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You Need a Strategy AudioChapter from The Art of Practice AudioBook by Peter Hollins
The Art of Practice: Accelerate Your Learning, Quickly Build Expertise, and Perform Like a Pro (Learning how to Learn Book 25) By: Peter Hollins
00:00:00 The art of practice.
00:02:15 The Deliberate Practice Roadmap
00:16:59 Slow Practice
00:21:26 Understanding Energy Levels
00:30:46 Embrace the Growth Mindset
00:31:57 Be Aware of Cognitive Biases
00:35:31 The Stages of Mastery
00:51:49 The Zone of Proximal Development
01:01:02 Seek out a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)
01:03:33 The Yerkes–Dodson Law
01:12:19 Find the Optimal Challenge Level
01:13:02 Manage Stress and Avoid Extremes
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPF4ZX9L
Discover why some people progress 100x faster than others, and how you can harness those secrets.
Whatever you want to do or accomplish, there is always going to be a learning curve. The question is - can you overcome it quickly enough to get to your goals? Or will the slow progress make you give up?
Refine your practice strategy to reach your potential in record time.
The Art of Practice is a book from renowned learning expert Peter Hollins that simply deconstructs the entire process and gives you an easy step-by-step process to go from novice to expert. You'll learn that it's not about talent or genetics; rather it is about strategy and tactics. Memorizing the phone book is doable for EVERYONE if you know the best way to do it. When you learn to unlock the art of practice, you unlock the rest of your life because all of your goals will be within reach.
You'll learn how to keep up your motivation, focus, and self-discipline as well.
Save months and years. Seriously.
Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with a multitude of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience.
Scientifically-proven methods that your brain will appreciate.
What a perpetual beginner's mindset can do for you and your excitement and motivation
How to calibrate your energy levels, and maintain the optimal level of challenge for your upskilling
Adaptability and understanding the role of expectations, process, and flexibility
How backward and forward chaining can unlock your brain's preference for learning and memorization
The mindset of focusing on flaws and putting them under a microscope and how to do it while keeping positive
#DeliberatePractice #GrowthMindset #JohnDodsonTyler #LearningStyle #ManageStress #NaivePractice #OptimalChallengeLevel #PracticeOrder #ProximalDevelopment #LevVygotsky #PurposefulPractice #RobertYerkes #SlowPractice #WilliamShort #YerkesDodsonLaw #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #TheArtofPractice
Transcript
The art of practice. Accelerate your learning, quickly build experience, and
Speaker:perform like a pro. Written by Peter Hollins, narrated by Russell Newton.
Speaker:Maybe you looked at the title of this book and wondered, “How to practice?
Speaker:How to practice what?”
Speaker:Therein lies the whole problem.
Speaker:When it comes to learning anything new—whether that’s an instrument,
Speaker:a sport, a new academic subject, a language, or some new technical
Speaker:skill—many of us start with what seems like an obvious first step - the material itself.
Speaker:We dive in, follow any pre-made curriculums set before us, and hope
Speaker:that whatever talent and intelligence we have is enough to see us through.
Speaker:In other words, we have absolutely zero strategy.
Speaker:In one word, this book is about just that - strategy.
Speaker:It’s about learning about learning and making sure that when it comes to growth and development,
Speaker:we are not leaving things to chance, but consciously, deliberately creating
Speaker:an experience that will carry us from where we are to where we want to be.
Speaker:If you picked up this book, chances are there is something you are currently trying to learn.
Speaker:Whatever it is, however, your path to mastery will tend to take some predictable twists and turns.
Speaker:That’s because human beings tend to learn in predictable ways.
Speaker:Understand these ways, and you understand how to structure your efforts in learning.
Speaker:The good news is that, ultimately, intelligence, talent, and even passion only take you so far.
Speaker:And you definitely don’t need “ten thousand hours” either.
Speaker:A solid plan of attack, the right mindset,
Speaker:and plenty of contingency planning will carry you a lot further than any raw aptitude.
Speaker:And these are all things that you can learn.
Speaker:The Deliberate Practice Roadmap
Speaker:Let’s meet Ellie, who wants to learn to paint better.
Speaker:She has loads of natural talent and has been arty all her life, but she works as an estate agent,
Speaker:and combined with parenting two kids, there’s not a lot of time to devote to the painting dream.
Speaker:People have always praised her work,
Speaker:but if she’s honest, Ellie is afraid that she doesn’t have “what it takes."
Speaker:Sometimes, late at night she’ll steal an hour or two to herself
Speaker:to sit with a sketchbook and some watercolors.
Speaker:This is pretty relaxing, but she’s more or less doing the same thing she always
Speaker:does and knows deep down that this time isn’t really making her a better artist.
Speaker:One day she takes a leap and signs up with a local class and commits to a course that
Speaker:will force her to enter a professional portfolio for her final assessment.
Speaker:With a real goal on the horizon, she feels suddenly fired up to really push herself.
Speaker:She starts to realize she’ll have to up the ante and get serious about all the
Speaker:skills she hasn’t yet mastered, and exactly how she can work toward them step by step.
Speaker:The evenings spent doodling won’t cut it anymore!
Speaker:Soon, she hits a wall again, though.
Speaker:She’s following her course curriculum and learning day by day, but she needs more help
Speaker:seeing around her blind spots—in other words, she needs a mentor.
Speaker:Another painter who is doing the kind of work she wants to do; someone who can work
Speaker:with her and give her guidance, support, and professional feedback she can really work with.
Speaker:Ellie finds a painting coach and, within a year, is astonished at how far she’s come.
Speaker:Not only has she completed her course and submitted a portfolio,
Speaker:but her technique and range have gone further than she ever imagined,
Speaker:and she is soon in the process of organizing her first exhibit at a local gallery.
Speaker:Looking back, she sees that the problem wasn’t a lack of talent or passion for the craft.
Speaker:It wasn’t even a lack of practice because,
Speaker:after all, Ellie had spent an hour or two every day for years on her painting.
Speaker:Rather, the problem was simply a poor approach and a lack of an organized,
Speaker:intentional method for learning.
Speaker:Practice is important, but not all practice is created equal.
Speaker:There are three different types of practice - naive practice, purposeful practice,
Speaker:and deliberate practice, each representing varying levels of effectiveness in skill improvement.
Speaker:1. Naive Practice - This is the most common type of practice where
Speaker:individuals go through the motions but without specific goals or challenges.
Speaker:They perform tasks in the same way repeatedly without pushing themselves to improve.
Speaker:This was Ellie in the evenings after the kids had gone to bed
Speaker:and she had some time to doodle and paint.
Speaker:This kind of practice does not typically lead to
Speaker:significant progress beyond a certain acceptable level of performance.
Speaker:In Ellie’s case, her innate talent had taken her to a particular level,
Speaker:and her daily practice was more or less maintaining her there.
Speaker:2. Purposeful Practice - Purposeful practice is an improvement over naive practice.
Speaker:It involves setting specific and measurable goals, focusing intently on the task at hand,
Speaker:seeking feedback, and pushing oneself beyond one’s comfort zone.
Speaker:This was Ellie realizing she needed to give herself
Speaker:a push and sign up for a challenge—the art course.
Speaker:Purposeful practice allows for small,
Speaker:incremental improvements that lead to more significant advancements over time.
Speaker:For hobbyists, this level may be sufficient.
Speaker:But you certainly don’t have to stop here.
