| There’s a paradox in practice that I happily stumbled upon. I am a regular practicer of: • meditation • prayer • journaling • goal setting • strength training and exercise There is purpose (of course!) behind this repetition of practice, but there’s also the uncanny ability to throw out these important practices due to … BOREDOM! I just said the B-word for all of us! And therein lies the paradox of practice … Practice, defined as repeated performance, doesn’t mean increased performance, increased enjoyment, or any such thing. Practice can become a form of going through the motions and not getting anywhere with your goals. In fact, practice can be useless. Wise Women know this, but they also know that Deliberate Practice is the differentiator. Deliberate Practice requires FOCUS, while regular practice does not. So, how does a Wise Woman become a deliberate practicer? 1. Break down the habit, task, etc, and identify your goals and weaknesses. 2. Recognize the difference between mindlessness, boredom, and perfectionism. 3. Look for the lessons and analyze what you’re doing. 4. Speaking of lessons, allow for mistakes to do the teaching. Many “Aha!” moments happen like that. 5. Put your head into it. A master pianist said, “It doesn’t matter how long you practice with your fingers. If you practice with your head, 2 hours is plenty!” 6. Embrace feedback and constructive (not evil) criticism. Creativity kicks in, and a new level of practice emerges. 7. Deliberate Practice is truly an all-in approach – If you’re going to do it, you might as well go all-in. All-in is much more participatory and mindful, and way less exhausting. Start deliberately practicing- this is how you’ll see the changes you seek and how you’ll see VIBRANCY show up! |
