“Practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent, only perfect practice makes perfect.”  Norton Juster

What skill(s) are you working on to improve?

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  (John 8:32; NLT)

You know how we grow up hearing certain adages so many times that we accept them as true simply because everybody says they are.  It’s always a shock when we discover that they are not true.  In fact, we often keep repeating the “exposed” lie as if it were the truth.

Case in point–how many times have you heard…or said…”practice makes perfect?”  Sounds good, doesn’t it?  The problem is that it’s simply not true.  Never was, never will be true.  Nevertheless, say it in conversation, and watch everybody nod their heads in agreement with such insightful wisdom.

Oh, I suppose you could stretch the definition of “perfect” to make it true.  For instance, if I taught myself to “diddle” around on the piano or play a few chords on the guitar, and if I practiced every day for years and years…I might be a perfect diddler when it came to the piano or able to play a few chords on the guitar seemingly perfectly and with relative ease, but I would be a long way from being perfect.  Maybe consistent, but certainly not perfect.  In fact, I would be consistently not perfect.  In order to approach perfection, I would have to unlearn lots of bad technique and replace them with better.

You’ve probably heard the stories of Tiger Woods who “re-engineered” his golf swing to make it even better.  A couple of times, he would be at the top of his game and then suddenly stop winning while he was working with his coach to replace some elements of his swing with better ones.  I recall hearing that one time he didn’t win a tournament for over a year while he was learning an improved swing.  Then when he finally got it down pat, he came back better than ever.  He went through that process not once, but multiple times.  It was not just practice that he was after, but perfect practice.

How does this apply to you and me if we’re not engaged in competitive sports or professional music or something like that?  Actually, it applies to anything and everything we do on a daily basis.  Pick anything that you do that you might want to improve.  Maybe you want to cook better, read faster, parent better,  etc., the list is virtually endless.  Bottom line, if you want to do almost anything better, simply doing more of what you are currently doing probably won’t help very much.  Maybe some, but not very much.  You need a breakthrough.  Some one to show you a better way.  Someone to give you some objective feed back on what’s working and what’s been holding you back.  Someone to guide you through the process of unlearning some not so good technique or habits and replacing them with better.  You usually cannot achieve those breakthrough levels alone. 

So don’t kid yourself.  If there is an area of your life that you want to improve (and who doesn’t have several), get some help.  If it’s important to you…you’re certainly worth the investment it takes to enlist the expertise of an expert.  Remember, only perfect practice makes perfect.

Prayer Power
Lord, we thank You for the gifts, skills, and abilities that You bless us with.  As stewards of those gifts, we desire to continue to hone and sharpen them.  Guide us as we seek out those who can help us grow to higher and higher levels.

Link of the Day
What It Takes To Be Great

Blessings on you as you stretch yourself to improve some aspect of your life this week.