The theme of one of my toastmaster’s meeting was “practice makes perfect”. How do you react to this statement? What does it mean to you? Do you agree with it? I interpreted it if I practice and focus enough on anything I will get better.
In toastmasters, speakers and evaluators have limited time to convey their message. In this meeting the toastmaster decided to ignore the crucial time limit and make everyone eligible for competing for the ribbon.
At the end of meeting I realized the fallacy and truth of “practice makes perfect”. This statement is true if you define your goals and have accurate measurements to chart your progress. This statement is not true if you are not aware of why you are practicing/focusing on a task or have no measurements. I will not be a great tennis player if I just go and practice in the court daily without focusing on my goal and without measuring what I need to improve. I admit I may get a nice tan or strong shoulders. But, that was not the goal I was striving for.
Before one keep practicing anything one needs to remind themselves of the goal of the practice. How do you know you are doing better? This will remove the trap of doing something for sake of doing while missing the target all together.
What are you currently keep doing and focusing on without measuring anything about it? What is the criteria for success in relationships, earning money, spiritual work or taking a class? Are you more joyful? Are you more alive? Are you healthier? Do you smile more often? Do you have more confidence? Do you feel more secure? Do you know yourself better? Do you give more? Are you more loving?
Copyright .2015 by Shervin Hojat
Of coarse, the phrase also applies to all fields. And so, when I see someone not writing very well, I always encourage them to write more. However, perhaps they need to read more, because by reading they will pick up proper spelling, punctuation, grammar and so forth from well edited documents. Unless, of course, they are reading e-books from indie authors. ;-)
Ron