Do you REALLY want to get better?

In a previous blog entry I separated training from practice.
http://first-time-leader.blogspot.com/2010/10/practise-doesnt-make-perfect.html
If you want to getter at something you have to train (get feedback and have consciousness about what you want to achieve).

Let’s talk about why this is not enough.

There has to be something at stake. It has to MEAN something for you. If it is just training, well, how are you gonna keep doing the hard work of training?

3 examples:

You want to get better at tennis, so you train and get yourself a trainer and you get feedback.
Not enough.
If you REALLY want to get better you will have to get into the competition. Maybe just in the local Tennis Club’s ladder, but you are getting compared to someone else. It matters for you. You want to get better than someone…

You want to get better at handwriting, so you start noticing and asking people what they think and you get really, really conscious about your penmanship.
Not enough.
If you REALLY want to get better, make sure you send hand-written letters to someone who cares, and where it matters that your handwriting looks good. Or you offer to make posters at the local .

You want to get better at running, so you run and train and get feedback and even get yourself a trainer.
Not enough.
If you REALLY want to get better it has to matter for you, so get into a competition or a (half) marathon or a charity run or something where something is at stake.

It doesn’t really matter if this is a competition or a commitment, but it has to matter enough for you so that you care whether you are getting better or not.

Something has to be at stake.