10,000 HOURS: The Awesome Power of Passion, Practice, and Persistence
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>SIMPLICITY and SUCCESS:
Creating What Matters MOST in Life & Work
Vol. 4, #12, October 18, 2006 All rights reserved.
Bruce Elkin: Personal/Professional Life/Success Coach for 20 Years
http://www.BruceElkin.com
Sent to confirmed subscribers only. List is never shared or sold!
>View current & back issues of my full newsletter on my blog at
http://createwhatmattersmost.blogspot.com/
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“Find some you really care about —
and live a life that shows it."
— Kate Wolf
Hi all,
Fall is slowly sliding over southern Vancouver Island. It's a lovely sunny day as I write, but the weekend was foggy, dull, and rainy, and the forecast is for rain midweek, followed by sun next weekend.
I find the crisp, clean air brings with it increased energy and focus.
As the days shorten, we tend to reflect more than in the carefree days of summer. For many, fall is a time to reexamine where they are, and where they want to go. It can also be a time of intensified learning and growth.
This week's focus is about making the best of this reflective time by looking at ways to turn your ideas and insights into action—and results that matter.
It is about the awesome power of passion, practice, and persistence, and how integrating those elements through focused effort and energy can turn your most desired visions into reality.
Enjoy!
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>1. 10,000 HOURS!
The Awesome Power Of Passion, Practice, And Persistence
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Did you know that participants in the opening and closing ceremonies at the Turin Olympics practiced their routines 11,000 times?
Or that the figure skaters who competed in Turin had practiced each element in their routines 14,000 times?
Did you know that Buddhist monks who score off the scale for compassion, and who have parts of their neo-cortex that most of us do not yet have, sat in meditation for over 10,000 hours?
There is an awesome power in practice and persistence, and the source of that power is passion. To practice that long and hard, you have to love what you do.
But passion is not enough. Vision without action can be just daydreaming.
It is practice and persistence that translates the power of passion into successful results. And maybe a bit of luck, but luck too comes from practice.
Take Ben Hogan, for example. There's a story about the legendary golfer who was interviewed by a reporter after winning a major tournament.
"Mr. Hogan," said the reporter, "You were under amazing pressure in this tourney yet you consistently hit remarkable shots. How do you do it?"
"Hmm," said the laconic Hogan, "I suppose I'm just lucky."
"Just luck?" said the reporter. "But you practice more than any player on the tour."
"Well," said Hogan, "I guess the more I practice, the luckier I get."
Practice is key to growth and mastery. And mastery is key to consistently producing results that matter. And, says an old Aikido saying, the master is the one who stays on the mat five minutes longer than anybody else.
Although he was rich in natural talent, Wayne Gretzky, the "Great One" of Canadian hockey fame, was first on and last off the ice from the time he started playing until he retired. He translated his talent into success through passion, practice, and persistence.
You can do the same. Maybe not at hockey, but at what you really love.
So, what DO you love?
What brings you fully alive and engaged? Or used to, before you got jaded and tired? What really gives you juice? What do you MOST want to create?
Yes, I know, I have asked these questions before. And maybe it did not help.
People tell me, "I know what I am are passionate about, but I do not know how to go about doing it." Or, "I do not have enough time. Or money. Or confidence." Or, often, "Somebody or something gets in my way."
When asked about passion, many are quick with such "Yeah, but…" comebacks. Is that you? Or someone you know?
If so, it might be because you operate mostly of out a "fixed" mindset, rather than a "growth" mindset.
In her new book, MINDSET: The New Psychology of Success, Stanford professor Carol Dweck identifies 2 different mindsets (or belief structures) that play critical roles in whether we succeed at what matters to us, or not.
People working with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence, talents, and abilities are fixed traits. You have it or you do not. Nothing can be done to change it.
Because they believe their traits are fixed, people with fixed mindsets focus on proving that they are talented and able. They hide weaknesses from others, and themselves. They close themselves off from learning new ways of doing things, and from growing their talents and abilities focus and effort.
People with a growth mindset believe their intelligence, talents, and abilities can be developed through passion, practice, and persistence. They do not have to prove they are smart or able. They can risk failing and looking foolish because they know growth and change are possible. And that failure is really only feedback.
For them, it is not about looking smart, or grooming an image. It is about learning what it takes to create the results they most want. They are passionate about the results they want to produce, and passionate about learning how to do so.
In short, they believe passion-driven practice and persistence will lead to improved abilities, increased talent, and successful results. And, they're right! They do.
And here is the good news. You, too, can learn to work from a growth mindset.
If you do, you will likely create success far beyond that which you have been able to create so far. And the growth mindset is not hard to learn!
Managers who were taught the growth mindset in 90-minute workshops succeeded in shifting from a fixed to a growth mindset, and sustained their results.
In the workshops, they read an article and watched a video about how the brain changes and grows with learning. Then they were asked to do 4 things:
• Think of 3 reasons why it is important to think that ability can be developed;
• Recall an area where you developed an ability, and explain how you made that change;
• Email a hypothetical protégé about how ability can be developed, and
• Bring to mind times when you saw someone learn to do something you did not think the person could do, and think about how that happened, and what it means.
If you want to succeed at what matters, I suggest you try these 4 techniques yourself. And do not just do it once or twice and quit.
