Thu Apr 9th, 2015 10:45 am
Years ago I learned a phrase “perfect practice makes perfect.” Can’t tell you where it came from, but obviously it is an improvement on the old cliché “practice makes perfect.”
Practice actually doesn’t make perfect. Many of us just go thru the motions with our practice. I see it so often with particular exercises in the gym. I have worked with women for years who still perform crunches on a stability ball with the same effort it takes to put on mascara.
It drives me crazy to see women going thru the motions at the gym. They say “well, at least she’s at the gym doing something instead of watching soap operas eating bon bons.” Being at the gym is not about being at the gym! It’s part of it, but it’s not the whole picture.
What we do at the gym IS about making our selves stronger, our character more solid, or resolve more steadfast, our discipline more patient…. (Actually, I would almost rather some people stay home until she’s ready to at least consider making changes. I think we all should be making changes, but some of us are just not ready.)
I’m typing right now and I think back to the days of practicing on my manual typewriter. I was in JAG (Junior Achievement something). I used to practice, but I never practiced for perfection. So I never excelled. In fact my tests were HUMILIATING. Truth is I never excelled at anything because I just practiced. Seriously life sucks that way. It’s way harder to go thru life not at least attempting to make your practice perfect. You let people down. You don’t go very far. People see you as lazy and so believe they can never depend on you. It’s a terrible way to live.
I think of my hair dresser. Imagine if she didn’t practice for perfection! I really really like that she appreciates perfect practice, and it shows in the beautiful color of my hair.
I’m not saying perfect practice means we are perfect people. Or that we are expect perfection. In a way we are seeking perfection. But not in a way that perfection is the only possible outcome or go home. It’s what we seek because we want to be better people. We are not going to get stronger; our muscles are not going to build; strength at the limits of our range of motion is not going to improve, our tissue tensile strength is not going to form if we just go through the motions i.e. “practice makes perfect.”
PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.