Speaker:3. Deliberate Practice - Deliberate practice is the most effective form
Speaker:of practice, and it’s primarily applied in well-established and competitive fields.
Speaker:It involves purposeful practice but adds two essential elements - a
Speaker:well-defined and rigorous field with clear distinctions between experts and novices,
Speaker:and a skilled coach who can provide tailored practice strategies and feedback.
Speaker:Deliberate practice is informed and guided by the accomplishments
Speaker:of expert performers and has a clear roadmap for improvement.
Speaker:For Ellie, this meant getting a painting coach
Speaker:to work directly with her in a way she could never achieve on her own.
Speaker:Deliberate practice is a highly effective method for rapid skill improvement.
Speaker:It entails intense and structured practice
Speaker:focusing on essential aspects of the skill being mastered.
Speaker:The goal is to extend one's capabilities and push beyond current limits.
Speaker:You’ll see this kind of endeavor whenever you see professional athletes, musicians,
Speaker:performers, or creatives of all kinds aiming for the very highest levels of output.
Speaker:But deliberate practice is not just for celebrities and superstars—it can help you, too.
Speaker:Deliberate practice is not really a what, but a how.
Speaker:It’s like having a clear roadmap for your own development.
Speaker:Learning of this intensity happens outside your comfort zone—because that’s the point.
Speaker:Expanding yourself beyond your current abilities takes a willingness to
Speaker:constantly stretch and challenge yourself to something bigger than your current reality.
Speaker:It involves clear and specific goals aimed at improving particular aspects of performance.
Speaker:Complete focus and conscious actions are required, not just passive adherence to instructions,
Speaker:and certainly not just waiting for inspiration or doing what feels easy or comfortable.
Speaker:Feedback is essential, with learners progressively learning to self-assess and adjust their efforts.
Speaker:Deliberate practice often involves refining previously acquired skills
Speaker:by honing specific aspects of those skills.
Speaker:Ultimately, it leads to transformation and significant personal growth through
Speaker:deep engagement in the training process.
Speaker:Well, first things first - perhaps this roadmap metaphor needs a little further explanation.
Speaker:The “road” to mastery is not straight.
Speaker:It’s more like one of those roads you find leading into airport parking lots—it spirals up and up,
Speaker:covering the same ground over and over again, but each time at a higher level.
Speaker:An important part of this process is your teacher (or something/someone
Speaker:who acts like a teacher) who can initiate you properly into that “virtuous cycle."
Speaker:This is what that looks like -
Speaker:1. Find a Teacher or Substitute Teacher - To engage in deliberate practice effectively,
Speaker:having a teacher or coach is essential.
Speaker:The right person can provide guidance,
Speaker:help you set specific goals, and offer useful feedback you can act on.
Speaker:If a direct coach is unavailable, that’s no problem.
Speaker:Instead find an expert in your field to study and emulate.
Speaker:Use them to help you set small, concrete goals and establish your own feedback mechanism.
Speaker:Let’s say you want to study piano - Seek guidance from a piano teacher who can assess your current
Speaker:level, provide tailored instruction, and set specific goals for improvement.
Speaker:If access to a teacher is limited, consider learning from online resources
Speaker:or studying the performances of skilled pianists to emulate their techniques.
Speaker:You can guess that a big part of getting this step right is making sure that the people you
Speaker:identify truly are masters, not just in their work, but with the teaching process itself.
Speaker:An experienced piano teacher, for example, may be a better bet than a distinguished
Speaker:concert pianist who doesn’t know the first thing about teaching.
Speaker:2. Assess Your Limits - Using the help of your teacher, identify the boundaries of
Speaker:your current skill level by recognizing your weaknesses or areas for improvement.
Speaker:If you can, do this without judgment or negativity—just
Speaker:get really neutral and factual about it.
Speaker:(We’ll cover mindset in the next chapter.)
Speaker:For example, evaluate your piano playing to identify areas that need improvement,
Speaker:such as finger dexterity, rhythm, sight-reading, or playing complex musical pieces.
Speaker:Ask your teacher to assess you and identify areas you most need to focus on right now.
Speaker:They may see something you don’t—for example,
Speaker:the fact that a big obstacle is not your technique, but your confidence with performing.
Speaker:3. Set a Reaching SMART Goal - Inspired by these identified limits,
Speaker:choose a specific skill to develop and set a goal just beyond your current capabilities,
Speaker:so you challenge yourself without feeling overwhelmed.
Speaker:For example, choose a specific aspect of piano playing that you want to enhance, like improving
Speaker:finger coordination or working on breathing so you’re less nervous during a performance.
Speaker:Set a SMART goal (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-limited),
Speaker:but choose something that stretches your abilities
Speaker:while remaining achievable within a reasonable time frame.
Speaker:In other words, don’t aim too small.
Speaker:4. Practice with Focus - Armed with this insight, your practice can actually mean something.
Speaker:Engage in focused practice, giving your complete attention to the task you’ve identified.
Speaker:Pour all your energy and attention into it until you’ve achieved the goal.
Speaker:In our piano example, this might mean daily practice sessions where you focus intently on
Speaker:proper hand positioning, dynamics, and accuracy while playing. Or perhaps you gradually expose
Speaker:yourself to playing in front of others until you feel comfortable and confident doing so.
Speaker:Whatever it is, your practice is focused—you apply yourself
Speaker:to whatever brings you closer to your goal, and only on that.
Speaker:5. Get Feedback - Use a feedback mechanism, ideally from a skilled teacher or coach,
Speaker:to assess your performance relative to your goals and to identify areas for improvement.
Speaker:For example, you seek feedback from your piano teacher (or hey,
Speaker:if they’re like the piano teachers I know, they’ll let you know!).
Speaker:You could alternatively use recordings to self-evaluate
Speaker:your progress and pinpoint areas that require further attention.
Speaker:And then, because we’re on a spiral road that never really ends, we feed straight
Speaker:back into the next step - identifying limits and gaps in knowledge or mastery.
Speaker:How well did you do?
Speaker:Let’s say you achieved nine out of ten goals.
Speaker:Have a little celebration and then—you guessed it—get to work on making that final
Speaker:unachieved goal the sole focus of your practice from that point on.
Speaker:That is, unless you get frustrated/overwhelmed/depressed/bored
Speaker:and decide to drive off the spiral road and put yourself out of your misery.
Speaker:That may be an exaggeration, but you get the point - One of the biggest
Speaker:problems with learning is maintaining motivation.
Speaker:It’s essential to push against the tendency to become complacent and lose the drive to progress.
Speaker:People often stop pushing themselves when they feel they are "good enough" (Nine out of ten?
Speaker:That’s great, isn’t it?) and opt for relaxation over further improvement.
Speaker:To stay motivated, weakening reasons to quit and reinforcing reasons to continue is crucial.
Speaker:That’s going to change with each loop on the road.
Speaker:Strategies for maintaining motivation include staying physically active and getting enough
Speaker:sleep, eliminating distractions, forming a habit around practice,
Speaker:setting time limits to avoid burnout, celebrating achievements, committing to overcoming plateaus,
Speaker:and forming a supportive group of like-minded individuals to provide
Speaker:mutual motivation. We’ll explore these strategies and more in subsequent chapters.
Speaker:Slow Practice
Speaker:Slow practice is a fundamental technique used in learning and development—often in music.
