Deliberate practice is a process of improving your performance at anything. It is based on consistent feedback and pushing your boundaries. Outstanding performers use deliberate practice in their fields to build up mastery or expertise. Deliberate practice is what separates professionals from amateurs. This process has been used by Benjamin Franklin to improve his writing. Magnus Carlsen used it to become a chess grandmaster. Nathan Milstein used deliberate practice to improve his music.
Deliberate Practice And Habits.
Deliberate practice makes difficult skills easier by breaking down the process into simple steps repeating them. Every time you repeat the steps you also work on improving a move or action. There are a couple of principles of deliberate practice that can help us develop habits. Whatever habit you want to develop or change, the lessons of deliberate practice will help you. In simple terms, deliberate practice is a way to make mastery of second nature (habits).
A Strong Why Or Internal Motivation.
Anything worthwhile will be challenging. It is difficult to take care of the garden. However, the weeds grow through neglect with ease. Motivation is very important in deliberate practice, as you will get challenged and want to quit many times. If you want to push past the hard parts of developing skills through deliberate practice, you need to be motivated. There must be something propelling you that is greater than your situation.
Internal motivation (strong why) is very important for changing and developing habits. External motivation does not last. Internal motivation is finding a strong why or purpose for changing your habits. Without a strong why it will be hard to push past obstacles. A strong why will help you devote and time and effort to changing the habit. Motivation is very important for deliberate practice and building habits.
Specific And Realistic Goals.
Setting vague and general goals such as ‘getting better’ is not enough for deliberate practice. Deliberate practice focusses on small, achievable, and well-defined steps. These steps will help you work towards meaningful improvement. In his book, “Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise” author Anders Ericson says deliberate practice requires breaking down the skill and planning to improve on every step. The key is to take a general goal and turn it into something specific that you can work on. It is easier to improve one small step than changing the entire process all at once.
Habits are not like New Year’s resolutions or one -time events. They require you to be specific and breakdown the process. An example your goal may be to live healthily. One of the aims may be to lose weight. Break down the process into how to be on a calorie deficit is important. Identify small steps that you can improve to move you closer to your goal. These steps may include drinking water, avoiding sugar, and eating more vegetables. Focusing on one small action at a time. Thoughtful planning, identifying areas of improvement, and having a game plan will help you change habits and improve.
Push Beyond Your Comfort Zone.
Improving and getting better at any skill requires people to go out of their comfort zone. Pushing your limits is important for deliberate practice. Challenging yourself will make sure you do not end up in a rut as your work on the process of mastery. Growth is found in stretching yourself out of the comfort zone. In deliberate practice breaking out of your comfort zone is not about trying ‘harder’ but trying ‘differently’. If you get stuck with one approach, find another one. Keep experimenting until you find a way to improve.
In building habits for healthy living, you may need to find different methods and techniques. The habits for losing weight may be different for maintaining or gaining muscle mass. A low-carb diet may not work for you. Find a diet with your dietician that will help you lose weight. You may experience a weight loss plateau. This is when you decrease your food calories and exercise but not losing weight. Switch up your workout routine. Add more different types of exercises. Push yourself outside your comfort zone on regular bases.
Consistency And Persistency.
The foundation of deliberate practice is regularity. Top performers, no matter their expertise, kept a similar practice routine. This routine was short but intense. It took place daily or weekly and was done in isolation. The accumulated amount of regular, focused practice has a direct impact on the level of performance. The consistent, intense burst of effort is key to maintaining momentum in building expertise.
Consistency and persistence are cornerstones to building habits. Actions take anything from 18 to 257 days to become automatic (habits), for the majority it takes 66 days. Whatever habit you want to change, you need to be consistent in it. The sessions or actions does not have to be intense but must be consistent. Remain consistent with healthy eating and exercising, it will be a habit. Consistent means doing something the same way over time whereas persistent means continuing to.
Seek Feedback.
Feedback is important to figure out which step needs improvement for deliberate practice. Top performers are always on the lookout for one-on-one coaching with a teacher, mentor, or peer for self-assessment. They know a coach or mentor will pinpoint areas of strength or weakness. The process is practicing, feedback, improving then practicing again.
Habits also thrive in a community and feedback. Alcohol anonymous, book clubs, and accountability group work because they provide constant feedback, support, and accountability. Whatever habit you want to change, seek honest feedback. Feedback will help you improve and become sharper in that habit. Belonging to a healthy community and learning about healthy living will help you improve.
Recovery.
Deliberate practice requires total attention, with maximum effort for a short time. These intense sessions require rest and recovery. Many top athletes invest one hour a day, three to five times a week on deliberate practice sessions. The benefits of these practice sessions are reduced if they exceed two hours. Many top performers benefited from napping to avoid fatigue.
Habits also require rest and recovery. Rest days are important for training. Studies found that working out for more than three hours a day can be bad for your mental health. It is important to listen to your body as you are building healthy habits. Rest and recovery are important for muscles to repair and grow. It is okay to take one or two days to rest from training as you are building habits.
Changing your habits to make health a lifestyle is a long term investment. With the principles of deliberate practice, you can follow the experts in becoming better. Many people think there are born with limitations. Yes, we all cannot be world-class athletes, musicians, or business moguls. However, anyone will not attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time perfecting it. Whatever habit you want to build if you put in the time and effort on these six principles, you will see some progress.