If we want to achieve success in life, we must first understand what success requires. Being a process that has three key components, it is what we must balance if we want to continually move towards our full potential. Mastery in any endeavor requires that we commit to learning, practicing, and doing. The learning part of the equation is getting a focused education. It is feeding the mind with what you will need to know to get the results you are looking for. A theoretical base, will be on what you build with the other two components.
Practicing is giving life to learning. It’s getting your feet wet and developing your proficiency in what you’ve studied. It is experiencing through hard work the blood, sweat and tears that serve a greater purpose than just education. It’s failing when it doesn’t matter in order to succeed when it does. It is the preparation for what is to come. You are paving the way for the opportunity to deliver what you dream of.
Doing is the final step in the process. It is applying what you have learned and practiced to achieve results in the real world. It is taking the exam, participating in the Olympic event or delivering the presentation to your superiors at work. You’re reaping the rewards in the rear for all the effort put in up front. It is joining forces by using education and experience to produce powerful action. It is the execution of the present moment by a prepared student who will soon become a wise and influential teacher.
Often when we don’t get the results we want in life, we lack learning, practicing, or doing. Deficient in one or more of the areas, we are unable to apply ourselves at the level that success requires. Unbalanced in our approach we are ineffective in our results. By neglecting what is a crucial part of the process, we inevitably fall short in our pursuit of excellence. To hit the target we can spare no effort, since each part of the process is as important as the others.
Let’s say it’s your dream to be a professional basketball player. The learning part of the process would include reading books about the game, how it is played, and what the rules are. It would also involve watching games at the elite level to learn about the skills, moves, and strategies. Watching game masters closely to model them is also an important part of the learning process.
The practical part of the equation would be spending time in the gym working on the fundamental skills that the game requires. It would also include separate cardio and resistance training that all elite athletes must perform to reach the highest level. Visualization exercises can also be used here to mentally prepare for the process part.
The do part in this example is to compete against other basketball players in games that mean something. Maybe it’s a high-level amateur tournament or a semi-professional league. Whatever the case, it’s participating in that high-stakes environment that allows you to gauge how well you’ve learned the game and how well you’ve mastered the skills. Where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, it’s your performance here that will ultimately be judged, as in the professional leagues you aspire to reach, players aren’t paid on IQ alone. intellectual basketball or his skills as a practice player. . They are paid for how well they perform in the heat of competition when they are expected to produce results in the form of offense and/or defense which preferably plays their part in the team’s victory.
It really is not a coincidence that the highest paid basketball players in the world stand out in all three parts of the process. Not only do they have a very high basketball IQ, but they practice harder than their less skilled counterparts. This, in turn, allows them to go out and produce when it matters most, in-game, where their star shines brightest. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Derrick Rose embody the truth that voracious and intelligent learning plus vigorously dedicated perfect practice equals performance excellence.
The best athletes, like the most successful people in any area of endeavor, are not only the hardest workers in practice, but also the best students of the game who dominate with their game. Michael Jordan, in addition to working harder in practice than in games, used to watch game videos over and over again to get the coach’s perspective on what it took to win against particular opponents. Increasing her knowledge of him in this way allowed her to understand the game much better and perform at a higher level than her contemporaries who focused more on the physical aspects of the game.
It’s no wonder many people refer to Michael Jordan as the most complete player in basketball history. Full in respect that he played both sides of the ball equally well, he also balanced learning, practicing, and doing in a holistic way. Where other players failed, Michael Jordan excelled because he continually worked on the weaknesses within his zone of strength. Most people want to play to his strengths, but that wasn’t the case for Jordan. Just being a good defender early in his career, he went to work on that area of his game knowing that he couldn’t be the best player in the world without first being an excellent defensive player. By applying himself intensely to that area of his game, he became the point of differentiation that separated him from those who are now only remembered as great offensive players.
Most of us, at one point or another in our lives, have been taught that practice makes perfect, but this is not entirely true. Only perfect practice makes perfect. By learning the right things and applying them in the right way, we can achieve mastery of anything if we want it bad enough. While I am emphasizing the practical elements of success in this article, it should not be forgotten that great success is always backed by a burning desire to succeed. In this, all the learning, practicing, and doing means nothing if you don’t have a passion for what you are learning, practicing, and doing.
It is passion that makes us want to learn more and more and more. It is passion that makes us want to keep working when others have gone home. It is passion that fuels our fire in the heat of competition. It is the passion that unites everything and takes us to a kingdom reserved for the masters.
What would you find intense joy in learning, practicing, and doing? What could you be a master at? Each of us has something that we love to learn, practice and do. For me it is writing and talking about my material. For you it will be something different. Surrender to what you are passionate about. Let it lead you to the realization of your greatest potential. If you’re going to learn, practice, and do anyway, then you might as well make it count for something. Add that essential ingredient on which all the greats build a legacy that outlives them. Learn with humility, practice with faith and do with love. This will ensure that you live a happy and fulfilling life.