Speaker:The main principle involves playing passages of music at a slower tempo than intended
Speaker:and gradually increasing the speed with each repetition until the correct tempo is achieved.
Speaker:This method helps in several aspects of musicianship, such as fingering,
Speaker:technique, articulation, and understanding the melodic and harmonic structure of the music.
Speaker:The only snag is that most students tend to hate slow practice!
Speaker:It can get boring, and the tendency to want to rush and get to the end is strong.
Speaker:This usually comes down to focusing too much on the outcome (how awesome
Speaker:you’re going to look shredding that violin) and
Speaker:not on the process of plodding slowly through a sequence again and again.
Speaker:The unavoidable fact is, however, that learning takes place in the process, not the outcome.
Speaker:To use slow practice effectively, discipline is essential.
Speaker:The process requires commitment and patience.
Speaker:By consistently practicing at a slower pace,
Speaker:the piece becomes ingrained in both the fingers and the mind, leading to better performance.
Speaker:American bassoonist William Short is someone who
Speaker:has embraced the slow practice as a valuable learning tool.
Speaker:He starts at a slow pace and gradually increases it in subsequent repetitions.
Speaker:While this is happening, he is focused mentally on precision and deep comprehension of the music.
Speaker:Every time he speeds up a tiny bit,
Speaker:he drills that sequence and cements it into his body and mind a little further.
Speaker:You don’t have to be a musician to benefit from this method, though.
Speaker:Take a look -
Speaker:How to Apply Slow Practice
Speaker:Step 1.
Speaker:Uh, go slowly
Speaker:Whether it’s a golf swing, your elevator pitch, a dance move,
Speaker:or an athletic maneuver, run through the task as a sequence, doing it very slowly to start.
Speaker:Your pace should allow you to remain relaxed and alert,
Speaker:and you should perform at the level you are able to maintain perfect form.
Speaker:You don’t want to make even a teeny tiny mistake here.
Speaker:If you do, slow it down even further—the right speed is often way slower than you think.
Speaker:Repeat a few times.
Speaker:Step 2.
Speaker:Try it full speed
Speaker:Once you’re comfortable doing it slowly, dial up the speed to the ordinary performance level.
Speaker:Do a natural golf swing, try that deadlift, or attempt a triple pirouette.
Speaker:Now, as a warning - this might go spectacularly well, and it might ...not.
Speaker:It doesn’t matter.
Speaker:Your goal is not to deliver perfection but just expose yourself to what the goal speed is.
Speaker:If it’s a disaster, stop.
Speaker:There’s no point doing it again and inadvertently training that disaster.
Speaker:If you do well, give it a few more attempts.
Speaker:Step 3.
Speaker:Stop and assess
Speaker:Finally, you want to actually evaluate what happened.
Speaker:Go beyond whether it worked or didn’t,
Speaker:and ask exactly what worked and, more importantly, why did it work?
Speaker:What was a little weak?
Speaker:The point of narrowing in on these things is that you can then repeat the process,
Speaker:starting again with slow practice,
Speaker:but this time focus on that one little tricky bit (yup, we’re on the spiral road again!).
Speaker:The next time you try it at full speed, it will be different.
Speaker:Ask how it’s different, make adjustments, and repeat.
Speaker:Understanding Energy Levels
Speaker:Let’s say that you have a passion for the bassoon so vast and all-consuming
Speaker:that it leaves your friends and family a little baffled.
Speaker:You have a picture of a good-looking bassoon hanging up in your room and
Speaker:a tiny pencil on your desk shaped like a bassoon.
Speaker:You are a devoted disciple and show up diligently
Speaker:to your bassoon lesson every day without fail, scarcely able to contain yourself.
Speaker:To start off the two-hour lesson, you begin with a few scales (easy
Speaker:peasy) and some warmup exercises (you don’t really need a warmup,
Speaker:though; your heart is just always on fire for the bassoon, obviously).
Speaker:But your teacher is a methodical person and wants you to work through the exercise book.
Speaker:So you do the exercises, and with ease.
Speaker:Then about an hour and twenty minutes into the lesson,
Speaker:you’re ready to start with the good stuff - the Sonata in F Minor by Telemann.
Speaker:The opening of the second movement is a thing of sublime beauty, you feel.
Speaker:You hear it in your dreams at night.
Speaker:It’s a great piece, but it’s also really, really difficult.
Speaker:You tackle it confidently, but by the time you get to the second movement,
Speaker:something awful happens - You get tired.
Speaker:You start out okay, but you soon fumble and quickly lose your pizzazz.
Speaker:A few sad goose noises later and it’s all over.
Speaker:You’re a little bit heartbroken.
Speaker:Your methodical teacher says not to worry, practice makes perfect.
Speaker:He’ll see you tomorrow again, and then you’ll give it another try.
Speaker:But the next day when you sit down, he opens the exercise book once more
Speaker:and asks you to begin at the beginning, with the same old scales and warmup exercises ...
Speaker:You can see what’s happening.
Speaker:The person in our example has high motivation (uh, suspiciously high motivation) to play the bassoon.
Speaker:And yet, this doesn’t help them avoid the natural fatigue that comes with practice and learning.
Speaker:Energy isn’t infinite.
Speaker:In fact our energy levels rise and fall in a predictable pattern,
Speaker:and if we wish to make the best use of that limited energy,
Speaker:we need to be strategic (there’s that word again!) and plan our activities accordingly.
Speaker:In practice sessions, there are three types of energy to consider,
Speaker:and it's important to learn how to invest in each of them properly.
Speaker:Your energy tends to be high at the start of a practice session, and steadily fall.
Speaker:Your current maximum skill level tends to stay constant.
Speaker:Usually, traditional lessons and practice sessions start slow and build up so that your maximum skill
Speaker:level is reached only after quite some time has passed—i.e., after you’re already getting tired.
Speaker:People who excel at high-quality practice tend to practice new and
Speaker:difficult skills either at the beginning or middle of their session instead,
Speaker:avoiding the end where they might have lower energy.
Speaker:In other words, they reverse the conventional order and
Speaker:start with the most challenging thing first.
Speaker:The above diagram basically shows us that there are two energy modes - high-value energy,
Speaker:which is focused and active, and low-value energy, which is passive and less productive.
Speaker:High-value energy is available at the beginning
Speaker:and stays until approximately the middle of the practice session.
Speaker:From that point on, low-value energy takes over,
Speaker:and it lacks the necessary focus and productivity for effective progress.
Speaker:The current maximum skill level refers to the highest level of
Speaker:difficulty that a person can achieve in performing a skill at the present moment.
Speaker:It is unique to each individual and represents the edge of their abilities,
Speaker:where they are pushing themselves to their limit but are still capable of handling the challenge.
Speaker:The "new-level skill" is given priority and takes up a significant portion of
Speaker:practice time, either during the "high-value" or "good-value" phase.
Speaker:The "high-value" phase serves as an intense warmup
Speaker:to prepare for practicing the new skill effectively.
Speaker:Naturals rarely use the "low-value" phase,
Speaker:and they may stop practicing once they reach this level.
Speaker:However, this doesn't mean they neglect their routines entirely—it’s still a
Speaker:great opportunity to practice things like scales.
Speaker:Naturals prioritize progress and constantly push their limits with harder skills,
Speaker:but they eventually do come back to perfect their routines.
Speaker:Their approach makes it easier to transition from challenging
Speaker:skills to routines, as energy levels sync well.