Keep at it until you notice yourself changing, and then keep at it until the growth mindset becomes your new go-to habit.
When it does, you will be able to harness passion, practice, and persistence in the service of your deepest desires and highest aspirations, confident you can learn what it takes to make them a reality.
And I doubt that it will take you 10,00 hours.
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Bruce Elkin is a writer and internationally known Personal, Professional, and Organizational Life/Work Renewal Coach. Get his eNewsletter at http://www.bruceelkin.com/free.html For more info, visit BruceElkin.com and http://createwhatmattersmost.blogspot.com
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> 2. "COACHING for CREATING WHAT MATTERS MOST!"
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- Feeling stuck? Stalled? Drifting?
- In transition? Not sure what to do next?
- Facing complicated challenges with no real organizing framework?
Would you like to be:
* Clear about what most deeply matters to you?
* Able to create results that support what matters?
* Able to do more with less stress and striving?
* Feel on track and moving toward desired results --
in spite of problems, circumstances, and adversity?
* Feel free, energized, and full of zest for life, work, or whatever…?
> If so, my CREATING WHAT MATTERS MOST coaching approach can help you develop the SKILLS, STRUCTURE, AND SUPPORT to find what you really love –- and create a life (and work) that shows it.
> Check out my f.r.e.e 45-minute coaching consultation:
"My friend got your info and had a mini-coaching session with
you and said it was amazing. Can I do a session?"
- A. M., Victoria, BC
> I am interviewing now for late October and November. I have only a couple of openings left. FOR INFO, e-mail me at Bruce@BruceElkin.com with "Coaching Package" as the subject.
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3. FROM MY BOOKSHELF
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THE GROWTH MINDSET, by Carol Dweck. Random House, NY (2006)
Changing your mind can change your life. Dweck's book can help you do both. The theory is pretty simple: people with fixed mindsets struggle; people with growth mindsets learn and thrive.
Dweck backs up her theory with 20 years of research, and shows how it applies to ordinary individuals, to school kids and university students, to elite athletes, and to managers.
Don't expect detailed instructions on how to succeed in specific areas. This is about high-level generic skills and structure you need to develop your own skills, intelligence, and talent in any area.
Easy to read, easy to apply, I recommend it highly.
> 4. OTHER RESOURCES I RECOMMEND:
==============================
> * THE SOUNDER SLEEP SYSTEM:
Can’t sleep? Need help relaxing and drifting off?
Get THE INSOMNIA SOLUTION by Michael Krugman. it’s a great book
on how to get the deep, restful sleep you crave. I use MP3 files in which Michael teaches soothing, restful guided exercises. For info, got to http://www.soundersleep.com/start.php?mpuid=1215
* MARKETING AND WEBSITE TOOLS:
Thinking about upgrading your website and marketing
approach? I've used these products with great results and
recommend them without reservation.
* For info or to purchase a copy of THE WEBSITE TOOLKIT,
please go to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=73714
* THE ACTION PLAN TOOL KIT can make designing and
implementing a marketing plan easier, effective, and fun.
Go to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=73714
* A GREAT NEWSLETTER BY AN EX-CLIENT OF MINE:
If you are interested in Health, Environment, and Negotiation,
please check out the eNewsletter HEN. Written by Julia
Menard, a Victoria-based coach, and mediation expert, HEN is
an excellent source of info. E-mail
with "sub.scribe HEN Musings" in the subject line.
* FR.EE VALUES and HAPPINESS ASSESSMENT:
Martin Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness, offers an
excellent way to support you in creating happiness in daily life.
Go to www.authentichappiness.org and do his Values-in-Action
Signature Strengths Survey. it will help you increase your authentic
happiness. I do it. It works.
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> 5. SPEECHES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS:
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I am available to do keynotes, seminars, or workshops for
your organization or team on subjects such as:
• What’s Next? Renewing & Re-Creating Life and Career
• Making it Flow: Integrating Life and Work
• Emotional Mastery: Manage Your Moods and
Create What Matters—With Whatever Life Gives You!
> Call 250-537-1177 or e-mail me to discuss your needs.
> 6. THE LAST WORD: QUOTABLE QUOTES
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"The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it's not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives."
-- Carol Dweck
“Not only is practice necessary to art, it is art.”
-- Stephen Nachmanovitch
"The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it, put your whole soul into it -- every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have."
-- John D. Rockefeller III
"Inspiration grows into full-scale creation through persistence and imagination."
-- Carol Lloyd
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> THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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THANKS for forwarding my newsletter and short posts. I appreciate your support. New subscribers are vital in keeping the newsletter alive and thriving. We have had a net increase of over 125 subscribers since the end of July. So thank you so much for your support.
If you received this from a friend, and like it, please sign up for your own sub at http://www.bruceelkin.com/newsletter.html
You’ll also get some neat fr.ee gift.s!
All the best!
Bruce
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>BRUCE ELKIN: Personal/Professional Results & Renewal Coach
Author:- Simplicity & Success: Creating the Life You Long For
- Emotional Mastery: Manage Your Moods & Create What
Matters--With Whatever Life Gives You
> http://www.BruceElkin.com 250-388.7210 Skype Me!
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All material herein is copyright © Bruce Elkin, 2006.
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posted by BruceElkin.com @ 4:40 PM
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