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I want to give you 5 best practices on practicing. Here is #1.

You Need A Good Teacher or Coach

People who perform at the peak of their ability do so under the watchful eye of a great teacher. Great teaching causes people to learn by tailoring instruction to the students. A great teacher understands their students in terms of their creative or analytical tendencies. Said another way, they know when their students need a pat on the back of a kick in the pants.

Bring Your Best Effort

Andrew Carnegie suggested there is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb.

The great composer Duke Ellington simply stated, “Just give me your best.” Joe Theismann went to the Super Bowl twice. The first time they won and lost the second. Yet Joe has two rings that he wears. One to celebrate being a national winner and the other to remind him that you must bring your best at every opportunity.

Have A Clear Purpose

Don’t just practice, have a purpose for your practice. This requires establishing micro-goals for each practice session. Think of it this way, according to Professor Jon Johnston success bases our worth on a comparison with others. Excellence gauges our worth against our potential.

Potential

The great illustration here is Charles Dickens. Before he became a fiction writer he was already the best reporter in England. He was willing to take a chance and bet on himself as he searched for the best potential within himself. He became a world famous author. His passion was writing but his greatest passion was storytelling. Do not allow the standards of other people to keep you small. Your greatest fear should be that you will aim to low and hit it. Your potential is greater than someone’s small minded thinking.

The Right Resources

Even if you have done the previous four steps correctly, you can still fall short if you are not properly resourced for success.

General Patton was one of the most amazing Generals in the Allied Forces. He had the best of everything needed to fight a war. However, he lacked gasoline to power the instruments of war to fight against the Nazi’s. Resources are nothing more that tools needed to accomplish your purpose. Every human endeavor requires resources of some kind. In order to practice well, you need to be properly equipped.

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Music:  “8th Anniversary by Diamond Ortiz