Practice Makes Progress

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Changing what you have, Alan, comes from changing who you are.
And changing who you are comes from changing what you think.
Which is why I made the latter so easy.
Visualize,
The Universe
P.S. Because changing what you think, Alan, ultimately changes your words, your actions, the kind of music you listen to, the movies you watch, the places you visit, the friends you hang out with, and even how you look in jeans.

THE UNIVERSE
(aka Mike Dooley)
©www.tut.com

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I started receiving Mike Dooley's Notes from the Universe  sometime in the very early 2000s.  I received the above note back in early April and saved it in my Inbox until now.  I've re-read it several times over the past month and I wanted to share it with you—and also to encourage you to join the over 1.2M people who receive The Notes every weekday all around the world.

And while I do agree with Mike that the essence of changing what you have and who you are begins with your thoughts, sometimes changing some, or even most, of them can be quite challenging. 

The Challenge with Changing Thoughts
Thoughts are comprised of internal physical and emotional perceptions and external physical perceptions (from the five senses) coming from the environment that form into cognitions, ideas, judgements, opinions, beliefs, and even our perspectives.  When we think certain thoughts over and over again, we form longer-lasting thoughts we call attitudes.  Add in automatic thoughts, thought-patterns, habits, beliefs, and biases, and I think you can see why I think there might be an ease<—>challenging continuum to changing our thoughts.  And, did you know that almost every thought we have is formed automatically and out of awareness?

Nikolas Dimitriadis and Alexandros Psychogios report in their book, Neuroscience for Leaders: A brain-adaptive leadership approach, that
neuroscientific and psychological research has estimated that only 1-2% of total brain activity is at any level of conscious awareness—what psychology calls controlled processing.  That means that a whopping 98-99% of brain activity is completely automatic processing—or what old-school psychology used to call unconscious. 

The science also reveals that 95% of our decisions are automatic!  One example is renowned Harvard Business School Professor of Business Administration Gerald Zaltman's findings.  He said, "However, in consumers’ purchasing choices, 95 percent of the decision-making process takes place below the conscious level."

There's evidence that the gut microbiome affects thoughts, with psychologists and neuroscientist now calling that the gut-brain axis.  Our physical state of being can drive emotions and thoughts, too.  Ever been really hangry?  Or sleep-deprived for several days in a row?

But we do know that emotions can drive thoughts and thoughts can drive emotions and that emotions are the biggest driver of behavior.  So, the cognitive-emotive connection must be considered if we want any meaningful change.

So, for some of us, if not for all of us, changing at least some or maybe even most of our thoughts could be quite challenging.

But not impossible by any stretch!  Dr. Wayne Dyer has a bestselling book by the name, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life and there are countless books, blogs, and articles about how that is true. 

It does, however, take practice—distributed and deliberate practice, to be specific.  And that kind of practice takes self-awareness, self-examination, and a new alertness to your environment and how you interact with it.  It might even be helpful to get some feedback from others close to you for additional perspective.  But when you identify what thoughts, feelings, perspectives, attitudes, or automatic thoughts you want to change, it's most likely going to take some practice.  We have to think about thinking or what's called metacognition.

Distributed Practice
Distributed practice is a learning technique where practice occurs in multiple short sessions over a long period of time.  It has been proven to be the best studying method for effective learning that lasts.  It's also known as spaced repetition or spaced practice.

Cognitive scientists and educational researchers and practitioners have long known that if your goal is to get information into long-term memory and have it available to you in both predictable and novel situations and environments, then spacing review and reflection of that information and practicing it repeatedly over time are the most effective way to achieve that.

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As a single footstep will not make a path on earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.  To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.  To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

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Deliberate Practice
Deliberate practice is a little different.  Remember Malcolm Gladwell 's 10,000-Hour Rule?  He popularized it in his book Outliers: The Story of Success.   Gladwell’s catchy rule contends that it takes ten-thousand hours of practice to become a master in most fields.

However, the authors behind the original research study on which Gladwell primarily based his figures claim that his interpretation wasn't actually accurate.  The study reported on a group of violin students at a prestigious music academy in Berlin.  They found that the most accomplished of those students had put in an average of ten thousand hours of practice by the time they were twenty years old. 

First, they were students and not even close to being masters.  Second, that figure is the average number of hours of practice for the best students at twenty years old.  This means that the average best student was ahead of about half of the other best students, but still behind the upper half (in terms of practice hours put in over their lifetime up to that point).  Most importantly, what the authors actually describe and point out is that the students had been engaging in what is known as deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice involves constantly pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, following training activities designed by an expert to develop specific abilities, and using feedback to identify weaknesses and work on them.   Once someone puts in the hours and hours of repetition to become proficient in rote skills like hand placement and scales by distributed practice, deliberate practice practice sessions are integrated into their practice regimen challenging the student to go to new levels.

Schedule It!
So, if we're trying to change our thoughts in order to change what we do in order to get what we want, we're probably looking at altering something or some things in our morning, daily, evening, and nightly routines and rituals.  We may decide that we need to have study time or use tools, like positive affirmations, To-Do List apps, and other strategies, that we repeat on a regular basis.  We may need to get creative and/or read up a little about what we really want to change or take a course or enroll in a developmental program.  We may decide we want to engage with a professional, like a therapist or a coach. 

All GOATs, like a Tom Brady, have a coach or coaches to help them grow, change, and develop new thoughts, behaviors, rituals, and practices.  Coaching is for winners who want to get better and stay ahead of their rivals or competition and/or so they can continue pursuing even higher levels of impact and success.

Whatever tools and/or strategies we choose, it is important to schedule both distributed and deliberate practice in our calendars and/or set reminders to practice new behaviors, conduct thought-reflections, contemplate, say affirmations, visualizing, and practice routines and rituals.  Some may simply need to be scheduled temporarily until strong habits are formed and others we may need to block out on a more permanent basis.

Conclusion
Changing thoughts—especially automatic thoughts—thought-patterns, attitudes, habits, and the like, can be challenging.  It takes self-awareness and metacognition.  And, it takes practice—first, distributed practice and then, adding deliberate practice which will need repetition, too.  You can learn more about distributed and deliberate practice (and so much more!) in my Purpose-Driven Leadership Program.  Finally, using our calendars and reminders and other To-Do List tools can greatly boosts our chances of success.

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Have an amazing journey today!

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Alan Mikolaj is a seasoned coach and leadership development consultant with nearly 20 years of experience.  He is passionate about helping leaders transform their leadership, their teams, and their organizations.  He has an impactful, professional approach driven by a passion for meaning and purpose, a growth mindset, and a commitment to excellence and service in order to drive change and results.

Alan holds his Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and Associate Certified Coach credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and maintains their ethics and standards of behavior, including the standards regarding confidentiality.  You can learn more about them on the ICF website.

Transformational change starts with a conversation!
Alan is on a mission to partner with like-minded leaders who want to make a positive difference in the world.  Schedule your free, one-hour session by clicking here: Discovery Conversation with Alan
Or call or email: Contact Page

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