Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
The small seemingly insignificant act can have a big impact on your performance when executed consistently. Practices like setting time aside to reflect or documenting insights may seem small, however when performed daily are powerful sources of insight. Small tasks are a type of discipline that help keep you on track in achieving the big things.
The misconception is that large achievable goals somehow exists apart from day-to-day and moment-by-moment behaviors. In reality the audacious goal is not achievable without the small mundane practices laying the foundation.
“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Self -reliance is an important 21st century skill. The ability to visualize an outcome and work towards its creation is critical to business success. Self-reliance requires that we expand our knowledge and capacity to meet the demands of a new vision. In assuming the responsibility of self- reliance we must make decisions regarding our learning and development. In a business environment defined by complexity and change only professionals guided by an internal drive will thrive. Self-reliance does not mean “going it solo” or being a “lone wolf”. Self-reliance means that a professional proactively seeks the means and the resources to achieve a desired outcome. This is easier to do when a desired outcome aligns with our personal values.
A few recommendations are:
- CLARIFY YOUR VISION : What does it look like?
- CLARIFY WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: How does it align with your values?
- WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR SUCCESS? What knowledge and skills do you need? What people do you need to connect with?
- WHERE CAN YOU FIND THE RESOURCES? How can you can gain access to the needed people and resources?
I have been thinking about what it takes to develop expert skill in any field or discipline and in my view deliberate practice is a critical element. What I mean by deliberate practice is the pre-meditated and disciplined practice of a skill. Taking time to reflect on the specific requirements of a job or one’s areas of growth is essential. It comes down to creating a practice, establishing an organized routine of activities around certain skill sets.
Tracking the daily progress of our practice is essential as this creates awareness. Awareness allows us to learn from our journey. An experience by itself is just an activity unless it is reflected upon.
Four deliberate practice recommendations:
1. Reflect on the requirements needed to achieve a job or desired goal
2. Identify areas of needed development
3. Create a daily routine of activities and exercises that will develop the desired skill
4. Review progress daily
Excellence is not the exclusive endowment of “someone else” residing in the realm of myths and legends. Excellence belongs to the unglamorous champion, who everyday tills the dream, so that it may bear fruit.
Stay personally invested in your work. This level of attention will bring with it a greater degree of learning and mastery. Insights flow from being mindful in one’s practice. Karen Horner psychologist and theorist identifies mindfulness as a central ingredient in effective learning and growth. What we enjoy we tend to be more actively engaged in.Sometimes we can become disconnected from our practice. Other things take our attention from the joy we get from the activity. When we are no longer mindful in what we do this impedes our growth and estranges us from the source of our continual progression.