There’s no excuse not to practice!

I’ve written about the process of practice before, but I don’t think the importance of planning and practice can be stressed enough.

When you practice a couple of things happen (as if by magic). You can quickly identify where you’re weaknesses are, you can uncovered general logistics problems (timing, flow, effort needed), and most importantly you can screw up in private!

There is no excuse for not practicing. I frequently hear (and sometimes even tell myself) there just isn’t enough time for adequate practice. That’s a pretty poor excuse - there is often plenty of time for practice if you manage your time well.

But now you’re going to say, “I don’t always get to set my own schedule! Sometimes there isn’t time in the schedule I’m given to practice!”

If this is true - and I’ve known some managers and bosses that would hand out impossible deadlines - you have a bigger problem than not practicing. You have a problem with general time management and the expectation of time management by your superiors. And frankly, is that a relationship you want to be in?

There was a reality television show on the Discovery Channel called American Hot Rod which featured Boyd Coddington’s shop of the same name. I’ve watched the show a few times and one thing that never seemed to change was the near impossible deadlines that the crew would be put under to deliver a finished car. All of the pressure created stress which sure made for good television, but it was typically artificial pressure. It looked like Boyd Coddington couldn’t turn down a client’s request OR manage his team’s time to make sure they weren’t always in a crunch.

Quite a few people left the company during the handful of times I saw the show. And every time a “key person” left it was in the middle of a tight deadline - all of the deadlines were tight. Boyd Coddington always told the same story, “I just don’t understand why they left…”

So if you’re in a situation where your time is not your own to control, and it’s being managed unrealistically, you first have to fix your situation before you can worry about practicing.

But assuming you do have control over your time and/or your managers are able to budget time-lines correctly, what’s keeping you from practicing?

There are several reasons; it’s not glamorous, it’s tedious, it seems like a lot of effort for the results.

And it’s precisely because of those reasons that you should make time to practice. Your competition likely won’t - practice is hard and often dull - and that’s a huge advantage for you.

Let me give you a real-world example of where practice makes a huge difference. Our company recently held it’s annual meeting. It’s a mandatory, all-hands affair with a goal of showcasing excellent performance from the past year and talking about where the company is headed in the coming twelve months.

At this meeting each core department head gives a brief speech - usually less than ten minutes - about the state of their department. This year we had eight departments presenting.

You could tell who had practiced just by listening to the speakers. We have a few who are fairly “natural” speakers, but even handicapping them for extra ability they might have and really listening showed who was rehearsed, poised, ready…practiced - who was winging it - and who was just reading directly from their notes.

The reaction from the audience was visible when a practiced speaker was in front of the crowd. Those speakers held their focus and attention much better than the unpracticed speakers.

So how much practice is enough? The reality is there is never enough practice. You can continue to refine yourself - always striving for perfection - and you’ll spend more than one life time and still never practice “too much”.

Consider those who’s lively hood relies on practice; athletes, magicians, musicians, or professional speakers. When we see them it’s after hours and years of practice.

Magicians don’t walk out on stage and make a car disappear - they practice and plan and practice some more. At the beginning of the season, athletes don’t show up at the ballpark or the golf course and just start playing. They’ve spend the off-season practicing, improving their skills, and working with trainers. Musicians don’t pick up a page with the lyrics to a new song as they’re headed out on stage.

So why are we so hesitant to practice as much?

I can give you a good example using myself. Photography is a passion of mine - I love creating images and I spend a lot of time behind a lens. About two years ago I was asked if I was interested in photographing a wedding for some close friends. The wedding was months away, but I spent those months with as much time behind the lens as I could squeeze in. When I wasn’t shooting images or testing my lighting systems, I had my nose buried in books and magazines about weddings and wedding photography.

When the big day finally arrived I think I was as nervous or maybe even more nervous than the bride and groom! But my months of preparation and work helped me immensely and when the bride started down the isle I was at ease because my practice kicked in. All day long people who knew I wasn’t a full-time photographer commented on how professional and polished I seemed.

Did I do a good job? Yes, I think so and so do the bride and groom. Do I still see hundreds of ways each image I shot could be improved? I sure do - ever time I look at them or show them to other people. However I’ve shot other weddings since that first wedding and each time I am able to practice and improve, and each time I find a few fewer flaws with the finished result.

Practice is never ending.

I’m sure that I’ve got a lot more practice that I should be doing in all areas of my life. I’m willing to wager you do too. We should take a page from the playbooks of athletes and musicians - there is a reason why they spend so much of their “free” time practicing - we should too!

Add comment May 23rd, 2006