Repetition Leads to Perfection

October 07, 2021

Leaders,

Some things aren’t perfect when we start, but like all skills and work, with one step in front of the other, we can learn and improve.

When I look at a Professional Public Speaker, I think to myself “Oh wow, I want to speak just like that person, he or she is amazing. They have confidence, influence, exceptional language and can inspire the audience with their message”.

The reality is, they have probably been speaking for 20 years, delivered 100+ Public Speeches, and have practiced, practiced, and practiced some more.

At times we compare our chapter 1 output with someone else’s chapter 12, and we think to ourselves. “I want to be just like them, right now”. But there are really no shortcuts, we need to focus on ourselves and working on our own craft every day. Repetition and continuous feedback lead to improvement over time.

Here is a story pulled from the Web about the Perfect Pot that might resonate with you, and it demonstrates how practice and repetition lead to perfection.

A pottery teacher split her class into two halves.

To the first half she said, “You will spend the semester studying pottery, planning, designing, and creating your perfect pot. At the end of the semester, there will be a competition to see whose pot is the best”.

To the other half she said, “You will spend your semester making lots of pots. Your grade will be based on the number of completed pots you finish. At the end of the semester, you’ll also have the opportunity to enter your best pot into a competition.”

The first half of the class threw themselves into their research, planning, and design. Then they set about creating their one, perfect pot for the competition.

The second half of the class immediately grabbed fistfuls of clay and started churning out pots. They made big ones, small ones, simple ones, and intricate ones. Their muscles ached for weeks as they gained the strength needed to throw so many pots.

At the end of class, both halves were invited to enter their most perfect pot into the competition. Once the votes were counted, all of the best pots came from the students that were tasked with quantity. The practice they gained made them significantly better potters than the planners on a quest for a single, perfect pot.

There are things you can do to improve quicker of course, but you cannot skip the process and shoot for perfection out of the gate. If we’re always doing this then we’re never going to get started or make a lot of progress because we’re always looking for the right conditions, more money, more time, or a beautiful website or app that will make it all more appealing.

What I am trying to say is, when you getting started on something new, focus on being prolific, rather than perfect. Sometimes “good enough” is ok, because it means progress and a path forward.

If you’re a YouTuber, I bet your 100th video vs your 1st video will be a day and night difference. If you’re a Sales Rep, I bet no one buys anything from you on your first sales call, but by the time you have smashed out 500, you’re stronger, more confident, know how to frame the call, overcome the objection, and ultimately sell your product.

Stop shooting for perfection or what you don’t have. Focus on what you do have and be prolific, perfection will come over time.

All the best

David

Resources Of The Week

  • YouTube - Gary Vaynerchuk on Quantity - Gary talks about how quantity teaches you a lot of things quality doesn’t.

  • YouTube - Bob Proctor - Fourth Dimension Leadership. Bob talks about how people have limiting beliefs of what they can achieve. People go after what they think they can achieve rather than what they want.

  • Book - Leadership: Plain and Simple by Steve Radcliffe. A great book that is not very widely marketed but one that had a big impact on me. Steve talks in a lot of detail about engagement and the importance of establishing strong and big relationships with your team. Based on the Leadership FED framework. Future, Engage, Deliver.

Quote of the Week

Repetition is the mother of skill. - Tony Robbins

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