Practice, Practice, Practice

By Robin Bush, ISR Communications

When you hear the words, “practice, practice, practice,” does it remind you of your middle school band director pushing you to improve at the instrument you were trying to learn or your sports coach saying it repeatedly, day after day? Those adults in our early life were likely trying to instill success patterns to use throughout our lives. They wanted us to understand that others may have more talent, but you can outrun them by never stopping the work it takes to get better.

Have we forgotten the importance of practice as we age? Do you find yourself challenged by following recipes? Then cook more. Is adding up the cost when you shop without a calculator more challenging? Put away the calculator, pull out a pen and paper, and practice your math. Were you able to speak another language in your twenties, but now it’s hard to recall more than a few simple phrases?  Take an online language class, and then, if you can, travel to the country where that language is spoken and commit to never using English on the trip. Whatever skill is challenging today that you previously knew how to do, commit to practicing your skills.

You may also have wanted to learn something but were afraid to try. Now is the time. Remember that just like anything you have ever learned, everyone starts somewhere, and the only way to improve is “practice, practice, practice.” Those folks in your childhood were right then and are still right decades later. It may feel like it takes longer to learn new things, but it gets easier the more we do it in as many aspects of our lives as possible.

Why is that? Practice changes the shape of your brain. It can even grow sections of the brain. If you want success, try a growth mindset that says, “I may not know how to do this now, or may not do it well now, but I will try.” Failure is a learning opportunity. It allows you to figure out why you failed, not indicating you don’t have a talent for something. With practice, everything gets easier.