Celebrate Change

Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands.
- Cal Newport

Everyone talks about changing, but at the end of the day, no one really enjoys it. This is because we take deep pleasure in doing what we already know how to do. Doing your “signature move” is comforting, typically rewarding, and bolsters our ego.

Learning and practicing something new in order to make a change is the exact opposite - it is frustrating, painful and often embarrassing. Also - there likely is no immediate income or social reward in trying something new since we’re probably not very good at the new task, whatever it may be.

So how to Celebrate Change when it can literally be so painful?

1). Practice in Private
First - no one has to watch you learn to paint, or sing, or speak a foreign language, or learn to trade options. All of these tasks can be done comfortably at home on practice platforms of various kinds. There’s no shame in going into stealth mode when trying on new skills.

2). Think Quantity and MORE Quantity
The biggest mistake we make when it comes to learning a new skill and making a change is that we vastly underestimate the amount of tries it takes to learn something new! Most of us had some kind of reading and writing and arithmetic training from age 6-16. That is 10 years of methodical training just to get to a basic high school education level. Yet as adults, we are surprised when we haven’t made progress after 10 hours of intermittent effort! Change is going to take time. A LOT OF TIME.

3). Mix It Up and Stretch Your Skills
“Deliberate Practice” is a mindset where you work on your worst skills first, rather than comfortably going over the shots, notes, moves etc. that you already know how to do. Not only do you need to work on the rough parts of your game - but you also need to push yourself with higher goals, more challenging practice routines and visualize engaging ways of stretching that skill.

4). The Effort is the Reward
There will come a time when you look forward to the practice almost as much as the game itself. Players for John Wooden at UCLA often remarked how easy and slow actual games seemed to be after having endured the intense practice sessions that Wooden put them through. Focus on stretching the scope and intensity of your practice, and watch your game improve.

5). It’s An Infinite Game
Once you start down the road of truly embracing change, you’ll start to realize that we never are truly done changing. This doesn’t mean you’ll spend your days unsatisfied in relentless pursuit - but rather - you’ll know that each day, you have another opportunity to improve, adapt, and take on new challenges.

Change is painful. And doing what we already know how to do is so satisfying and rewarding. But if you really want to make progress - the road forward is through deliberate and diligent practice. Lots of it.