Speaker:Of course, it's important not to overdo it or attempt skills far
Speaker:beyond current capabilities—that will just overwhelm and demoralize you.
Speaker:A general guideline is to work at first on skills that are
Speaker:about five to ten percent above the current maximum skill level.
Speaker:It’s that magic place just a few steps outside your comfort zone.
Speaker:If you are doing slow practice as described in the previous section, you might choose to lead
Speaker:every practice session with the single task that you are choosing to focus on.
Speaker:This may be a little confusing,
Speaker:because slow practice rests on the idea of building up to the big thing,
Speaker:while the approach described above encourages you to dive in and do the big thing first.
Speaker:So which is the right way?
Speaker:Look closely and you’ll see that both ways are.
Speaker:So, you might identify the second movement of the sonata as your most important skill to master.
Speaker:This is your “big thing."
Speaker:You make sure you work on this first, when your energy levels are highest.
Speaker:However, the first ten minutes of your lesson may be slow practice again—slowly
Speaker:drilling through that second movement again and again, then doing it at normal speed, etc.
Speaker:It’s essentially the opposite of waiting till late
Speaker:in the lesson to run at full speed through the most difficult task.
Speaker:Here are some more tips to better manage your natural energy levels -
Speaker:Reverse the Practice Order
Speaker:Instead of starting with routine-based skills and gradually increasing difficulty,
Speaker:try reversing the order.
Speaker:Begin with the most challenging skill or technique, using your
Speaker:peak energy and focus at the start of the session.
Speaker:Progress to easier skills as your energy decreases.
Speaker:This way, you can dedicate your high-value energy to pushing
Speaker:your current maximum skill level, leading to more effective progress.
Speaker:One way to structure this is to use the tail end of a practice
Speaker:session for consolidating what’s already been learned earlier on.
Speaker:So, once you’ve already worked on your most challenging skill or technique, you can
Speaker:gradually move it to the later end of the session as you make room for new skills and techniques.
Speaker:Another great thing about this approach is that you’ll be feeling more capable after
Speaker:tackling a challenge and can carry some of that confidence forward.
Speaker:If you have already felt that you can do the big thing, the smaller things that follow
Speaker:will seem even easier and more enjoyable.
Speaker:Do it the other way around, though,
Speaker:and you may just make yourself bored with the easy stuff and intimidated by the hard stuff.
Speaker:Let’s say you’re practicing the violin (that bassoon obsession was a little unhealthy).
Speaker:At the start of your lesson, work on challenging pieces, difficult bowing
Speaker:techniques, or intricate fingerings—whatever it is you’ve identified as your chosen challenge.
Speaker:As your energy gradually decreases, transition to practicing scales or exercises that you
Speaker:have already mastered, using your remaining energy to refine and solidify those skills.
Speaker:Embrace the Growth Mindset
Speaker:Instead of fearing the loss of skills you have already achieved, adopt a growth
Speaker:mindset focused on continuous improvement and everything that you can still learn.
Speaker:Understand that progress requires pushing your boundaries and seeking new challenges.
Speaker:Prioritize improvement over maintaining existing skills,
Speaker:and trust that your routines will improve naturally as you progress.
Speaker:If many of us are honest, we sometimes get a little too comfortable with what we already know.
Speaker:We sit down for an hour to practice something new but only dedicate a tiny fraction of that
Speaker:hour to genuinely new material—the rest may be familiar tasks we run through just
Speaker:because it doesn’t take much effort but still feels like we’re accomplishing something.
Speaker:With a growth mindset, you'll be more open to taking on new, demanding violin pieces
Speaker:and techniques, for example, which will lead to significant progress over time.
Speaker:Be Aware of Cognitive Biases
Speaker:Educate yourself about the cognitive biases that
Speaker:can impact decision-making and progress in practice.
Speaker:Recognizing and understanding these biases
Speaker:can help you make more rational and effective choices in your training.
Speaker:It’s no exaggeration to say that certain unchallenged beliefs and
Speaker:assumptions about learning can be an enormous impediment to learning,
Speaker:canceling out all your effort and intention.
Speaker:The biggest threat is almost never lack of talent or intelligence; more likely it’s
Speaker:another dangerous duo - fear and laziness (which we’ll charitably call “comfort orientation”).
Speaker:Two big biases to watch out for when it comes to better practice are -
Speaker:The anchoring bias, which might lead you to fixate on specific practice routines
Speaker:or techniques that you are used to, even if they are not yielding the desired progress.
Speaker:The human brain tends to overvalue the first piece of information it’s exposed
Speaker:to and place more weight and importance on that.
Speaker:While we can certainly use that to our advantage, a downside of this mental shortcut is that we tend
Speaker:to fall into habits and just passively assume that the habit is the best or only way to do things.
Speaker:In our violin example, you might keep returning to the same old practice books
Speaker:or list of exercises that you’ve stuck with for years just because of the momentum of habit.
Speaker:Your routines and habits may accidentally be just the right ones for you,
Speaker:but without consciously appraising their value, you won’t really know.
Speaker:Getting too attached to any one technique or method may keep you
Speaker:quite limited so that you essentially end up practicing how to be the same—i.e.,
Speaker:stagnation and plateauing are the only natural outcome.
Speaker:Additionally, be cautious of the status quo bias,
Speaker:which could make you reluctant to explore new, more challenging pieces or techniques.
Speaker:Basically, if what you’re doing sort of works, you feel that you might as well
Speaker:maintain the status quo, especially since trying something new may mean more effort and risk.
Speaker:Challenge yourself to break away from familiar routines
Speaker:and be open to trying new approaches and materials to reach higher skill levels.
Speaker:A big caveat is due, however.
Speaker:Bearing in mind the importance of deliberate and strategic practice,
Speaker:it’s worth paying attention to what you schedule to coincide with your highest energy level.
Speaker:You won’t get very far if you don’t already have a clear idea of your long- and medium-term goals,
Speaker:nor will you succeed if you’re not really clear on what your
Speaker:strengths and weaknesses are (that’s where your teacher comes in handy).
Speaker:Returning to our roadmap, we can only “practice with focus” if we
Speaker:have completed the previous step, i.e., “have SMART goals in place."
Speaker:The Stages of Mastery
Speaker:How do human beings learn to do anything new?
Speaker:Have you ever considered what that process is actually like?
Speaker:If you’re like most people, it’s something you’ve never paid much attention to—you
Speaker:may have just taken your ability to learn, develop, and acquire mastery for granted,
Speaker:perhaps only becoming aware of it when it didn’t work as you thought it should.
Speaker:But learning follows predictable and observable patterns.
Speaker:We can develop theories about what learning is and how it unfolds, and then use these theories
Speaker:to help us devise a way of learning that works with our innate nature, rather than vainly tries
Speaker:to push against it (which is not only exhausting and demoralizing, but also really inefficient).
Speaker:The “stages of learning” is one such framework that
Speaker:helps individuals understand their progress in acquiring new skills.
Speaker:The four stages are briefly summarized like this -
Speaker:1. Unconscious incompetence - you don’t know how, and you don’t know that you don’t know
Speaker:2. Conscious incompetence - you don’t know how, but you know that you don’t know
Speaker:3. Conscious competence - you are beginning to know how, and you know it
Speaker:4. Unconscious competence - you know how, but you’re beyond being aware of it
Speaker:Let’s take a closer look.
