You get really good at what you practise.
I learned about this concept from Dandapani's book.
He calls it The Law of Practice.
It sounds simple.
It is simple.
But it can change how you look at your life.
Because it explains two things:
- why you become good at things that are not conducive to your growth
- and how you can become good at things that are conducive to your growth
What is “practice”?
Practice is doing something repeatedly, over a long period of time.
That’s it.
Not once.
Not “when you feel like it.”
Repeatedly. Over time.
What is The Law of Practice?
As Dandapani puts it:
"Whatever it is you practice is that which you become good at."
- If you practise writing every day, you become good at writing.
- If you practise lifting weights every day, you become good at lifting weights.
- If you practise playing the violin every day, you become good at playing the violin.
When you repeatedly do something, you create a pattern of doing it in your subconscious.
The more you practise something:
- the better you get at doing it
- and the stronger the pattern you create in your subconscious
That’s why time matters.
If you write for 30 minutes every day for a month, you’ll get good at writing.
If you write for 30 minutes every day for a year, you’ll get really good at writing.
If you write for 30 minutes every day for five years, you become an experienced writer.
Same practice.
More time.
Stronger pattern.
Better results.
Why you become good at things that are not conducive to your growth
The Law of Practice does not care if what you practise is good for you.
If you practise negative things—things that are not conducive to your growth—you become really good at those negative things.
If you practise positive things—things that are conducive to your growth—you become really good at those positive things.
This is why the law is powerful.
It can make you ask a simple question:
What am I practising every day?
- Some people practise writing.
- Some people practise weightlifting.
- Some people practise playing an instrument.
- Some people practise focus.
- Some people practise distraction.
- Some people practise anger.
And they get good at it.
Sometimes because they want to.
Sometimes even when they don’t want to.
Why? Because they practise it—knowingly or unknowingly.
How can you become good at things that are conducive to your growth?
First, choose something that is conducive to your growth.
It can be something that moves you toward a specific goal.
Then implement the two essentials of practising.
The two essentials of practising
Dandapani highlights two essentials:
- practising the right way
- consistency
Both matter.
1) Practising the right way (technique)
Practising the right way means doing the thing you are practising using the right technique.
Because if you practise something with bad technique:
- you get really good at doing it with bad technique
- and you may not get the results you want
If you practise something with the right technique:
- you get really good at doing it with the right technique
- and you may get the results you want
Practicing a thing makes you good at the way you do the thing.
So the way must be right.
2) Consistency
Consistency means doing the thing you are practising, repeatedly, over a long period of time.
This creates a strong, lasting pattern in your subconscious.
The simple sequence
If you want results, follow this sequence:
Learn → Practise (consistently) → Results
- Learn: Learn how to do the thing with the right technique.
- Practise (consistently): Do the thing with the right technique, repeatedly, over a long period of time.
- Results: Doing the thing the right way, repeatedly, over a long period of time, will get you the results you want.
An example
Say your goal is a more muscular, defined back.
And you want to do pull-ups since it’ll move you towards your goal.
If you learn pull-ups with the wrong technique and practise them with the wrong technique:
- you get really good at doing pull-ups with the wrong technique
- and you don’t get the results you want
If you learn pull-ups with the right technique and practise them with the right technique:
- you get really good at doing pull-ups with the right technique
- and you get the results you want
Same exercise.
Different technique.
Different result.
How and Why I'm implementing this
At this phase of my life, one of the things I am practising a lot is writing—with a specific technique.
I write 9+ hours every week.
One reason I’m doing this is because I trust the Law of Practice:
- If I do this for 6 months, I’ll be good at writing.
- If I do this for 1 year, I’ll be really good at writing.
My newsletter articles will be better.
My LinkedIn posts will be better.
I’ll be able to earn people’s trust.
And then I’ll be able to create or attract opportunities I can monetise.
Why?
Because I’m practising. Repeatedly. Over time.
Your turn
Here’s the practical part.
Investigate your practices.
Ask yourself:
- What am I practising every day?
- Is it conducive to my growth, or not conducive to my growth?
- Am I practising it the right way?
- Am I practising it consistently?
Then choose the next step:
If you are practising it the right way: keep practising it consistently.
If you are practising it the wrong way: go back, learn the right way, then practise it consistently.
That’s how you'll get what you want.
By practising the things that will get you what you want, the right way, consistently.
Thanks for reading,
Yuvraj Mehta.
How I developed my understanding of this concept
