By The Blue Angels don’t believe “practice makes perfect.” They believe practice makes consistency and if you’re practicing poorly, haphazardly, indifferently, or infrequently, that’s the result you’ll get.
Instead, the Blues believe “Perfect practice makes perfect.”
That’s why they never just go flying. Even when no one is watching, they march to their jets, climb in, start-up in unison, radio check-ins, taxi and takeoff in formation, etc. etc. Always rehearsing.
“Practice until you get it right, and then keep practicing until you can’t get it wrong.”
From the NY Times article: “Secrets of a Mind-Gamer”
“…They’ve found that top achievers typically follow the same general pattern. They develop strategies for keeping out of the autonomous [plateau] stage by doing three things: focusing on their technique, staying goal-oriented and getting immediate feedback on their performance. Amateur musicians, for example, tend to spend their practice time playing music, whereas pros tend to work through tedious exercises or focus on difficult parts of pieces. Similarly, the best ice skaters spend more of their practice time trying jumps that they land less often, while lesser skaters work more on jumps they’ve already mastered. In other words, regular practice simply isn’t enough…To improve, we have to be constantly pushing ourselves beyond where we think our limits lie and then pay attention to how and why we fail.”
In times of crisis, challenge, or great opportunity, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your training.
How are you training/practicing?
Be a High-Trust Leader: Build a high degree of competence by applying perfect practice to your daily study and training.
