To separate yourself from the crowd, you must stand out in a sea of average. To stand out, do the opposite of average.
Getting better is hard. We all need help. Even the highest level professionals in the world have a coach. Use these tips and strategies to help yourself get better today.
Confidence
Why Your Practice is Not Making You Perfect
The purpose of practice is to learn and master valuable skills. Whether it is throwing a baseball, solving complicated math problems, or being an effective leader if you want to improve your skills, you must practice.
Many people mistakenly think repetition is practice. Sure, getting a lot of reps performing a skill is important, but going out and shooting free throws all day will only help so much.
It might even be harmful if all of those reps are being done with bad technique.
The key to real improvement is deliberate practice. Deliberate practice involves evaluating what skill needs improvement, selecting one small aspect of the skill to work on, developing a strategy, and then evaluating the results.
Deliberate practice is not about getting tons of reps. It is about purposefully trying to improve one aspect of a skill by systematically working hard on the right things.
If you want to get really good at anything, you will have to practice – deliberately!
Confidence Connection: Confidence is about trusting your preparation. If you are going to trust the work you have put in, it must be the right work. Just practicing and getting a lot of reps will not move you from good to great. To take that next step you must have deliberate practice.
Composure
Is Having Pride Good or Bad?
“Pride comes before the fall.”
You’ve probably heard this saying before. You might even know what bible verse it originates from.
But what exactly does it mean? Isn’t having pride a good thing.
Yes. And no.
Having a strong sense of self pride and doing a job you will be proud of is absolutely a good quality.
However, if that personal pride turns into a feeling of superiority, arrogance, and “a constant need for attention, affirmation, and praise” you might be headed for a hard fall.
To keep your pride as an asset instead of a liability, practice humility.
Humility is a mindset that keeps you grounded through successes and failures.
Here are a few things you can do to develop your humility.
Remember there are many things you do not know. Seek out new knowledge and be passionately curious.
Never underestimate your competition. The world is full of hard-working, intelligent people trying to outdo you.
Recognize the others who helped you succeed. Rarely will you ever do it all on your own.
Composure Connection: Many people think humility means being weak or indecisive. It does not. It does mean you have a modest view of your own importance. When you have a modest view of your own importance, it is easier to keep your emotions in check during intense situations.
Consistency
Add Some Tools to Your Belt
“The one certainty about the future is that it will be uncertain.”
I don’t know if you have noticed, but changes seem to be coming at us at warp speed these days. The world today is full of complex, “ambiguous, and poorly defined situations”.
To make it in today’s world, it is important to be agile and flexible. If you want to increase your odds of succeeding, you must add more tools to your belt.
It is becoming increasingly important to be more of a generalist than a specialist.
Specialists have a hard time adjusting in a fluid environment because the solutions often come from multiple domains
The world today values problem solvers who can step back and focus across many broad areas.
Consistency Connection: Being a generalist means you have a large set of tools to pick from so you can adjust your course of action as the situation evolves. Being able to adapt rapidly will allow you to capitalize on new opportunities.
Quote of the Week:
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself.” – Dale Carnegie
Be excellent this week. Do the opposite of average!
Yancey Sanderson
Follow me on Twitter @YanceySanderson
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