Purposeful Practice Leads to Expertise

The greatest achievers operate in “flow”.  It is the state of engaging in a challenging activity that is not beyond your capabilities. In this state distractions are ignored. Judgment is not considered. Peak Performance is achieved through calm, focused, adrenalized action.

In their books “Outlier” and “Bounce”  Malcolm Gladwell and Matthew Syed destroy the well accepted myths that only the smartest, luckiest, talented people reach the highest status of achievement in any field.

Instead, they show that highest achievement is the result of many other causes or conditions. Gladwell shows how soccer and ice hockey players are all born from January through March. He shows how some of the richest computer gurus today were born in 1954, 55, and 56.

They both point out that there are some advantageous circumstances that lead to people being number one. But each of these circumstances is also accompanied by each of these performers practicing more than the competition. They both believe and can demonstrate that leaders take the proverbial 10,000 hours or ten years of practice to achieve notoriety.

To reach flow, one has to practice a competency until the mechanics are ingrained in implicit mind where they are performed without thinking. In fact, if one has to think of the mechanics while performing an activity, they cannot flow.

The act of practice that then separates the best from the rest is practicing always to improve. Leaders in sports, music, and math often have the advantage of secrets of practice that lead to skills not known to their competition.

For example, the Olympic cyclists of Great Britain, the table tennis players of China, and the three world champion Pogar sisters in chess all have special practice techniques that lead to winning in competition. None of their techniques short cut the hours necessary to practice.

Ask yourself if you have ever wanted to excel in something and whether you were willing to devote every waking hour to becoming better.  Few of us have the drive and passion to engage in an activity to almost the exclusion of everything else. Eventually masters can have normal lives, but in the formative years champions have to compromise the joys of afternoons and evenings “hanging out”.

Laird Hamilton is known as perhaps the greatest big wave surfer on earth. He grew up on Hawaii’s north shore where he could ride the biggest waves everyday. Then he moved to Maui where he could ride the treacherous waves of “Jaws”. He became strong from daily practice, talented from learning how to surf the most difficult waves, and famous because he had purposeful practice on waves others could ride only occasionally. This is not to short shrift the fact he may also have more courage than other surfers.

People are rarely accomplished, rich, and famous because they were born with specific genes and talent others do not possess. They have the right circumstances, took advantage of the right opportunities, had passion for their activity, and out practiced most of their competition.

To get better at something you love, just start practicing and learn how the best practice. Soon you will be better and eventually you might achieve your vision of how you would perform. There are rarely shortcuts.

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Read “Outliers, the Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell

Read “Bounce, the Secret of Success” by Matthew Syed

See Resources for books to explore your potential

See Speaking to give your group a glimpse of creating potential in working together

See Life Management to explore your personal potential and happiness.

See Organizational Peak Performance to accelerate achievement

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