Speaker:Unconscious incompetence - At this stage, the person lacks awareness
Speaker:of what they need to know or learn to perform a specific skill effectively.
Speaker:They may not even realize that there is a skill they need to develop.
Speaker:Conscious incompetence - In this phase,
Speaker:individuals become aware of the skills they lack and the areas they need to improve.
Speaker:They recognize their incompetence and may feel
Speaker:challenged by the complexity of the skill they are trying to acquire.
Speaker:Conscious competence - At this stage, the person has acquired the
Speaker:skill but requires conscious effort and focus to demonstrate it successfully.
Speaker:They can perform the skill,
Speaker:but it still requires concentration and practice to execute it effectively.
Speaker:Unconscious competence - This is the final stage of learning,
Speaker:where the individual has achieved mastery of the skill.
Speaker:Performing the skill becomes effortless and automatic,
Speaker:requiring no conscious effort or thought.
Speaker:They can combine skills or create unique blends effortlessly.
Speaker:You might be wondering how it helps to know about these four stages.
Speaker:Practical implications of these stages include gaining awareness and self-confidence during the
Speaker:initial learning phase and continuing to practice and refine the skill even in the mastery stage to
Speaker:maintain proficiency and possibly combine it with other skills for even greater expertise.
Speaker:In other words, it’s about pitching your efforts to match the level you’re actually in.
Speaker:Depending on where you are, you will need to focus on different needs and acquire different skills.
Speaker:Let’s take a look at each stage in turn, with an example that will demonstrate just
Speaker:how much a person’s needs and challenges shift as they improve in any chosen task.
Speaker:The task for our example is one that many of us have had to master - driving a car.
Speaker:The first stage is unconscious incompetence—and ignorance is bliss, as they say.
Speaker:You don’t know what you don’t know, and you may completely lack comprehension
Speaker:about just how “bad” you are at the skill, or what it takes to acquire it.
Speaker:In our example, let’s say you’re a plucky teenager who has yet to
Speaker:earn their learner’s permit, and glibly thinks, “Man, driving looks pretty easy.
Speaker:I bet I can get the hang of it in no time.
Speaker:What a waste of time to have to get this stupid learner’s permit first ...”
Speaker:Therein lies one of the biggest risks at this level - overestimating your own abilities.
Speaker:(Isn’t it funny how the people who know the least often think they know the most?
Speaker:That’s not just teenagers, sadly, but most humans!)
Speaker:When you overestimate your abilities or underestimate the size of the challenge,
Speaker:you end up failing to prepare or strategize.
Speaker:The risk then is that you are overwhelmed by the challenge and quit prematurely.
Speaker:First, it’s normal to start out any new project of skill acquisition as a beginner.
Speaker:It’s part of the process to be a total newbie who doesn’t even grasp how much of a newbie they are.
Speaker:That’s worth repeating - It’s normal.
Speaker:If you’ve identified that you’re at this level of your learning,
Speaker:great—there’s no shame in it and it’s not a mistake.
Speaker:Your task is to maintain open-minded curiosity and energy and be willing
Speaker:to learn (that usually means be willing to make a bit of a fool of yourself).
Speaker:What you should focus on -
Speaker:•Enjoy yourself and have fun.
Speaker:Be playful.
Speaker:Don’t get in the car with fear and seriousness—remind
Speaker:yourself that learning should feel like exploring, not like a dreaded chore.
Speaker:•The masters.
Speaker:Identify key players and see what you can learn from them.
Speaker:Don’t worry about yourself just yet—focus on what the experts do when they do the task.
Speaker:Look at how people who have been driving for years drive.
Speaker:•Look for patterns and underlying themes.
Speaker:Ask questions—a lot of questions—and be willing to hear a range of different answers.
Speaker:What you should avoid -
Speaker:•Being in too much of a hurry to get out of this stage.
Speaker:Being impatient with yourself and judgmental of your beginner’s efforts (in fact,
Speaker:as we’ll see later, the “beginner’s mind” is a pretty powerful place to be)
Speaker:•Assuming you can be trusted to just know what the next step is.
Speaker:Who knows, maybe you’re a brilliant genius who really does know, but in case you’re not,
Speaker:be humble and seek guidance about the exact skills you need to be learning
Speaker:and how to start chipping away at those skills.
Speaker:The second stage is conscious incompetence.
Speaker:This stage can be a bit of a bummer because, if you’ve stuck with it,
Speaker:you’re suddenly much more aware of just how much it’s going to take to gather mastery.
Speaker:In other words, you still don’t know how to do the thing,
Speaker:but you’re painfully aware of the fact and can see just how big your skill gap is.
Speaker:Another bit of bad news is that this stage can sometimes last the longest,
Speaker:and that can be a blow to the ego.
Speaker:There’s a big difference between a “growth mindset” (i.e., you believe that ability is
Speaker:more like a skill to learn with effort rather than an innate characteristic) and a “fixed mindset”
Speaker:(i.e., you either have the talent or you don’t, so there’s no point trying to learn anything).
Speaker:The growth mindset is one that will help you navigate this stage with grace and humility,
Speaker:while the fixed mindset is the one that will
Speaker:lead you to giving up before you’ve reached the goal you wanted to reach.
Speaker:Here, your main task is simply to persist.
Speaker:What you should focus on -
Speaker:•Identify a rock-solid source of motivation and tap into it regularly to stay motivated
Speaker:and resilient in the face of setbacks and challenges (more about this later).
Speaker:You keep reminding yourself of why you want to drive and
Speaker:just how great it will be to pass that test and have that freedom.
Speaker:•Small, achievable goals you can dedicate to yourself daily,
Speaker:or even just hourly if the task is big and intimidating.
Speaker:Forget about highway driving and overtaking and parallel parking;
Speaker:just focus for the moment on one skill - smoothly transitioning from first to second gear.
Speaker:Just do that first.
Speaker:•Taking action.
Speaker:The previous stage is about more passive learning, whereas this stage is about
Speaker:identifying what you can do to get out of your comfort zone, and then committing to doing it.
Speaker:What you should avoid -
Speaker:•Comparing yourself to others.
Speaker:You want to pay attention to how expert drivers do their thing,
Speaker:but don’t turn that into a judgment about yourself.
Speaker:Be inspired by them.
Speaker:•Being lazy.
Speaker:You need to be patient and put in the work.
Speaker:That’s pretty much the long and the short of it.
Speaker:Book your lessons and attend every one, no excuses.
Speaker:•Having no plan.
Speaker:You need goals, and you need a plan.
Speaker:When (note, not if, but when) your plan goes awry,
Speaker:shrug your shoulders, find the lesson, and move on quickly.
Speaker:The third stage is conscious competence.
Speaker:Now we’re getting somewhere!
Speaker:At some point, all of this patient practice starts to pay off, and you’re beginning to make progress.
Speaker:You’re improving.
Speaker:It feels amazing to focus on a weakness, work hard at it, and notice that you’re gaining ground.
Speaker:Go you!
Speaker:The truth is, though, that at first you might dip in and out of this stage, occasionally
Speaker:falling back into the previous level as you work at retaining your newly acquired skill.
Speaker:So, maybe you’re pretty good at driving in the quiet suburbs, but get muddled on busier roads.
Speaker:At this stage you know exactly what competence looks like,
Speaker:and you know when you’re hitting that mark ...and when you’re falling short.
Speaker:What you should focus on -
Speaker:•Continually refine your skill.
