Practice is a word I repeatedly use – personally and professionally.
I tell our daughter to practice her guitar, writing and spelling, maths, and dance routines.
When she gets frustrated and announces that she can’t do something, I respond with that magic word “yet.”
“You can’t do it yet; you need to practice.”
In my business, my mantra is practice, practice, practice – writing, media messaging and public speaking.
Choose quantity over quality first. Do it more frequently, get comfortable and creative. Then, focus on improving quality (I recall reading a similar sentiment on LinkedIn; apologies, I can’t remember who to credit).
I believe in practice rather than talent because my parents, who I now think were ahead of their time.
They emphasised that most good things in life come from perseverance. In their minds, education, achievements and even relationship success resulted from effort and not giving up when it got hard (they practice what they preached and recently celebrated 50 years of marriage).
They believed in cultivating qualities like discipline and resilience. They taught us to embrace challenges and learn from failures—all attributes that I now know are essential for long-term success.
They taught me to persist. It shaped my thinking and ability to solve problems.
I don’t know if was deliberate, but I like to think they gave me the best gift – a growth mindset.
It is one of the greatest gifts you can give anyone, including yourself.
The downside is that I have never believed I have any natural talent and would have liked to be good at something (preferably singing; I always hoped to be discovered as a long-lost Minogue sister, alas it’s not to be).
What I do know is that what I lack in talent, I can learn. I can give consistent effort and try to improve.
So can anyone else. The concept of deliberate practice underscores this. This is why I also offer guidance as a coach or mentor.
Sometimes, you need one-on-one feedback as you practice and make incremental improvements towards competence and confidence.
Talent may provide a head start, but without sustained effort, its potential remains unrealised.
Practice enables focused learning of a skill. It allows you to achieve your goals.
And there is always time to learn a new skill.