Practice Makes....

Many people are familiar with the saying, "Practice Makes Perfect".  The idea being that if you practice something long enough, your skill level in that area is being perfected.  This concept is often taken for granted.  In fact, practice can be beneficial; however, what is critical is that the practice be correct.  In other words, practicing incompletely or incorrectly is of little benefit, if not harmful.  

In the book "Outliers", Malcom Gladwell, the author of "The Tipping Point", goes to great lengths, in laying out the findings of his research, regarding successful people and why they tend to be successful.  Rather than focusing on the personal traits of successful people (such as intelligence, drive and determination), Gladwell instead studied the environments and the conditions surrounding and shaping the lives of those successful people.  In one chapter, the author focused on the fact that so many renowned athletes, performers and even great technological engineers held in common that they had each had the opportunity to practice their crafts for at least 10,000 hours.  Engaging in any activity for that length of time is bound to accomplish several things.  Primarily 10,000 hours will sift and weed-out the strong believers from those that doubt themselves and lack passion for the said activity.  If the activity is performed with other team members, synergy is produced within the group.  

More than practice making perfect, practice is making the person.  For anyone that is or has been in hot pursuit of a dream, a vision or a goal, they know that the person you become as a result of the pursuit is as fascinating and rewarding as reaching the goal.  The journey toward that destination typically detours through some period of disappointment.  It is in confronting that "thing" that would typically make us stop and give up and then finding the resources to continue to press on anyway, that we are being perfected.  In that mindset, success can be delayed but never denied.