The Art of Practice
Many of us forget the axiom “practice makes perfect.” As adults, we seem to think that all our practicing is done, that we should just be able to do things. We forget that we often need to be in process and on a journey to get to an end outcome, be that in our personal or professional lives. The concept of practice can help us reframe situations or circumstances when we are building a new skill, facing an unforeseen challenge, or being stretched so that we see them as more manageable and rewarding, rather than being daunting, deflating, or frustrating.
In his book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell brought attention to practice and its impact on success. He noted how many successful people put hours, 10,000 at that, into becoming excellent in their area of expertise. If we want to become an expert in an area or improve a skillset, we need to accept that it takes time and requires practice.
Thomas Sterner in his book “The Practicing Mind” defines practice as “the repetition of an activity with the purposeful awareness and intention of accomplishing an intended goal.” In the book, he offers these empowering insights about practice, amongst others:
- Process over outcome: “When you shift your goal from the product you are trying to achieve to the process of achieving it, a wonderful phenomenon occurs: all pressure drops away.”
- I’ve experienced this when training and running marathons, but I’d never applied it to other areas of my life. It works. Put in the practice, trust in the training, and outcomes follow.
- Be in the moment: Paraphrasing, he states that staying focused in the moment gives you positive feelings of working towards your goal vs. being frustrated that you haven’t reached your goal yet.
- When working towards that goal, stay in the moment of enjoying the task rather than worrying that you aren’t there yet.
- Why? Because you will progress: “With deliberate and repeated effort, progress is inevitable.”
- Practice may not always make perfect, but practice does make progress. We can get better and get to a new place, and that accomplishment is fulfilling.
- You are in control:
- “If you are not in control of your thoughts, you are not in control of yourself.”
- “This truth is nowhere more important than in the world of self-improvement. We need to be more aware of what we are doing, what we are thinking, and what we are intending to accomplish in order to gain control of what we experience in life.”
- We aren’t victims in life. If we pay attention, we can practice and control our life experiences.
- Our minds often run rampant with disempowering thoughts, controlling us rather than us being in control of ourselves. Mental discipline can be empowering.
Elizabeth Gilbert in one of her great TED talks shares a similar message about finding grounding in “whatever in this world you love more than yourself,” what she calls your “home.” I interpreted her talk to mean: don’t be attached to the outcome of your work (e.g., a new book); instead go back to the practice of the work you love (e.g., writing=her home), because it is in that home that you will be grounded and find happiness. Essentially, go back to the practice, and let go of the outcome.
The Insight: Reframe practice as a place of power and a way through, rather than being an inconvenient part of the journey. Being in practice through the journey, the process puts you in control, gives you more power, and can make it a path of happiness. This can be applied to areas you want to optimize in your personal life or professional life. And importantly, be committed to the effort, while being unattached to the end goal, trusting that you will make progress.