Practice does not make perfect…

I remember the first time I heard this, in my teens.

“Practice does not make perfect…
Perfect practices makes perfect!”

Once I understood that it’s only when we practice what we want to re-create can we claim to be practicing “perfectly”…

But it took me close to 10 years before I resolved the recursive (circular) reasoning this creates…

If you are practicing ‘something’ – then that means you can’t do it perfectly (yet) – so then how can you practice it perfectly?!?!?

The logical conundrum was finally resolved when I came across Dr Erickson’s concept of Deliberate Practice combined with the idea of Concentration Of Focus.  Together, these constitute the secret weapon that champions and iconic sports stars master to the detriment of their (unknowing) opponents.

First is the concept of Deliberate Practice – knowing the difference between what you know and don’t know how to do. Cognition (learning) requires you build from what you know, adding distinctions and understanding in layers, expanding what you know until you eventually achieve understanding of the previously unknown.

In sport, it is the same process to acquire a new skill or ability. You need to first determine what you are capable of doing, assess what your body (and mind) can accomplish with your physiological constraints and bridge the gap between that and the ultimate skill or ability to wish to achieve.

The challenge lies in HOW to undertake that process methodically and systematically. That’s where Deliberate Practice principles come in.

You can’t focus on more than 1, 2 or 3 things at any given time. Too often, coaches will point out dozens of problems thereby completely diffusing your concentration of focus.

It is only with the combination of Concentration Of Focus and through Deliberate Practice that you can create performance breakthroughs. This is true on the squash or tennis court, football field, gold course or office.

Even though this sounds simple enough – even in sport, it is only the most elite, dedicated athletes that engage in this behaviour.

In business, it is even more rare.

There are very few business coaches (mentors) who understand the mechanics and requirements that promote and enable entrepreneurs and business executives to flourish through Deliberate Practice and Concentration Of Focus.

In sport, a coach needs to have both  a specific and a holistic understanding of the sport either through competitive play him/herself or through specialised training. Believe it or not, this is rare. In fact, most coaches I’ve met haven’t read a single book on “mental toughness”…

In business, most coaches do not have the academic acumen let alone the diversity of experience for holistic understanding and furthermore they often lack any training in these elite strategies and methodologies.

This is well documented and researched, but still remains in the realm of the most elite and ambitious business people simply because of the breadth and depth of comprehension and practice required to master.

Other than speed reading which I still consider the #1 life-changing skill – the ability to “practice deliberately with a high concentration of focus” is the second-most valuable skill to master for anyone who wants to succeed – at anything.

So what does this have to do with growing your business?

Great question!

The simple answer lies in accepting that most people are in ‘the herd’ and by extension, they will produce ‘average results’.

If, however, you are seeking to grow your business, you can’t expect to achieve that goal by doing what everyone else is doing – you have to do something different AND DO IT DIFFERENTLY.

That is precisely my point.

Deliberate Practice with a high level of Concentration Of Focus takes a special environment and monitoring to ensure you establish, maintain and sustain ‘it’ consistently and for long enough to produce the stellar results you seek.

Our Platinum Program is designed specifically to incorporate these and other cutting edge coaching and mentoring methodologies.

If you are interested to take your business to the next level and create more than 25% annual growth in sales and/or profits, contact us.

If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller Outliers, you know what the pop psychology thinking is – that you need 10,000 hours to achieve expert status or mastery of a skill, sport or musical instrument.

What Mr Gladwell did not reveal in his book is what other authors have identified – short cuts that can reduce that time significantly. Those well-kept secrets are what makes our Platinum Program priceless and timeless.

• Priceless because it means that once armed with this new understanding and corresponding new abilities, you can and will out-perform your competitors and they will not be able to respond because MASTERY means you have the skill to adapt and overcome to whatever they try to do.

• Timeless because these strategies have worked for decades and will continue to work for decades – future proofing your business and career, once again BECAUSE this is not a cookie-cutter template approach. What you learn in the Platinum Program is how to re-program yourself into a peak performer. That means you can deal with anything that comes your way.

Like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal can handle any ball that comes across the net, you could have the same level of mastery in business.

If… you acquire the skills of a master…