I'm Bronze, but I am working on getting better. I'm not gonna be Bronze for long'. And then just do it again. And again.

Until you can say that you are happy with where you are, keep doing it again. You might not be a pro-gamer in Challenger or Grand Master, because that might require more time and dedication that you can spare, or you just might not want that at all, even if you had the freedom to try, but you can set a goal you can be proud of if you achieve it, and try your hardest. Even if you don't get there fast, or don't get exactly there, at least you would have tried.

So go be a better gamer. Trust me, it's always worth trying.
GL HF