Two of my greatest coaches, and whom I am quite fond of, Lynne and Victor Brick used to teach us fitness instructors with stories as well as experiences. One story that I remember and think of often is the story Victor told us about Jesse Owens and how he spent 10,000 hours practicing his craft: running, sprinting and jumping. Lynne would tell us, “perfect practice makes perfect.” I learned wonderful lessons from these two coaches, both in and out of the gym.
I watched some surfers today catch and ride some huge waves today. I wanted to do that. I asked my coach, Cece, to take me out to the “bigger waves.” She did and at first I freaked out and rode the wave on my belly, absolutely frozen and unable to stand up. Then, we went out again, and I stood up! I caught and rode a huge wave (about 3-5′) until it melted with the rest of the water. At that moment, I realized that it would most certainly take me 10,000 hours of practicing, perfect practicing, to ride the waves like I want.
Business, love, parenting, sports, hobbies all take 10,000 hours of practice to master. What are you going to perfectly practice today?
Aloha,
Denise
Excellent post! 10,000 hours is also the number that Malcolm Gladwell discovered and wrote about in “Outliers”.