Does Practice Make Perfect?

You know the old adage... "Practice makes perfect!" We have all heard it and internalized it, but is that saying helpful or harmful? What should we aspire to instead?

Let's deconstruct the saying "Practice makes perfect".

- Practice: Conveys the need to commit and repeatedly train a skillset

- Makes: Produces, accomplishes, or results in

- Perfect: Creates an expectation of absolute flawlessness

First, the parameters around practicing are fairly nebulous. Can I get by with practicing something once a day, once a week, once a month, once a year, or even just once? I "practiced" driving a stick shift a couple of times. The result? I still cannot drive a stick shift - a decidedly less than "perfect" result.

Second, the expected results here are pretty high - 100% correctness. It provides no wiggle room for humanity, which tends to not be perfect all of the time. Don't forget the other age-old adage that "to err is human". In actuality, "Practice makes perfect" is setting us up for failure and certainly for disappointment if we truly demand absolute perfection from ourselves. Instead, how about we normalize the expectation that consistent practice yields success?

Have you ever played a sport or an instrument? If you have, then you can understand the saying that "Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently." Still, let's break this down into it's core pieces: consistency and success.

Consistency

I played piano for many years as a child. Initially, I was terrible. I couldn't read sheet music. My fingers were tiny and not terribly nimble. I was a disaster! BUT I consistently practiced for at least an hour every, single day. Eventually, I got better and even won some medals. Consistent practice of my craft was yielding successful results!

Then, being a kid got the best of me. I decided that I preferred playing outside with the neighborhood kids rather than practicing the piano. The lack of consistent practice over the years absolutely took it's toll. I can no longer easily sight read and translate notes on a page into a beautiful melody. I stare and struggle and make mistakes and it's a difficult experience. I lost that skill because I stopped consistently practicing it.

Does that mean that all is lost? Absolutely not!! If I were to commit myself to consistently playing the piano, my skills would hone themselves to a practiced point and I could successfully play once again.

Success

Now let's address success vs. perfection. Consider sports and all of the elite athletes our there. Professional sports players practice consistently. Do you consider them successful? I do! Are they perfect? Nope. There are fumbles, bogeys, errors, fouls, scoring in their own goal, running the wrong way, and even unsportsmanlike conduct.

For each of these, there is some sort of penalty for the lack of perfection, even if that penalty is making the highlight reel on ESPN. Yet, there is also opportunity. Each set back can lead to a step forward by providing an opportunity to learn and grow. Everything you learn as you consistently practice contributes towards your success at striving to do the best that you can do.

You have unlimited potential, explore it, consistently practice it, and you will find your success.