In a recent Wall Street Journal article (“Practice Makes Perfect – And Not Just for Jocks and Musicians”), author Doug LeMov states what my mom knew all along: “Practice lets us execute a task while using less and less active brain processing. It makes things automatic… What drives mastery is encoding success – performing an action the right way over and over.”
“Practice lets us execute a task while using less and less active brain processing. It makes things automatic. When performers master one aspect of their work, they free their minds to think about another aspect. This may be why many of us have our most creative thoughts while driving or brushing our teeth. Rote learning and conceptual thinking often feed synergistically on each other, freeing our brain capacity for those tasks that require the maximum amount of attention and creativity.
Research has established that fast, simple feedback is almost always more effective at shaping behavior than is a more comprehensive response well after the fact. Better to whisper "Please use a more formal tone with clients, Steven" right away than to lecture Steven at length on the wherefores and whys the next morning.”
A few weeks ago, when I found myself heading into a highly charged situation, I remembered the Wall Street Journal article about practice. Even before I started to freak out over it, before I gathered my verbal ammunition and prepared my defenses, God impressed upon my thoughts: “Practice grace in this.” So I did. I approached the situation with a recalibrated mindset and a different vision. I practiced something new. And God transformed a difficulty into an opportunity.
I know of an eleven year old budding violinist who has set an alarm on her iPod to remind her to practice an hour a day. How different would I be if I reminded myself to practice grace an hour a day?
