Practice Makes Perfect [Infographic]

Matthew Gates http://notetoservices.com 3m 721

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Keep Practicing For Perfection

Throughout your life, from the time you are young to the time you are much older, you acquire experience. You get good at what you do for a reason. When you first do something, you are learning how to do it. It may take you a few days to learn to do something and it may take years to become really good at it. So good at it that you will call yourself a professional. With this professional expertise, you feel no fear in marketing yourself as an employable asset to perform the specific skill set.

You have become so knowledgeable that you could teach the subject or task, or do it with your eyes closed. You have become a master at what you do and everyone refers to you as the knowledge base. How did you get so good? Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice makes perfect.

Musicians practice thousands of hours a year, screwed up hundreds of times, only to learn their lessons and become the best. Comedians also practice their jokes in front of smaller audiences, seeing what works, what does’t, and preparing for much larger venues. Physicians spend their entire lives “practicing” their profession and never actually stop practicing. Programmers learn computer languages and practice writing different types of programs. Cooks and food preparers also spend years practicing how to perfect their dishes and often get faster and more knowledgable with cooking and ingredients. For waiters and waitresses, carrying a tray and taking orders might seem like a very simple task, but as the years progress, they may become very quick and proficient at it, earning higher tips by impressive persuasion and satisfaction. Some of the best even memorize the entire order without any mistakes!

While it is possible to cheat and pretend that you know more than you do, your ability to do something will eventually show. Your expertise and knowledge will eventually come out. You are expected to be knowledgeable in your field, to perform your tasks, and to provide your expertise. Practice and time make an expert but humans are not perfect and can always make mistakes. Accept this fact, take responsibility for your actions, and always be willing to learn and correct any mistakes you make along the way.

This infographic covers just exactly how many hours you need to practice in order to be perfect!

Click to open / Right-click for save options

Text-Friendly Version

Practice Makes Perfect

10,000 Hours Of Practice To Be Exact

Contrary to popular belief it’s not always innate genius or talent that will make you a success

It’s all about the hours of work that you put in, which means ANYONE can do it

The 10,000 HOUR RULE states:
It takes TEN THOUSAND hours deliberate practice to become an expert

Are you engaging in deliberate practice?

YES
1. Practicing your skill
2. Constantly striving for improvement
3. Monitoring your performance
4. Evaluating your success
5. Working on the aspects you’re not good at

NO
1. Mindless repetition
2. Watching an expert perform
3. Teaching other people
4. Only doing the things you are already good at
5. Staying in your comfort zone

How long will it take? Let’s do the math

There are 8,765 hours in a year

A person with a full time job works 2,080 hours per year

See it in ACTION

BILL GATES Current Net Worth $61 Billion

1968 Young Bill joins Computer Club completes his first computer program at age 13

1971 Spends all his free time in the computer center at the University of Washington

1973 Spends his senior year of high school working as a programmer under the guise of “independent study”

1975 Gates drops out of Harvard and launches Microsoft

He is way past 10,000 hours

THE BEATLES 2 Billion Albums Sold

1957 John and Paul meet and form the band The Quarry Men

1960 Play in Hamburg, Germany for four months. They performed for 5 hours every night.

1964 Took four more trips to Hamburg. First burst of success arrives after playing an estimated 1,200 shows.

1965 The Beatles arrives in America they have logged over 10,000 hours onstage.

7 STEPS TO CHEAT THE RULE

1. Get a Coach
2. Surround
3. Build Expert Habits
4. Don’t waste time on the small stuff
5. Deliberately practice
6. Teach others
7. Find someone to kick your butt if you fall off track

Developed by nowsourcing.com

Matthew Gates is a freelance web designer and currently runs Confessions of the Professions.

(