A two year old deliberately pouts to regain the attention of a mother or father. Friends deliberately create plans to free up a Saturday night because it’s their way of relieving stress from your life. There are rumors that soft drink companies deliberately put substances inside their recipes that enhance your vulnerability to drink more.
Deliberate can almost be compared to a habit. If you perform an act repeatedly, it takes the shape of a constant. We develop bad habits; some deliberately dismantle to embarrass or invite harm, while others reprogram original ideas to better enhance a presentation of performance. Does that mean for a deliberate plan to come full circle it must be negative and well planned out?
Not if you love your job, hobby, outdoor sport, virtual video game, exercise program or anything positive. Unknowingly billions deliberately practice everyday. An assumed out of control truck driver hauling two hundred tons of sheet metal rides the tail of cars, trucks and minivans then brags of being in control...he deliberately practices everyday. A trucker trains himself to look deep into the future, they react to cause and effect before most drivers of smaller vehicles step away from being a typical flock of geese. Commuters develop patterns a trucker recognizes; through deliberate practicing they’re able to ride waves unseen by low riders.
Is deliberate practicing a method of muscle memory? Not according to Master Todd Harris a seventh degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Memory requires a brain. Muscles don’t have brains. Through deliberate practicing your body learns to recognize. If a redneck/roundhouse punch is screaming toward your skull, your eyes were trained to see it coming from the shoulder first, which then feeds your feet, waist and palm to block, duck and prepare for a follow up. Through deliberate practice you learn how to better listen to the sounds that make up movement made in your direction. Deliberately fighting in total darkness forces you to listen to breathing patters, double skips in steps taken before a kick or punch are forced in your direction and the lack of sound which tells your other senses a solid object is either inches or feet from your nearest touch.
Do bank tellers make great chefs? Both require tremendous amounts of hand speed and mental multitasking. The only difference would be their separate recipes; a bank teller deliberately practices one-on-one people skills to better serve their customers. Chefs like Gordon Ramsey are coaches hired to build the perfect team and through deliberate practicing hoist their level of performance to high expectations or embarrassing low performances that require the place kicker or manager to step in to save the game.
I would love to one day be a Wal-Mart greeter or the ticket taker at the movie theater…through deliberate practice each position is just as powerful as the receptionist. First impressions make the difference. The frontline has seen it all and done it all. Deliberately practicing sends the Wal-Mart returns to the left and the family of six to the correct theater to the right. I’ll never forget the night when a bright, tight and openly spirited family walked into the film Knocked Up by accident. Their fun loving Saturday matinee now included a quick mama grab of the arm and a daddy haul tail out of the theater as if his shorts were on fire. The ticket taker didn’t deliberately send them to the wrong movie, just as much as the checkout person at the counter didn’t fail to put a price tag on the really cool shirt you wanted to add to your library of style. If a manager is invited to a situation gone wrong, its not because they’re older and graduated from a top rated college…deliberate practicing opens doors to better communication.
Can one deliberately practice their way into procrastination? Yes!
The act of setting things aside to bring to life at a later time boils down to one act of practice: perfectionist.
Wanting to be perfect is completely natural but improbable. Having the perfect face on a magazine cover only comes after highly trained professionals airbrush the appearance. It’s neither the fault of the cameraman nor the maker of your mind, body and spirit. Yet everyday the deliberate practice leans hard on doing everything perfect. When it doesn't roll out like a bright red Hollywood carpet, procrastination becomes the top quarterback and each effort delivered, every project is one hour to two days behind schedule.
New study out…bosses don’t expect perfection. According to American business author and motivator Andrea Kaye the majority of today’s top dogs want nothing more than to hire people who’ll get the job done as quickly as possible even it means sacrificing quality. If you find that hard to believe look at the number of people who shop second hand stores and thrift shops. Scratch, dent, rip or missing button, “We saved a dollar ninety nine!”
What are you unknowingly deliberately practicing? What is the single skill you’ve put into play that could become the best backup plan during a future that’s more unpredictable than warm can of Pepsi rolled down bumpy hill?
In Julia Cameron’s book The Vein of Gold, she shares tremendous amounts of insight when it comes to building your confidence in ways that help you shred the hot flames off fearful fires. Turn your hobby into a career. Create a river that serves as a net during times of corporate crisis. Stop chasing the big city job and make a cake. If you love fooling around with car engines, land a part time performance at a small business owner’s garage. If acting has been your lifelong passion, local theater is a brilliant beginning blessed with just as much drama as off Broadway. If music is your passion and karaoke still hasn’t satisfied that constant craving to be live on stage, visit a music store or guitar center and gain access into the lives of other musicians the same way Sheryl Crow did.
Heck, If I’m going to land the performance of a lifetime welcoming customers into a Wal-Mart store my first step is to learn how to create a real smile. Step number two; don’t just locate the bathrooms but the people in charge of the paper towels so they can quickly replace them. Step three; through deliberate practicing I need to know where the broom is at all times. Adults drop stuff all the time then blame it on the kids…my entrance will consistently score a 105 rating!
Stop procrastinating and locate your deliberate practice. The end result is less stress and a possible path away from bosses claiming they know best.
Steal my art…
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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