Life 2.0: Deliberate Practice

Great habits are built through constant practice. The idea is to take a simple idea, and then take it seriously.

In the previous issue of Life 2.0, we talked about habits as a way of simplifying and taking control of your life. Let’s now take it one step further and explore how we can build skills at an expert level.

Everybody aspires to be really good at something. It could be a sport, an art, playing a musical instrument or any other activity like reading, painting or drawing. Sometimes when we see somebody who displays an extraordinary talent in any of these fields, it not only leaves us awestruck but inspires us.

A common myth about talent is that it’s a genetic gift and talented people are born with it. However, nothing can be further from truth. Some people do have a natural inclination towards few activities but it’s not what makes them talented.

So how do you become good at something? How do you improve your performance in a chosen activity? Well the cliché “practice, practice and practice” isn’t the entirely correct answer.

Talent is an outcome of “deliberate practice”. If you haven’t heard of this term before let me give you the definition first.

Deliberate practice is a highly structured activity engaged in with the specific goal of improving performance.

The idea was made popular by author Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers. According to Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a world class expert at any skill.

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