How to Get Really Good at Something (Beyond "getting your reps in")
I often use the phrase "get your reps in" when it comes to encouraging others (and myself) to improve on a desired skill. But, there is a caveat here because getting our reps in implies only doing something over and over and if we're not intentional (and reflective) with what that something is it can lead us to plateau or perhaps even worsen. Improvement requires more than rote repetition. As a SIDE quest in @Steve Webb 's 30 day challengers community, we read the book ๐๐๐๐ค: ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐. Thought I'd share some of the key takeaways here beeeecause this group is about Inspired and Empowered Living and I'd love for us to be even more equipped through life! ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: Getting really good at something is not about talent or repetition, but it's more about HOW we practice. :) 1. Again, repetition alone doesn't build expertise, deliberate practice does. This seems like an "of course" moment, but I do think that a lot of us get stuck in the cycle of just repeating something over and over and hoping that we'll improve. ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค? 1. ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ about the what. What are we improving? Vague goals KILL progress. Ex: "Getting better at communicating" is not specific enough. Think about the DETAILS of what it means to get better at this. Things like "I will interrupt less", "I will make eye contact", "I will summarize what the other person said so that they feel heard and so that I get feedback on whether I understood their point" "I will ask more follow up questions"--think of observable and trackable behaviors! :) ---We talk a lot about strengths in this group, BUT this is actually about zeroing in on weaknesses and training them directly! :) 2.๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค :We can't improve what we can't see. This is one of the fastest 'shortcuts' to growth--without the ability to see what's actually happening and getting 'correction'/correcting ourselves, we're more likely to reinforce mistakes or things that will be challenging to fix down the line.