I play golf maybe once a week. My goal is to break 90, but I’m struggling to accomplish that. At times I’m getting closer, others it’s far off. I also have to take into account that the golf season in Wisconsin is six months long. By the time spring rolls around, I’m rusty and it takes months to get my swing back.
I was watching one of the PGA events on TV recently and the pro golfers were out practicing every element of their game before playing their round. They spend hours practicing before competing in a tournament, not to mention the practice rounds earlier in the week to get a feel for the course.
I go out once a week (without having practiced) expecting to play a flawless game. That’s an unrealistic expectation. In order to go out and perform at a high level I should practice the skills to get me to a place where that is possible. Sure, the stars may align and everything could go my way, but odds are not in my favor.
If we want to become good at something we need to practice. That’s the difference between pros and amateurs. Pros practice to keep up their mastery. Amateurs work to get to a certain level of comfort and once that is achieved practice is forgotten.
There are things I’m good at. I’ve spent my time to develop those skills. We all have talents that we’ve honed with practice. Lots of it. Malcolm Gladwell has stated that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master something. We can’t expect to be great at something without putting in that sort of time commitment.
What about those people who look like things come effortlessly to them? The truth is it’s not natural talent. It took determination and hard work. Respect the time and effort they devoted to their talent. We didn’t see them struggle, sweat, and work when no one was watching. We see the results. Looking at the box score is looking at the result, Earning a degree is a result.
High achievers sacrificed a lot. They could have used those 10,000 hours to party with friends or watch TV, but they didn’t.
Think of the things you’re good at. How much time did you devote to gain that level of expertise? More than you think. If you don’t spend the time to get better, you can’t expect to go pro.
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