Page 134 - The Power to Change Anything

Surpass Your Limits 123

ity to teach everything from mathematics to high jumping.
Roger Bacon once said that it would take a person 30 to 40
years to master calculus—the same calculus that is taught in
most high schools today. Today’s musicians routinely match
and even surpass the technical virtuosity of legendary musicians
of the past. And when it comes to sports, the records just keep
falling. For example, when Johnny Weissmuller of Tarzan
fame won his five Olympic gold medals in swimming in 1924,
nobody expected that years later high school kids would post
better times.
What, then, is deliberate practice? And how can we apply
the techniques to our vital behaviors and thus strengthen our
influence strategy?

Demand Full Attention for Brief Intervals

Deliberate practice requires complete attention. Deliberate
practice doesn’t allow for daydreaming, functioning on autopi-
lot, or only partially putting one’s mind into the routine. It
requires steely-eyed concentration as students watch exactly
what they’re doing, what is working, what isn’t, and why.
This ability to concentrate is often viewed by students as
their most difficult challenge, enough so that elite musicians
and athletes argue that maintaining their concentration is usu-
ally the limiting factor to deliberate practice. Most can main-
tain a heightened level of concentration for only an hour
straight, usually during the morning when their minds are
fresh. Across a wide range of disciplines, the total daily prac-
tice time of elite performers rarely exceeds five hours a day, and
this only if students take naps and sleep longer than normal.

Provide Immediate Feedback Against a Clear Standard

The number of hours one spends practicing a skill is far less
important than receiving clear and frequent feedback against