Speaker:Keep going (remember each stage of the deliberate practice roadmap?),
Speaker:and when you mess up, grab hold of it and become curious why.
Speaker:•Transfer what you’re learning to other contexts or situations.
Speaker:Try driving around a supermarket parking lot.
Speaker:Try driving someone else’s car.
Speaker:Try driving an automatic.
Speaker:Drive for longer distances.
Speaker:•Deliberate, consistent practice that is dynamic enough to change and adapt as you learn.
Speaker:What to avoid -
Speaker:•Complacency.
Speaker:Especially with something like driving, it may be perfectly okay to learn the
Speaker:bare minimum to pass your test, and then just get on with life.
Speaker:But be honest with yourself about what you want and are capable of,
Speaker:and don’t get lazy when your skill reaches the “good enough” level.
Speaker:•Avoidance!
Speaker:Sometimes, we can fall into the habit of avoiding our weaker areas in favor
Speaker:of drilling what we already know and are comfortable with.
Speaker:Reverse this tendency and deliberately drill your weaker areas.
Speaker:•Burning yourself out.
Speaker:You need to take breaks, step back occasionally, and reassess.
Speaker:Some skills need time to settle in and for us to really process them properly.
Speaker:It’s a mistake to assume you don’t need to pause now and then!
Speaker:The final stage is unconscious competence.
Speaker:You’ve passed your test and have been driving for a year now,
Speaker:and it’s all pretty much automatic for you.
Speaker:You know how to drive, but you’re not consciously aware of this ability at all times.
Speaker:You’ll know you’ve reached this stage—no matter what skill you’re learning—when
Speaker:you can simply use this skill as a tool without skipping a beat.
Speaker:It becomes invisible to you,
Speaker:the way that language is invisible when you’re having a very meaty and high-level conversation.
Speaker:There was a time when you were a baby,
Speaker:for example, that you didn’t know how to coordinate your legs or even stand up.
Speaker:But, having mastered that skill, you are now able to run, jump, crawl, swim,
Speaker:skip, tiptoe, or do the hokey pokey without giving it a second thought.
Speaker:Your goal in this stage is to enjoy yourself and revel in your mastery.
Speaker:You could also strive to teach others or develop your practice even further
Speaker:and into different areas—in our example that might look like signing up for an
Speaker:advanced driving course or going on a 4X4 ATV adventure in the deserts of Namibia.
Speaker:Some skills are like “riding a bicycle” and are pretty much banked forever once we learn them,
Speaker:but the more complex ones do require some maintenance, so it’s worth
Speaker:protecting those gains and embarking on continuous development and refinement.
Speaker:Perhaps the biggest challenge at this level is accurately identifying exactly
Speaker:how far you want to go in this field of mastery.
Speaker:Do you want to be average?
Speaker:Better than average?
Speaker:Expert?
Speaker:Not every skill needs to be pressed to its absolute human limits (can you imagine?),
Speaker:but we should also be on guard against letting fear and laziness trim our dreams down too small.
Speaker:Well-defined goals will allow us to confidently say, “I’ve done the thing.
Speaker:I can stop now.”
Speaker:Thinking of learning in terms of stages in this way reminds us to not take certain processes
Speaker:for granted, but to continually become aware of where we are, what we’re doing,
Speaker:and what we need to do better if we hope to achieve something bigger than that.
Speaker:Before we move on to the next chapter,
Speaker:ask yourself which stage of mastery you might be at (it’s possible to straddle two stages).
Speaker:Then identify one thing you can begin to focus on moving forward.
Speaker:The Zone of Proximal Development
Speaker:Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet developmental psychologist who was very interested in,
Speaker:amongst other things, the way that human beings acquire skills.
Speaker:In particular, he investigated the way that children learn to do what they do,
Speaker:and what that might imply about human beings in general,
Speaker:not to mention how we might learn better (or, perhaps, unlearn when necessary).
Speaker:Vygotsky proposed his theory of the “zone of proximal development."
Speaker:Traditionally, educational psychologists had always focused on what a child could do at
Speaker:each stage of their development, and how to measure their ability.
Speaker:Vygotsky challenged this and proposed that there are really
Speaker:two stages of development that run in parallel -
Speaker:1. The child’s actual level of competence, when tested
Speaker:2. The child’s “potential” level, i.e., what
Speaker:they were capable of when tested with guidance and support from other people or the environment
Speaker:So, Vygotsky noticed that, for example,
Speaker:Child A would perform at level 5, and Child B would perform at level 6.
Speaker:But when given help and guidance, Child A was able to perform at level 8,
Speaker:while Child B was able to perform at level 7.
Speaker:The difference between actual competence and potential competence
Speaker:he called the “zone of proximal (or potential) development."
Speaker:Importantly, this zone varied in size across different children.
Speaker:Now, this might not seem like such a big deal.
Speaker:Does it matter how much you can do with help?
Speaker:Vygotsky’s genius was to notice just what a big difference it does make.
Speaker:In fact, he thought that what a child could do with assistance was a far greater predictor
Speaker:of personal and mental development than what they could do unassisted.
Speaker:As he explained it, what a child can do today with assistance, he can do tomorrow unassisted.
Speaker:In our example, it’s actually Child A, who has less initial competence,
Speaker:who will learn and develop the most.
Speaker:You may have noticed yourself how children take part in this process all the time.
Speaker:When they “play” games of pretend,
Speaker:they always assume the role of someone with far greater competencies than themselves.
Speaker:Identifying with this greater role and carefully monitoring themselves so they emulate it
Speaker:perfectly is precisely how they move from their actual skill level to learning something new.
Speaker:Role-play (usually of adult characters) requires additional attention, self-awareness, reflection,
Speaker:and adjustment on the part of the child who must continually make sure they remain “in character."
Speaker:As they do so, they learn.
Speaker:We can understand this zone to be the very place where learning occurs.
Speaker:If you only ever do what you already know how to do, then naturally you fail to learn.
Speaker:But if you attempt to do something you cannot even begin to do,
Speaker:even with help, you also fail to learn.
Speaker:You need, as it were, that middle spot where you have mental “training wheels.”
Speaker:In this zone, individuals can learn and acquire new skills with the guidance of
Speaker:a "more knowledgeable other" (MKO), such as a teacher, mentor, or parent.
Speaker:This zone represents the space where learners can progress
Speaker:from basic abilities to more complex tasks, with the support and assistance of someone
Speaker:who possesses greater knowledge and expertise in the subject matter.
Speaker:Vygotsky's concept highlights the importance of supportive learning
Speaker:environments to facilitate effective education and skill development, too.
Speaker:In other words, it’s not just people who can guide and support new competencies
Speaker:until they’re strong enough to stand on their own.
Speaker:In this second category of support, we can include things like tools and technology of all kinds.
Speaker:Learning to speak is an example of the ZPD,
Speaker:where children are immersed in an environment with skilled adults who provide constant
Speaker:feedback and various aids (scaffolds) to enhance their verbal communication.
Speaker:Revisiting our stages of mastery from the previous section,
Speaker:we can see how increasing competence also arises in a social context -
Speaker:1. Unconscious incompetence - you don’t know how to tie your shoelaces.
Speaker:Frankly, you don’t even understand what shoelaces are for and don’t care.
Speaker:2. Conscious incompetence - everyone at kindergarten is learning to tie shoelaces,
Speaker:and you’re suddenly aware that you don’t, and it’s quite hard.
