We do not focus on everything in life with the same alertness, especially when it becomes a habit. Workout has been a habit for years, thrice a week in the gym, same trainer, being regular became the only yardstick  rather than the form of the body. Sometimes we go into a slumber, even with the best of the habit. That’s what happened to me with my regular workout habit. I had lost focus from a key habit in my workout- ‘improve.’

In today’s Habits for Thinking, I am bringing your attention to a hard habit : the habit to improve. It is easier to pick up a new habit than to improve a good existing habit. That is why it is hard.

Lack of awareness keeps you from improving:

In the course SHIFT, there are fifteen habits designed to nurture a growth mindset that is alert, creative and confident. ‘To improve’ is one of the fifteen habits. I wrote about the invisibility and shared responsibility about this habit in an article a few weeks ago. What keeps us from improving? One of the reasons is lack of awareness. Lack of awareness is about two types- firstly, one may not know which part of the habit needs to be improved. Secondly, one may not know how to improve. Both these issues stop us from growing further. But the two secret lines that push one to work on improvement are mentioned below:

Secret 1: The enemy of great is good.

What is the enemy of the Great? The good. Yes, good is something that really lets you stay where you are. It becomes the roadblock to being great. A good success makes us settle in comfortably, creating inertia to move towards a great success. A great success is achieved with the mindset. The mindset difference is growth vs fixed mindset which we have talked about in detail in earlier post here.

The backbone of a growth mindset is the feedback loop.  The feedback tells you where to improve. It helps you understand the details of the situation. And, you single out one focus area at a time and work on improvement. A growth mindset not only doesn’t shy away from feedback, it actively seeks feedback in its work.

This is what separates great athletes from good athletes. This is one reason why great companies have managers with better performance than good companies. The margin between good and great is very thin and is achieved only through continuous improvement. And, continuous improvement can be achieved through deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice:

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else. Author Geoff Colvin, wrote:

Deliberate practice is characterized by several elements, each worth examining. It is activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with a teacher’s help; it can be repeated a lot; feedback on results is continuously available; it’s highly demanding mentally, whether the activity is purely intellectual, such as chess or business-related activities, or heavily physical, such as sports; and it isn’t much fun.
-G. Colvin

K. Anders Ericsson, the Swedish psychologist and researcher is best known for coining the term “deliberate practice” as the secret of how people can improve their skills. After decades of studying how superstars are made, Ericsson said the reason why his work has captured the public’s attention in recent years is simple: “A lot of people want to be the very best they can be. The deliberate practice notion has kind of opened up the possibility that people can achieve higher levels of performance than they previously thought possible.”

Deliberate practice is a structured approach with a goal to improve performance. Deliberate practice involves trying to exceed one’s previous limits, which requires full concentration and effort. Consequently, it is only possible to engage in these activities for a limited amount of time until rest and recuperation are needed.

Musicians have been encouraged to practice two hours of playing the instrument with full concentration than practice four hours without the concentration. Because  deliberate practice involves being mindful, it is really hard to practice it for long duration. A writer’s commitment to writing two hours mindfully in the morning results in greater work than writing longer hours with much attention throughout the day.

Coach or no coach, a deliberate practice is an effort of breaking down the goal into smaller areas, identifying weak points and practising with specific aim for improvement of the weak points. For example, stability is a key form for any athlete. But many good athletes, despite being in the top few in their respective category, may not have worked on stability alone. Deliberate practice means focussing on one area of performance, like stability, and improving overall performance through that.

Deliberate practice is not only a part of athletic performance. It applies to all types of activities.

Secret 2: The power of 1% gain everyday

The beauty of improvement is it is a one way path, it only goes up, it only gets better. However, the challenge in improving is that the gain is so small that it doesn’t motivate further to continue. It is a small, imperceptible gain in most cases, tough to measure and even tougher to fuel growth. However, one should remember that a 1% gain everyday means a 37times gain in a year. If you had Rs. 100 and you gain 1% everyday, it will lead you to Rs.3770 at the end of the year. That is the value of small gains.

The recipe to bring in deliberate practice in your life:

Step 1: Meta cognition: Thinking about thinking and learning: identify what you want to improve

Step 2: Set small goals

Step 3: Maintain a log, only you can see the improvement.

Step 4: Create a loop: feedback to yourself, replan, refocus

Step 5: remember 1% improvement is an improvement.

Now, let us see how it can be actually practiced. For instance, distraction is a major challenge to our concentration and efforts. If one has to improve their productivity, how about setting up a goal of working without any distraction?

Step 1: Meta Cognition: thinking about distractions while working

Step 2: Set small goal: work thirty minutes without switching to any other tab on computer

Step 3: Maintain a daily journal.

Step 4: Increase the time gradually. Practice till you stabilise at the new time.

Step 5: Remember 1% improvement compounds over time.

Habits require attention and improvement. This can be achieved only with mindful, deliberate practice. One can identify and improve any activity whether it is writing, strategising, playing music, swimming, or even workouts like mine. The secret sauce is to remember two lines: firstly, the enemy of good is great and secondly 1% gain everyday is powerful.