Deliberate (part 2)
- Thom Miller
- May 5, 2018
- 3 min read
"What matters most is not our status but our trajectory, not where we are but where we are going." - Brian McLaren
What Matters Most
I love living with purpose, direction, and intention. I love having a personal mission, key guiding principles, and goals that guide my daily actions. I love taking time to reflect and be grateful for this life while still being driven to do more. I love seeing the growth process in myself and in others. I love working daily toward something greater than today. And even though many days do not go as planned, I can still approach each day with intention and action. I am not too concerned about my current status. My concern is my trajectory, and my attention is on today.
Relationships and the Process
As a teacher and a coach, what I value most is building relationships with my students and athletes and and being part of their growth process. We teachers and coaches have an incredible privilege. We are able to connect with kids on a deeper level, guiding and assisting them as they do the daily work and learn the skills necessary to navigate life. Meaningful growth takes a great deal of time, work, energy, and patience. And when we pay attention to the process, we can see the small, daily improvements that lead to big gains. With the right kind of daily practice, we are more likely to experience consistent growth and improvement.
Mindless Practice or Deliberate Practice
For the most part, practice tend to be pretty mindless. We often see goals such as working for a certain number of minutes or performing a task a certain number of times without a clear vision or purpose. These kinds of practices are usually boring and unproductive. However the worst part about a mindless practice is that it can actually reinforce negative habits of laziness and lack of focus.
A better way to approach learning with deliberate practice. This kind of practice is structured and systematic. There are clear long and short term goals, and the outcomes and improvements are measurable. These practices are slow, repetitive, and focused. Skills are often broken down into small parts, slowed down, mastered, then pieced back together. Also, mistakes are welcomed as valuable sources of information and feedback. With this process-based approach, we set ourselves up for success by making consistent, daily improvements in our trajectory.
Consider Just One Area
So what is one area you would most like to improve? Maybe finances or fitness? Maybe it's a craft like music, the arts, writing, or sports? You can always work on more than one area, but choose one area to practice intentionally and deliberately. Make a daily plan to work in this area. Do some research, talk to some experts, take some notes, and make a daily plan. Define the skills necessary for growth and develop systems that help you focus on those improving those skills. Create structure and a daily schedule. The gains and improvements will be small, but will absolutely add up over time.
Your Trajectory
So where are you headed? What's your trajectory? How do you plan to become the person you want to be? Choose an area to improve, be intentional, be deliberate, and start today.
Enjoy the day!
If you want to geek out on this topic, here is an excellent research paper from the ultimate expert on experts, Anders Ericsson. It's a long article so you might just want to read a little of the intro and the conclusion at the end. Fascinating stuff!
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