Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, But Consistent And Focused Practice Leads to Mastery.

I believe that everyone is capable of learning what they desire with the right practice regimen.

Generally, that regimen is provided by a teacher, but there are times when you’re stuck learning it on your own. If you understand the concepts of principles and techniques, and you’re ready to sticking with a focused practice regimen, you can master any skill or art form.

Of course, the right practice regimen is different for everyone and differs from artform to artform. As a teacher, I’ve had to help students to create focused and consistent practice regimens for a variety of different skills. I thought I’d share those lessons with my fellow Steemers.

Here are a few different skills and arts I've applied this method to with success:

• Martial Arts
• Health and Fitness
• Guitar
• Language Learning
• Conversational Skills
• Storytelling
• Screenwriting
• Miniature Painting
• Reading Comprehension

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Develop A Focus For Practice

• Create a specific duration for practice so that you can stay focused.
• Choose a limited number techniques to work on per session and work on only those techniques for the allocated practice time.
• Choose a number of repetitions based on the techniques you’re working on. For example, if it’s a chord for guitar you could practice it hundreds of time. If it’s a meditation maybe you only do it once.
• Switch up techniques each practice, so that when lessons get tough you don’t get demotivated. You can always go back to those tough ones, and you should, just give yourself some breathing room in between.

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How To Decide What To Focus On

• When choosing what to focus on be specific.
• Make sure you understand why you’re practicing what you’re focused on.
• Don’t try to pick up the complex lessons before you get the basics down.

For example:

• A long time ago, at a college far, far away — I wanted to continue my kung-fu spear training, but there were no teachers around it. Determined to practice, I went online and found some very basic spear training techniques, and decided to make those techniques the focus of my practice. I chose a very basic spear thrust, because: 1) several sources explained that it was the basic thrust behind all the other variations in almost all the other styles. 2) I was new to spear and this technique was not far beyond what I’d been taught. If it were a guitar, I’d be the equivalent of learning a chord, not a Hendrix solo. 3) I had the space, time, and tools to practice it regularly.

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Develop Interesting Ways To Train

There are always going to be valuable, traditional methods, for practicing a particular technique, but that shouldn’t stop you from developing some new and interesting ways to train as well.

Gamification is a great way to make your practice addictive and fun. Set up a game for yourself where you get points for practice.

• In college, I wanted to get more accurate with my spear thrusts, but I was getting bored with mindlessly cutting the air thousands times. So I decided to gamify my practice. I bought some twine and a few carabiners. I hung the carabiners at different heights and would stand at the maximum distance and target them with the basic thrust. I set a timer and gave myself points for each carabiner I could stick the spear through. Five points for the toughest, down to one point for the easiest. I consistently tried to beat my previous score. After a few weeks, time was flying by, and I was seeing a quantifiable improvement in my skills.
• For guitar, I supplement some of my practice with a video game called Rocksmith.* I’ve found it to be a fun and motivating way to practice a variety of different techniques.
• The gym I attend, Nerdstrong, does this with just about every workout. Check out this previous post for more on gamifying fitness.

*It’s the only video game I’m allowed to play that breaks my no video game rule for the year.

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Consistent Practice

Your practice can be focused, but without consistency in your practice, the lessons will never take hold. Setting up practice is about making a habit. Try this:

• Set a pre-practice alarm. It should go off early enough for you to get ready to practice. For the first six weeks, you absolutely must practice after hearing it with no excuses.
• Perform your practice sessions for the allotted time, focusing on the techniques you planned.
• Reward yourself for practicing every time you practice. Even if the practice session goes poorly, you always get a reward for trying.

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Keep A Practice Journal

A practice journal is unbelievably helpful. You can use it to set goals, track progress, and eventually, it can be a reminder of how much you’ve grown, which is motivational. Here are a few ideas for what can be included in your practice journal:

• Details of practice - time/date/techniques
• Practice Goals and if you met them.
• Future Practice Goals based on previous sessions.
• Quantifiable data - reps, points, etc.
• Feelings/emotions involved.

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Test Yourself

It's always good to put your knowledge to the test. Whether it's playing an instrument for an audience, sparring, or showing off your art. It can humble you and it can show you how far you've come, but each time you put your art on the line, you should always come away with a lesson.

Thanks for reading — Keep practicing!

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Sources:Monks, Storyboard

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I write, I teach, I tell stories. Read my intro post.