If we want to achieve success in life, we must first understand what success requires. Being a process that has three key components, it is what we must balance if we want to continually move towards our full potential. Mastery in any endeavor demands that we commit to learning, practicing, and doing. The learning part of the equation is getting a focused education. It’s feeding your mind what you’ll need to know to get the results you’re looking for. A theoretical base will be what you build on with the other two components.
Practicing is bringing learning to life. It’s getting your feet wet and developing your proficiency in what you’ve studied. It is experiencing through hard work the blood, sweat and tears that serve a greater purpose than just education. It’s failing when it doesn’t matter in order to succeed when it does matter. It is preparation for what is to come. It is paving the way for the opportunity to deliver what you dream of.
Doing is the final step in the process. It’s applying what you’ve learned and practiced to achieve real-world results. It is taking the exam, participating in the Olympic event or delivering the presentation to your superiors at work. You’re reaping the reward at the rear for all the effort put in at the front. It is joining forces by using education and experience to produce powerful action. It is the execution of the present moment by a prepared student who will soon become a wise and influential teacher.
Often when we don’t get the results we want in life, we fail to learn, practice, or do. Deficient in one or more of the areas, we are unable to apply ourselves to the level that success requires. Unbalanced in our approach we are ineffective in our results. By neglecting what is a crucial part of the process, it is inevitable that we will fall short in our pursuit of excellence. To hit the target we can spare no effort, since each part of the process is as important as the others.
Let’s say it’s your dream to be a professional basketball player. The learning part of the process would include reading books about the game, how it is played and what the rules are. It would also involve watching games at the elite level to learn about the skills, moves, and strategies. Observing those who dominate the game closely to model them is also an important part of the learning process.
The practical part of the equation would be spending time in the gym working on the fundamental skills that the game requires. It would also include separate cardio and resistance training that all elite athletes must do to reach the highest level. Visualization exercises can also be used here to mentally prepare for the process part.
The do part in this example is to compete against other basketball players in games that mean something. Maybe it’s a high-level amateur tournament or a semi-professional league. Whatever the case, it’s participating in that high-stakes environment that allows you to gauge how well you’ve learned the game and how well you’ve mastered the skills. Where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, it is your performance here that will ultimately be judged, for in the professional leagues you aspire to reach, players are not paid by coefficient alone. basketball intellectual or his skills as a practice player. . They are paid for how well they play in the thick of the competition when they are expected to produce results in the form of offense and/or defense that preferably play their part in the team’s victory.
It’s really no coincidence that the highest-paid basketball players in the world stand out in all three parts of the process. Not only do they have a very high basketball IQ, but they practice harder than their less skilled counterparts. This, in turn, allows them to go out and produce when it matters most, in the game, where their star shines brightest. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Derrick Rose epitomize the truth that voracious and intelligent learning plus perfect practice that is vigorously dedicated equals performance excellence.
The best athletes, like the most successful people in any area of endeavor, are not only the hardest workers in practice, but also the best students of the game who dominate with their game. Michael Jordan, in addition to working harder in practice than in games, used to watch video of games over and over to get the coach’s perspective on what it took to win against particular opponents. Increasing his knowledge in this way allowed him to understand the game much better and perform at a higher level than his contemporaries who focused more on the physical aspects of the game.
It’s no wonder many people refer to Michael Jordan as the most complete player in basketball history. Complete in the respect that he played both sides of the ball equally well, he also balanced learning, practicing and doing in a holistic way. Where other players failed, Michael Jordan stood out because he continually worked on weaknesses within his zone of strength. Most people want to play to his strengths, but not for Jordan. Simply being a good defender early in his career, he went to work in that area of his game knowing that he couldn’t be the best player in the world without first being an excellent defensive player. By applying himself intensely to that area of his game, he became the point of differentiation that separated him from those now only remembered as great offensive players.
Most of us, at one point or another in our lives, have been taught that practice makes perfect, but this is not entirely true. Only perfect practice makes perfect. By learning the right things and applying them in the right way, we can master anything if we want it bad enough. While I am emphasizing the practical elements of success in this article, it should not be forgotten that great success is always backed by a burning desire to succeed. In this, all the learning, practicing and doing means nothing if you don’t have a passion for what you are learning, practicing and doing.
It is the passion that makes us want to learn more and more and more. It is passion that makes us want to continue working when others have gone home. It is passion that fuels our fire in the heat of competition. It is passion that binds it all together and leads us into a realm reserved for masters.
What would you find intense joy in learning, practicing, and doing? What could you be a master at? Each of us has something that we love to learn, practice and do. For me it is writing and talking about my material. For you it will be something different. Give yourself to what you are passionate about. Let it lead you to the realization of your highest potential. If you’re going to learn, practice, and do anyway, then you might as well make it count for something. Add that essential ingredient on which all the greats build a legacy that outlives them. Learn with humility, practice with faith and do with love. This will ensure that you live a happy and fulfilling life.