10 Nov Learnings | Week of 11.10.2020

Here’s what I’m learning this week and two ways it is intersecting with my life.

This week, I’m learning about how we learn. More specifically, I’m learning about how we develop greatness.

I started a new book that I’ve been meaning to get to for years. I first heard about this book in 2016 on a podcast by Freakonomics Radio entitled “How To Become Great At Just About Anything” (EP. 244). The book is Peak by K. Anders Ericksson and Robert Pool.

This book examines how to build expertise in a variety of contexts. I’ve read the introduction and the first few chapters which set up the premise of the book. Ericksson and Pool challenge conventional ideas around talent quotient and innate ability and their influence on performance. The findings from their research emphasizes the importance of diligence and the quality of one’s training.

So far, I’ve been introduced to three types of training.

Naïve practice is the most common type. You practice something long enough to get to a functionally acceptable level of proficiency in it. You can enjoy doing the thing without much effort. Beyond this point of proficiency, there is a plateau or even decline in performance because this type of training doesn’t push the limits of your ability.

The next level up is Purposeful practice. This upgrade includes things like goals, feedback, and most importantly, pushing past the limits of your comfort zone.

Then we reach the gold standard: Deliberate practice. Practicing deliberately diverges from practicing purposely in that it invites specific guidance from one or more experts. Deliberate practice is the highest form of practice. It incorporates practicing purposefully, introducing a reliable map from a trusted guide to help navigate you to an expert level of proficiency.

Anyone who knows me is probably wondering why it took me 4 1/2 years to get to this book. I love to learn. This book’s content is a masterclass in improving my ability to do it.

Peak is intersecting with my life in two interesting ways:

1. #💯DaysOfPractice

Last year, I started an annual effort to leverage my influence to get people to practice something for 100 days. I’m currently approaching Day 57 of this year’s practice marathon. The challenge is simple: pick one thing in which you would like to enjoy more proficiency and commit to showing up to practice it for 100 days. Now that I know about the types of practice, I look forward to integrating their concepts to maximize my practice effectiveness.

My initial goal was to try to get myself to the habit of showing up to practice, which tends to be the most difficult part for me. The vision for expanding it to my network of friends is that I want to influence people to do productive things with their time. How much better would the world be if more people committed themselves to the long-term process of building proficiency in things that matter? Which brings me to point 2…

2. My Book

The book I’m writing essentially considers how the principles of practice apply to making our relationships better with an expanded view of relationships: with people and to things. For example, people know me in the public sphere because of my relationship with music/creating. Throughout the book, I’ll examine what I’ve learned in building an increasingly healthy relationship with my creativity, as well as how those principles show up in my human relationships.

As I write about and, moreover, test its principles in my life, I’m intrigued by how Peak will influence the depth of my understanding around this topic.

What do you intentionally practice on a regular basis? Are there outcomes (good or bad) that you notice in your relationships with people and to things as a result of your practice habits? What are you learning this week?

I’d love to learn from you, so feel free to leave your answers to these questions in the comments below or message me on social media.