Speaker:3. Conscious competence - your mom holds your hands in hers as
Speaker:she slowly shows you the movements you need to do.
Speaker:Gradually, you mimic her and get better and better at making the knot,
Speaker:till she can take her hands off yours and you can tie the bow yourself.
Speaker:You think that’s pretty good.
Speaker:4. Unconscious competence - you’re now middle-aged
Speaker:and tie your shoes literally without thinking about it.
Speaker:In the above example, your mom’s hands on yours are a
Speaker:manifestation of the zone of proximal development.
Speaker:Following her lead, you slowly learn to do it.
Speaker:Had nobody bothered to teach you this skill,
Speaker:chances are you would have taken a lot longer to figure it out for yourself.
Speaker:It was against the scaffolding of your mother’s skillful help that
Speaker:you tied your own fledgling efforts to at first.
Speaker:Your learning was not so much about your intelligence or creativity,
Speaker:but your ability to work with someone who knew how to do what you were still unable to.
Speaker:“Scaffolds” can be physical or mental aids,
Speaker:such as using props in yoga or mnemonic devices to remember music staff lines.
Speaker:Fading is then the gradual process of removing these scaffolds (i.e.,
Speaker:taking the training wheels off) as individuals become proficient in the skill on their own.
Speaker:The ZPD is a powerful framework for understanding how we learn
Speaker:best from others and accelerate our progress in various domains.
Speaker:In a way it may seem obvious, but in other ways,
Speaker:it directly challenges many assumptions about how learning works.
Speaker:There is never a clear, sharp line between what we can and can’t do.
Speaker:The “growing edge,” as it were, is not self-generated,
Speaker:but arises because of interaction with the social environment.
Speaker:Genius and raw talent are great things,
Speaker:but the ability to really work well within your ZPD is the true essence of learning.
Speaker:Here's how to apply the zone of proximal development theory to your practice -
Speaker:Assess Your Current Position and Learning Style
Speaker:Determine where you currently stand in terms of knowledge and skills,
Speaker:and identify the areas you want to improve.
Speaker:Understand how you learn best—whether it's through modeling, detailed instructions,
Speaker:hands-on practice, etc. You may not even have this insight yet,
Speaker:in which case a teacher or mentor will be particularly helpful.
Speaker:For instance, if you’re trying to be a better cook,
Speaker:start by evaluating your current cooking abilities.
Speaker:Identify the types of dishes you can already cook
Speaker:confidently and those that might be a "step up" from your current level.
Speaker:Next consider how you prefer to learn cooking skills—whether you learn best by following written
Speaker:recipes, watching video tutorials, or having someone demonstrate the cooking process for you.
Speaker:Seek out a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)
Speaker:Look for someone who possesses expertise in the skills you want to develop.
Speaker:This could be a teacher, a tutor, a peer, an expert, or even online tutorials.
Speaker:Communicate your preferred learning style to the
Speaker:MKO and seek their guidance and support in acquiring new skills.
Speaker:For instance, engage with your chosen MKO or resource to learn new cooking skills and recipes.
Speaker:Pay attention to their instructions, techniques, and tips.
Speaker:Use their skill to bootstrap your own.
Speaker:As you try out new recipes, follow along with the guidance provided.
Speaker:It's essential to have a learning-oriented mindset, embrace mistakes as part of the
Speaker:learning process, and be open to feedback and improvement.
Speaker:If instead your mindset is fixed (“I’ll only ever
Speaker:know what I know now”) and you find errors and corrections humiliating,
Speaker:you’ll be passing up on the precious chance to learn more quickly and more effectively.
Speaker:Test and Apply the New Skill Independently
Speaker:After working with the MKO, practice the new skill on your own.
Speaker:Assess whether you have internalized the instructions
Speaker:and feedback received during the learning process.
Speaker:If you feel confident and capable of applying the skill independently,
Speaker:you have successfully progressed within your zone of proximal development.
Speaker:Continue this process of learning, seeking new MKOs, and advancing your skills.
Speaker:After cooking the new meals with the guidance of the MKO or resource,
Speaker:evaluate your results and assess your learning.
Speaker:Ask yourself if you have successfully internalized the techniques and instructions.
Speaker:Are you now able to cook the dish independently?
Speaker:If you feel confident and satisfied with your cooking, you have effectively advanced within
Speaker:your zone of proximal development for cooking that particular dish.
Speaker:Congratulations!
Speaker:Crack out the wine and enjoy it.
Speaker:The Yerkes–Dodson Law
Speaker:A closely related principle is called the Yerkes–Dodson law.
Speaker:Even if you’re not familiar with this term, however,
Speaker:you’ve probably experienced it firsthand in your own life.
Speaker:An example will illustrate the idea neatly -
Speaker:Tyler has just landed his first job out of college and is thrilled.
Speaker:He’s pretty nervous, but the pressure seems to fire him up and he’s full of energy for the first
Speaker:few months, loving the new challenge and feeling inspired to push out of his comfort zone a little.
Speaker:Life is good.
Speaker:He’s learning new things constantly, rising to challenges, and earning a name for himself.
Speaker:After a year he is promoted.
Speaker:He can’t believe his luck.
Speaker:Everyone around him admires how much he is thriving.
Speaker:That beautiful state of mind called “flow”?
Speaker:He’s in it all day, every day.
Speaker:In a year’s time he gets promoted again,
Speaker:this time to a formidable role known for making high demands on people.
Speaker:More than anyone Tyler knows the value of pushing yourself, though,
Speaker:so despite his apprehension, he accepts the new position.
Speaker:This time it feels different, though.
Speaker:It quickly becomes clear that the challenge alone is no longer energizing him.
Speaker:He is genuinely lost at times and starts making pretty big mistakes.
Speaker:Things start to feel rushed and out of his control.
Speaker:He isn’t even sure who to tell that he’s struggling, or how they would even help him.
Speaker:In fact, each new demand seems to just fill him with dread.
Speaker:He doesn’t get it - he loves this field, he loves his work, and he used to be inspired by challenge.
Speaker:These days he wakes up and thinks, “I’m actually a big fraud and a loser.
Speaker:Clearly I can’t do this thing.
Speaker:It’s just too hard.”
Speaker:What happened?
Speaker:Well, according to psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson, Tyler is simply experiencing a
Speaker:particularly skewed ratio of arousal (that’s stress, to you and me) and performance.
Speaker:The theory, first put forward in 1908, is based on
Speaker:experiments with rats motivated by electric shocks to escape a maze.
Speaker:The "inverted-U curve" graphically represents the relationship between their arousal state and
Speaker:their performance, showing that performance actually improves with moderate pressure,
Speaker:reaches a peak, and then declines if pressure becomes too high or too low.
Speaker:This is what happened to poor Tyler.
Speaker:He was a rat who found the sweet spot—but then went
Speaker:beyond it and experienced a drop in performance.
Speaker:According to the theory,
Speaker:peak performance occurs when the level of pressure matches the task's demands.
Speaker:We tend to imagine that the world would be great with zero stress,
Speaker:but this is not quite true—some stress is useful, since it motivates and inspires
Speaker:us (otherwise there’d be no such thing as fun competition, right?).
Speaker:When pressure is too low, people lack motivation and may approach their work in a lazy manner.
Speaker:Basically, they get bored—this is the area to the far left of the graph,
Speaker:where pressure is low and so is performance.
