We’ve heard it before….
“Practice makes perfect.” or  “Practice makes progress.”

So why is it so hard to practice?

Let’s imagine for a moment that you did practice.
What would happen if you practiced your coaching appointment before you did it?
Maybe you even practiced it 3 times?
It sure seems like you would get better at it.
Being better sure points us in the right direction…right?

Better = Better skills
Better = Better systems
Better = Happier clients
Better = Rock solid testimonials
Better = Higher confidence
Better = Courage to do more
Better = Better Results

Why then….do we not practice?
Maybe there is a weird twist to this that isn’t being looked at.
I’ll unpack it for you.

My 20 years of coaching has brought to light that there is an assumption we have that practice should be a 2 step process.  Step 1: Practice.  Step 2: Welcome to level 2.  It’s not only in the Coaching industry…it’s in all types of entrepreneurial businesses.  New business owners have the same problem.  They come into the business with this assumption that whatever they do, will end up working without much adjustment.  So they try out their perceived plan….it shouldn’t be that hard….just practice and you get better.

Then REALITY shows up.
The truth.
You know the saying…”the truth shall set you free”....I love that ... .although, most don’t know that the truth can also obliterate your ego/perceptions.  It’s common for a person to get their ego rattled and they don’t like it.  A weird part of us humans is, we really do believe that we are better than what we actually are capable of.  When you start to practice….your ego…your perception….your opinion….your image of yourself can get smashed.  

Reality bites.
It shows us the truth.
It reminds us of where we really stand.
It shows us our true skill.

If your ego, perception or opinion was cranked up high….then you will have the biggest let down…or CRASH compared to others.  It doesn’t feel good to be humbled.  It hurts our feelers and it can hurt our confidence….if our confidence was built upon our opinion…..instead of our actual skill level.

So…what happens next is one of two things will transpire…..once you find out your own REALITY of skills ... .you could choose to hide your findings….and not practice anymore and blame someone else…or blame it on the market, the client or even God.  Blame still gets used a lot to redirect the attention away from the reality of our performance.  Avoiding the TRUTH can trap you into a world of feeling fake and feeling like an imposter.

#2 - you can humble yourself….put your ego on the shelf…and own it.  You can own the fact that you are lacking skill….because you lack practice.  You can own the fact that you are out of shape.  If you don’t use your skills for some length of time…you do get weak and sloppy.  You can either be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially…..out of shape….weak.  OWNING it will humble your inner world so that you can become teachable and willing to do the work to get better.  This will immediately boost your confidence in yourself because you are being TRUE to yourself.  You're NOT an imposter….your in training, you're still learning.  How can you be an imposter when you haven’t graduated yet?

CONCLUSION
The reason we don’t practice is because we are trying too hard to hold onto our “made up” reality about ourselves.  Living a lie.  We actually don’t know where our skill level is.  Now that we don’t know where we really stand with our skill…we hesitate to do the work.  It’s harder to market ourselves when we are not sure of ourselves….it’s harder to speak out on social media….it’s harder to follow up on opportunities.  We waste time and struggle with business…..and when others ask us how we are doing….ah….we have the best story all made up ready to tell them.

SOLUTION
Practice.  Grade yourself.  Measure your skill level.
Find out where you TRULY stand with your skill.
Now that you know where you stand…you can start looking for training to fill in the gaps.
If you don’t know how to measure yourself, use this simple self evaluation.
After the appointment, answer these questions…

1. What worked?

2. What didn’t work?

3. What do I wish I would have done?

4. What one thing could I do next time to make this even better?

Giving myself a simple evaluation sure makes it easy to do.
Instead of having 20 things to correct before the next appointment, pick 1 to adjust.
This had to be a simple process for me to improve for me to keep using it for all these years.

Practice.
Evaluate yourself.
Make those small adjustments.
Now you're on the way to the next level of skill!
You are not the only one that has lots of room to grow.
Settle in and know that 20 years later, I still have more to learn….and I still make adjustments.

Being teachable is a huge sign that you are on the success path.

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week
Flash back years and years ago:

I first heard this song driving down the freeway.
Was dealing with a major failure…and this song played next.

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Stronger ~ Lighter ~ Smarter

Kirk