I expect that you have heard the saying ‘practice makes perfect’. Well in reality this couldn’t be further from the truth, as no matter how much practice you do, if what you are practising is wrong, you will just become very bad at whatever it is you are doing.
Some time ago I heard a better version of the maxim from Nigel Botterill; he added a perfect at the beginning. ‘Perfect practice makes perfect’. And of course this makes perfect sense. After all, that’s why I have drum lessons because my teacher will ensure that I am practising correctly; even down to the way I hold my sticks.
But better still, and therefore more valid, I think, is something I heard Tim Henman say when he was commentating on a match that Andy Murray was playing at Wimbledon. It covers the real truth and benefit of practice. ‘Practice makes permanent’, he said. And that really is the key. Whatever you practise, good or bad, it becomes permanent. And it is exactly the same with us as business owners.
As a business mentor often it is the business owner who has been in business for a good number of years which is the hardest to help. Why? Because they are set in their ways. Practice has made what they do permanent. And, as any tennis coach will tell you, it is very hard to change a bad swing; sometimes impossible. The only chance is if there is a real willingness to change and then a great deal of practice!
So, if you are new to business, or been around a few years, is what you are doing, what you practise each day, what is becoming a habit, good for your business? Because, if not, you could be damaging the very success of your business in the long term.
It’s something I think we all need to think about very carefully!
