Are You Practicing to Plateau OR Practicing Like a Pro?
“If I practice and get enough repetitions, I’m bound to get better.” Malarkey! Performance improves only from deliberate practice where you master uncomfortable tasks with relentless intent to raise your skill proficiency. Forget reps. Focus on comfort zones demolished.
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Most of the time when you practice to improve your abilities, there’s a slim chance you’ll get better. Most likely, you’re practicing to plateau. Here’s the harsh truth–repetitive practice drills do not produce better skill proficiency.
Repeating a well-established practice routine doesn’t offer any challenge to upgrade your ability. Eventually, you reach a satisfactory performance level that becomes automatic and effortless. Bottom line: Practicing to plateau is a sneaky way to stay in a comfort zone.
It’s been unconscious sneakiness, until you chose to read this newsletter. The jig is up!
There is a better way to practice used by top professionals in any field who refuse to tolerate plateaus. Deliberate practice focuses on mastering tasks beyond one’s current level of comfort and competence, with a relentless intent to improve skill proficiency or expand a repertoire of skills. (That’s my definition—approved by the recognized expert on deliberate practice, Dr. Anders Ericsson).
If you’re going to develop better abilities, you must devise uncomfortable practice exercises that exceed your customary skill proficiency. Comfort zones demolished during practice–not number of practice reps–is a requirement for ongoing improvement.
Here are the steps to orchestrate deliberate practice:
- Identify a skill where you can see need for improvement, especially if it’s necessary to achieve a heartfelt goal.
- Do Internet research to get experts’ steps to perform the skill you are practicing.
- Figure out a slightly uncomfortable way to practice each of the steps comprising this skill.
- Review a video showing your performance and assess your strengths and areas to improve.
OR - Give your friends or colleagues a list of performance criteria for the skill you’re developing so they can offer helpful feedback on your practice efforts.
Take notice of the major differences between these steps of deliberate practice and “going through the motions” practice? Deliberate practice is a key factor that distinguishes elite performers from competent team members.
Ruthlessly Honest Question
Doesn’t it sound ridiculous now to think, “If I practice and get enough repetitions, I’m bound to get better?”
At the same time, does it seem like strenuous effort to engage in the steps of deliberate practice every time you want to improve your skill proficiency?
Pause now: How will you practice when you must develop the skill proficiency necessary to achieve your vital goals?
Heroic Experiment for This Week
Improving your abilities is necessary to achieve many of your heartfelt goals.
Pick a skill you want to improve. How you are currently practicing—practicing to plateau or engaging in deliberate practice?
Devise a deliberate practice routine using the basic steps described in this newsletter.
Take on this Heroic Experiment for a month, and you will learn exactly what it means to practice like a pro.
How far will you go to learn deliberate practice not just for this experiment but for future occasions when you want to improve your skill proficiency? If you’re really serious about incorporating deliberate practice in your life, get a copy of my book, Competent is Not an Option available on Amazon.
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