Business-Building Action from Terry Brock
In today’s ultra-busy world it is easy to feel swamped with so much to do. Often it seems like we just can’t overcome all of the tasks and “To dos” that we need to accomplish. Feeling overwhelmed is normal. When we try to learn new material, it adds to the “I’m swamped” feeling when we don’t get it right.
Just today I was thinking about that and what I could share with you that might help in case you ever run into that feeling of overwhelmed. I struggled for a while to figure this out and then it hit me. I wonder why I didn’t think of it sooner?!
To address this important principle let me tell you a little story. Right now I’m working to learn the Spanish language. It is one of the most eminently practical languages for someone to know today. It is also personally important to me as I’m doing more work in Spanish speaking countries. I also live in Orlando where we have the second largest population of Puerto Ricans outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
I’m working on learning the language but I find that there is a key element necessary that I need to be reminded of regularly. When I studied Russian as my language of choice in undergraduate school, I learned an important phrase in Russian.
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In Russian that means, “Repetition is the mother of learning.” That seems to make sense in whatever language you speak. One exposure to new material seldom helps us to retain it in long-term memory, let alone reach a level of mastery.
I remember a saying my Japanese instructor would relate to us when I was a young, fledgling student of that martial art. When he would show us a new technique he was very careful to go through the exact movements and positions we needed to embrace in order to perform correctly a new throw, choke, or arm bar. He would often say to us in his thick Japanese accent, “You must do it a thousand times until it becomes natural– – –then do it another thousand!”
This is where we separate successful people from the people who only wish to do and only try something. It takes effort and work to do something over and over. It is particularly difficult to do it when you feel that you have already mastered it and don’t want to do the extra work.
However, mastery is more than just knowing how to do something. It is something that must be engrained in your muscle memory or at a very deep level. Mastery gives you the ability to do the technique right, even when you can’t always think about what to do.
But there’s an even more important lesson than just mere repetition. My friend, Harvey Mackay, talks about this often in his work. He says,”Practice makes perfect? Not true. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
Harvey is right. If you keep on practicing a language, a judo throw, or anything else for that matter in the wrong way, you will not reach perfection. The practice must be conducted perfectly in order to achieve perfection. This underlines the importance of having very good instructors and coaches when learning a new skill.
Of course there are many other components that go into the mix to learn a new skill. Perfect practice is one of the most important.
Perhaps the Russians might want to slightly revise their aforementioned idiom to be:
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And yes, you probably guessed it, that is “Perfect repetition is the mother of learning.”
You can overcome that feeling of “I’m swamped” when you systematically, carefully –- and correctly! –- repeat a new skill. By learning a skill the right way, you overcome that overwhelmed feeling when you do it better, more efficiently and, well perfectly.
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Let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best,
Terry
Terry Brock, MBA, CSP, CPAE
www.TerryBrock.com
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P.S. I think it would be done this way in Spanish.
La repetición perfecta es la Madre de Aprendizaje
If you know how it would be said in Spanish, please let me know. I need to get this right!!! 🙂
