Deliberate Practice How do you get really good at something? We’re talking great! What separates the top 5% in any vocation from the rest? Why do some individuals keep soaring, experiencing success after heightened success while others, with the same amount of time invested, simply remain status quo? The answer is twofold: practice and deliberate practice. First, we know that practice makes perfect. Arnold Palmer says: “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice, the luckier I get.” It’s not simply practice for the sake of practice; it’s having your heart in it, being deliberate and being smart. “Not all practice is good practice. That’s why many tasks we perform at work and at home suffer from arrested development. With simple tasks such as driving, golf and tennis, we reach our highest level of proficiency after about 50 hours of practice; then our performance skills become automated. Further development stops. We assume we’ve reached our highest performance level and don’t think to learn new and better methods.” Patterson, et al Influencer, The Power To Change Anything With many tasks, we stop short of our highest level of proficiency. For example, we learn to give a good ‘technical’ PowerPoint presentation, but don’t take that next step to develop ourselves as savvy presenters. We learn to lead our team to get the job done, but what about leading them to new heights, turning them into visionaries and risk takers? What turns mere practice into actual improvement of skills is something the authors of Influencer, The Power To Change Anything call ‘deliberate practice.’ Deliberate practice is the realization that as good as you are today, you can become better tomorrow; that you may not know everything today; and, that others can teach you. It is the ongoing passion to learn. Deliberately seek out courses, conferences, books, teachers, coaches that will engage you and aid in your ‘practice’ to reach that next step. Be present, ask questions, ask for feedback, push yourself, be a player in your ongoing development, not a bystander expecting others to do this for you. For whatever area you intend to succeed, I invite you to be deliberate. Practice does make perfect. Deliberate practice will take you off the charts. What will you do this week to move in that direction? Enjoy your discoveries and have a great week! Ann : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : P. S. We'd love to hear how you used our 'Success Thought of The Week' in your business or personal dealings. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : A Testimonial Share the Good News If you like what you read here, please share it! We at Golden Visions Success Coaching will never use lists or send unsolicited ezines to grow our list of readers; however, we love adding new subscribers. We invite you to forward this newsletter to your friends or colleagues in it's entirety. Why not put your entire company or team on our list to receive these weekly motivators? It's easy. If you have a list of five or more names, please send it to pat@paperworkpartners.com and they'll start receiving their own 'Success Thoughts' next week. As always, it's great to be in touch with our subscribers in 'ten' countries!! Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and USA. If you receive these 'Thoughts' and live in a country that I have not mentioned, please let me know so I can salute you. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Copyright & Permission Copyright © 1998-2008 All rights reserved Permission is granted to either reproduce copy or distribute "Your Success Thought for the Week for "October 15, 2008" as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. The author is Ann Golden Eglé, GV&A, Golden Visions & Associates, Coaching for Success, 541.385.8887, PO Box 1696, Bend, Or. 97709. www.GVAsuccess.com
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