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1/ Deliberate practice is widely considered to be the recipe for success, but there are some crucial caveats to understand about it.
2/ First, we need to make a key point: Before you worry about the finer points of deliberate practice, you just need to put in your reps.
3/ Many people get caught up in details and edge cases, when they should really be worrying about mastering the fundamentals.
4/ Fitness: Not in shape yet? Don't miss a workout for two years, then get back to me.
5/ Business: This guy made 120 sales calls per day for 18 months and built the biggest book of business in the firm: jamesclear.com/paper-clips
6/ Writing: I grew jamesclear.com from 0 to 100k subscribers by writing a new article every Monday and Thursday for 2 years.
7/ It's so simple, but how many people do you know who actually practice something for two years? Consistency alone can win many battles.
8/ We often underestimate just how important the fundamentals are and just how many reps we need to put in to master them.
9/ There is a threshold of competence that must be crossed to excel in any field. The only way to cross it is by mastering the fundamentals.
10/ In this way, there is some truth to the core idea behind The 10,000 Hour Rule: you need to put in a lot of work to become great.
11/ But here's the problem: The more you repeat a task the more mindless it becomes. Repetition leads to automation and habit formation.
12/ Mindless activity is the enemy of deliberate practice. You're merely reinforcing your current habits, not improving them.
13/ Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. It requires requires focused attention.
14/ Most people get that focused, effortful practice is better than mindless repetition, but what does that look like in the real world?
15/ Here's a good rule of thumb: Deliberate practice is when you work on a skill that requires 1 to 3 practice sessions to master.
16/ If it takes longer than that, you are working on something too complex. Break it down into smaller chunks. For example...
17/ As a teenager, Ben Franklin was criticized by his father for his poor writing abilities. So, he grabbed the best articles he could find.
18/ He went through each article line by line and wrote down the meaning of every sentence. Then, he rewrote each article in his own words.
19/ Finally, he compared his version to the original. He said, “I discovered some of my faults, and corrected them.”
20/ This is the process of deliberate practice: break it down, identify your weaknesses, test new strategies, and integrate what you learn.
21/ Read this article for examples of how to use deliberate practice in cooking, chess, basketball, music, and more: jamesclear.com/beginners-guid…
