4 Things Practice Makes (& It’s Not Perfect)
How do you feel when you hear “practice makes perfect”? What memories come to mind?
Maybe the saying brings you back to the days of banging piano keys and your mom shouting from the other room, “Practice makes perfect, honey! You’ll be glad you kept with it.”
Perhaps the saying brings you back to high school basketball practice and your coach yelling, “Practice makes perfect. Keep it up!”
Can you relate?
Has the saying motivated you?
Or has it left you feeling empty, as if perfection is something that seems impossible to attain?
As a recovering perfectionist, this saying weighs me down. “Perfection” seems unachievable. It’s something I have strived for most of my life without the satisfaction of achieving it.
To say “practice makes perfect” makes me never want to practice in the first place.
Perhaps this saying is why so many battle self-rejection, kill their dreams, or give up too early.
Vince Lombardi, an American football coach, flipped the manta on its head by recreating the quote:
“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
— Vince Lombardi
Although these sayings were (hopefully) created with the best intentions, when you break it down, neither are really that encouraging.
When we practice something, perfection should not be our goal. And how could someone ever practice something perfectly? Would it even be practice at that point?
Certainly, practicing brings benefits — but perfection isn’t one of them.
Here are four things practice actually makes in our lives, and these results are much more encouraging.
1. Practice Makes You Confident
Practice brings comfort and familiarity, and healthy habits build confidence. The more you do something, the more confident you will become in doing that task.
You’ll feel more capable of doing something the more you practice it. You will build self-esteem, knowing you can handle the task or accomplish the goal at hand. This attitude can spill over into other parts of life as well.
The more you practice, the more you will believe in yourself to handle the task and succeed. Overall, consistent practice will make you feel more positive about yourself and your capabilities.
2. Practice Makes You Efficient
The more you do something, the less you have to think about it. Repetition gives your mind space to breathe. You don’t have to think so hard about doing things you’re familiar with. (Ever drive to work and not remember how you got there?)
The more you do something and can perform with ease, the more you can think critically about what you’re practicing. This extra thinking space can help you discover flaws or inefficiencies, so you can accomplish the task better or more quickly.
In turn, the more you practice, the easier the task will become. You’ll discover better ways to do it, which could save you time in the long run.
3. Practice Makes You An Expert
Through consistent practice, you can become an expert in doing that thing. Practice is vital for a person to increase their knowledge or skill. If you want to attain mastery on something, you must learn and practice continually.
After months or years of practice, you might not consider yourself an expert. However, if you know more than the average joe, people will turn to you for answers and advice. One of my favorite quotes is this:
“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
— Desiderius Erasmus:
No matter how much you practice something, other people will still be better than you at doing it. Regardless, that doesn’t mean you’re not an expert. If you’re the one in the room who knows how to do it best, that makes you the expert.
4. Practice Makes Permanence
(I stole this one from my husband’s high school soccer coach.)
Practice builds muscle memory. Once you can perform the basics without thinking too hard about them, it’s easier to advance.
Why do you think musicians repeat basic chords and scales? Or why sports players practice their basic moves? It keeps their muscle memory intact. It prevents them from “losing their touch.”
The repetition of practice allows you to perform the basics with ease and let’s you advance to tackling harder tasks.
What story comes to mind when you hear, “practice makes perfect”? Has the unattainable goal of perfection kept you from following your dreams? How does this shift change the way you view practicing?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
