“We tried that once. It didn’t work”
Imagine a golfer saying that. “Yeah, I picked up a club once when I was 7 and had a swing but the ball only went 10 feet off to the right so I never bothered trying again.”
What nonsense.
To get something right takes practice. Apparently 10,000 hours is the time it takes to be excellent at something. That’s a lot of commitment. And hard work. And patience. And frustration. And fun.
I was astonished at just how far I’ve run in the last 20 weeks. 625km. When I started the thought of running for longer than 20 minutes was just a distant dream. On Sunday I ran 21km. That took 62 hours of practice.
Getting better at things requires commitment.
It needs us to understand that we won’t get it right the first time and that we will find things difficult along the way.
It needs repetition.
I agree with you, of course. Wholeheartedly agree … but there must be a time, a cut-off point, at which you come to the realisation that, no matter how dedicated you are, how hard you practice, how committed you are … it ain’t never gonna happen.
Some people just can’t hold a note, hit a golf ball, work with children (I am a perfect example of all 3!)… is it not better that they be encouraged to find out what they CAN do than spend hours (and pounds) trying to do something they can’t?
Ah Leo….
The golf industry would go bankrupt !!! All these new clubs, balls, teaching methods… we’ve got to try them all !!!
Seriously, you are right about flogging the old dead horse. There are too many dead horses in the church and we are so afraid of getting off them and giving them a decent burial.
Sometimes we are simply do things the wrong way and need help looking at possible alternatives. We may have a hidden talent for music, but it may not be singing, for example.
The trouble with the church is that we really don’t want to change….there, I’ve said it. Sometimes we need to change while respecting what has gone before.
At least one of those things is untrue Leo… a bit more practice…
But you are both right. Knowing where and when to focus time and energy is vital.
I was surprised to see lots of speed work in my training for a half marathon. I wasn’t planning on sprinting it so why was it there? Because it’s good for building endurance. I would just have run lots of long runs.
We often focus on the outcome without giving much thought to how we get there, or the real preparation we need to do to get us to the point where we can do the thing we want to do. I had no real idea I’d have to run 600km! I don’t know what I thought would happen but that came as a surprise.
I heard about a guy who was doing the 10,000 hours experiment. He gave up his job and is spending 10,000 hours getting great at golf. He has been at it for a year now. 8 hours a day… and he’s been putting. He hasn’t hit a shot yet from off the green. Why? Because putting is the most important part of golf.
When we play we start at the tee or the driving range.
Interesting story of the 10k hours golf practice…. Bobby Jones, (arguably the greatest golfer ever), wrote that he gave a two foot putt the same concentration as a drive. Why ? They both have the same value. I suspect that the 10k hours golfer will have to leave the green sometime…. maybe to go into the bunker nearby !