Speaker:In contrast, when pressure is too high it overwhelms people, rather than inspires them.
Speaker:Their performance drops off as they feel anxious,
Speaker:rushed, intimidated, confused, or that awful sense of dread that Tyler felt.
Speaker:It’s easy to see why—faced with a task that is so difficult you
Speaker:know you couldn’t possibly crack it, what else would you feel but a sense of defeat?
Speaker:The middle of the curve represents the optimal state where individuals are
Speaker:both motivated by pressure and yet not overloaded,
Speaker:enabling them to experience "flow," a highly productive and enjoyable state of work.
Speaker:Achieving this balance is key to achieving one's personal best.
Speaker:There are two big insights from this observation -
Speaker:1. Stress is helpful—provided it’s at the right level
Speaker:2. While struggling at a task is often a result of the demand being too great and “arousal” being
Speaker:too high, you can just as well experience poor performance because you’re not stressed enough.
Speaker:You’ve probably spotted the overlap between this diagram and the zone of proximal development.
Speaker:Our area of best performance is analogous to the zone of proximal development—we fare
Speaker:better when challenges are just beyond our capabilities, but not massively so.
Speaker:A big mistake Tyler could make now, however, is to decide he’s burnt out and overstressed,
Speaker:and completely turn down the demand on himself.
Speaker:He would then overshoot and find himself in the boredom zone—and again underperforming.
Speaker:We see again that optimal learning, growth, and development are never a
Speaker:one-size-fits-all solution, and our best approach is likely to change over time,
Speaker:just as we change and our needs and blind spots change, too.
Speaker:Sometimes the best tactic will be to increase the challenge;
Speaker:sometimes the best tactic will be to do the exact opposite.
Speaker:You may start out doing things a certain way,
Speaker:and it may genuinely work—but that doesn’t mean you should stick to that strategy forever.
Speaker:The Yerkes–Dodson law goes on to identify four key influencers of
Speaker:this overall relationship between arousal/stress and performance -
Speaker:1. Skill level
Speaker:2. Personality
Speaker:3. Trait anxiety
Speaker:4. Task complexity
Speaker:This is a big deal - What counts as “stress” for you may not seem that way to someone else,
Speaker:and experts will have different challenges and experiences to beginners.
Speaker:Furthermore, context is obviously a big part of it,
Speaker:and so is the skill complexity and difficulty—i.e., are you talking
Speaker:about tying shoelaces or building software for a particle accelerator?
Speaker:Skill level influences performance and may require adjusting pressure to maintain engagement.
Speaker:Personality also plays a role, with extroverts potentially
Speaker:performing better in high-pressure situations, while introverts may thrive with less pressure.
Speaker:Trait anxiety, or a person's self-talk, can impact performance,
Speaker:with confident individuals better able to handle pressure (they tend to have a
Speaker:bigger zone of proximal development because their guiding “teacher” is
Speaker:actually their own inner voice coaching them through—something to think about!).
Speaker:Task complexity affects how individuals respond to pressure, with simple tasks being
Speaker:more suitable for higher pressure and complex tasks benefiting from a calmer environment.
Speaker:To use insights from this “law,” consider the following tips -
Speaker:Align Practice Sessions with Your Energy Levels
Speaker:Pay attention to your energy patterns and identify when you feel most alert and focused.
Speaker:Schedule your practice sessions during these peak energy times.
Speaker:This will enable you to make the most of your cognitive
Speaker:abilities and enhance your learning experience.
Speaker:Reserve periods of low energy for lighter tasks or breaks, allowing you to recharge.
Speaker:Don’t forget, also,
Speaker:to schedule the most challenging task at the beginning of your peak energy zone.
Speaker:Find the Optimal Challenge Level
Speaker:Understand that practicing a new skill requires finding the right
Speaker:balance between difficulty and your current abilities.
Speaker:For simpler aspects of the skill or tasks you've already mastered,
Speaker:challenge yourself by increasing the complexity or speed.
Speaker:On the other hand, for more intricate or challenging aspects,
Speaker:slow down and break them down into smaller, manageable steps.
Speaker:Adjusting the challenge level to match your
Speaker:current proficiency will help you stay engaged and make steady progress.
Speaker:Manage Stress and Avoid Extremes
Speaker:Recognize that too much stress or pressure can hinder your learning
Speaker:process, while too little can lead to complacency or lack of motivation.
Speaker:Maintain a healthy level of challenge that stretches your abilities without overwhelming you.
Speaker:Be aware of signs of stress or burnout and take regular breaks to relax and recharge.
Speaker:Utilize stress management techniques, such as mindfulness exercises or positive self-talk,
Speaker:to keep stress levels in check and maintain a positive mindset during your skill practice.
Speaker:Finally, one of the worst things you can do when working with both your aspirations and
Speaker:your limitations is to incorrectly ascribe difficulty to your innate core self.
Speaker:What this might mean is that you push yourself beyond your zone of competence,
Speaker:fail, and then immediately self-criticize and conclude that you’re stupid and can’t do it.
Speaker:Instead, get neutral and get curious - If you slow down or ease up on the complexity,
Speaker:does the task become easier?
Speaker:At what point are things manageable, and when do they tip over into being unmanageable?
Speaker:By the same token, don’t find yourself experiencing boredom
Speaker:and immediately conclude that the task is worthless or uninteresting.
Speaker:Dial up the challenge a notch first and observe your reaction.
Speaker:Summary -
Speaker:•To learn effectively, you need more than talent.
Speaker:You need a solid plan of attack, the right mindset,
Speaker:and plenty of contingency planning—i.e., you need to learn how to learn.
Speaker:•Not all practice is created equal.
Speaker:There are three types - naive, purposeful,
Speaker:and deliberate practice, the latter being most effective.
Speaker:This is where we act deliberately in a well-defined field with clear
Speaker:distinctions between experts and novices,
Speaker:with a skilled coach providing tailored practice strategies and feedback.
Speaker:•The deliberate practice roadmap is a reiterative spiral - It begins
Speaker:with finding a teacher, then entails assessing your limits,
Speaker:setting SMART goals, focused practice, and feedback ...and then it repeats.
Speaker:•Slow practice is practicing a sequence at a slower tempo first
Speaker:and gradually increasing the speed to reach the desired performance level.
Speaker:•Energy isn’t infinite; we need to be strategic to make the best use of it.
Speaker:Energy tends to be higher at the start of a session,
Speaker:so practice the more challenging tasks first.
Speaker:Aim for skills that are about five to ten percent above the current maximum skill level.
Speaker:Be willing to push outside your comfort zone.
Speaker:•Learning proceeds through four stages - unconscious incompetence,
Speaker:conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence—pitch your efforts
Speaker:according to the needs and skills of the level you’re at.
Speaker:•The difference between actual competence and potential competence is called the “zone of
Speaker:proximal development,” where you can achieve with the help of a more knowledgeable other.
Speaker:Working within this sweet spot can help you optimize your practice.
Speaker:•The Yerkes–Dodson law shows that performance improves with moderate
Speaker:pressure, reaches a peak, but declines if pressure becomes too high or too low.
Speaker:Try to find the optimal stress and challenge level, which may change over time.
Speaker:this has been the art of practice. Accelerate your learning,
Speaker:quickly build experience, and perform like a pro, written by Peter Hollins, narrated by Russell
Speaker:Newton. Copyright 2023 by Peter Hollins. Production copyright by Peter Hollins.
