Deliberate Practice

What is deliberate practice? It's not just practice-makes-perfect-or-permanent theory. From the author Malcolm Gladwell whereby in order for one to achieve success in any field, one needs to have deliberate practice for 10,000 hours or 10 years in total. It also requires careful reflection on what works and what doesn't.

Gladwell goes on to give other examples like The Beatles, who before making it big had logged more than 10,000 hours of playing on stage in four years while similar bands had only a fraction of that experience. Bill Gates, who through serendipitous opportunities, had logged in more than 10,000 hours of programming by the time he dropped out of Harvard in his first year thereby giving him an enormous advantage over other developers at that time.

Level of intentionally

Level of Consciously

Level of Feedback

Unfortunately, many men have the tendency to think they've outgrown the need for teachers or coaches. We think it's a sign of weakness to ask for help. But asking for help will only make you stronger and better. There's a reason the best golfers in the world continue to have coaches and the most successful businessmen seek the advice of mentors throughout their career. They understand the power of an outside eye and opinion in their personal growth.

When practicing deliberately, more focus and concentration is needed so much on the performance that mentally exhaust you after practice. Deliberate practice is so demanding mentally that studies show that 4-5 hours a day is the upper limit of deliberate practice and this is frequently accomplished in sessions lasting no longer than an hour - 90 minutes.

In fact, top performeres who practice deliberately reported that they require more sleep than their less talented colleagues. In the Berlin Academy of Music study mentioned above, psychologist Anders Ericsson looked at the 3 groups of performers, the stars, good performers and music teachers and found that on average; Top two groups slept 8.6 hours a day (nearly an hour longer than those in the music teacher group, who slept an average of 7.8 hours). The top groups slept more at night and took more naps during the day than the bottom group.

What specifically is deliberate practice?

1. Deliberate practice is highly demanding mentally, requiring extreme focus and concentration.

2. It is designed specifically to improve performance to beyond its current levels.

3. It must continue for long of periods of time.

4. It must be repeated.

5. It requires continuous feedback on results.

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