Another one of those lessons I never learned as a kid.
Somehow I never learned the value of practice as a child. I was never forced to practice. I don't think I was really even encouraged to practice. The same can be said of studying.
I played a few musical instruments growing up - recorder, guitar, flute.
But I never got really proficient on any of them... because I didn't practice.
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Somehow I grew up with the expectation that were I to be good at something, it would come naturally. That it would be a gift, and would require no effort on my part.
This is not to say that natural talent or aptitude is not valuable. The greatest athletes are those that have been blessed with ability. But, that is not enough. A "natural" without practice and study will be mediocre at best. Someone who has only mediocre innate abilities, but who works hard, who learns and practices relentlessly, will best the "natural" who does not. The best of the best are those that have been blessed with raw talent, and have then honed that raw talent through hard work and practice.
If I wasn't good at something immediately, or if it was hard, then I just figured it was not meant to me, or wasn't for me.
I also always thought that discipline was something that either was taught, or that you had or didn't have.
I now realize that discipline is learned. And that a great teacher of discipline is practice. But for most people, I don't think that the desire to practice, or the realization that practice is a precursor to excellence, is innate. For most people, I think that they must be encouraged, even forced, to practice. That is a hard thing to do as a parent, but the really good parents are the ones who do the hard things, because they know that it is best for their children. The really great parents are the ones who can help their children truly understand the value of practice, so that the child wishes to practice, because they see the inherent value.
Life is hard, and for the most part, worthy achievements require hard work; sometimes they even require discomfort and/or sacrifice.
And they require practice.
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Posted by David at July 07, 2002 01:18 PM