To explain their failures, you might hear people say:
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“I don’t have a head for business which is why my practice is not doing well.”
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“Leaders are born to lead. I was born to follow. I’ll just be a good soldier.”
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“She inherited her musical skill from her father, but my dad is a truck driver which is why I can’t play the piano.”
If you believe you need to inherit a skill or a talent to be successful, you are one step closer to failure. If you realize you can get the talent to succeed at anything you wish, you are one step closer to success. So if talent is not something you are born with, where do you get it?
How did Michael Jordan become the greatest basketball player of all time? What made Luciano Pavarotti into a great opera singer? Why was Warren Buffet such a brilliant investor?
Are these professionals born with their skills? Actually, no. The most successful people achieved their greatness through hard, intense training and practice.
Practice, practice, practice. Hours and hours of practice.
For instance, Winston Churchill, one of the world’s greatest speakers, practiced his speeches compulsively. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team which proves his talent was not “natural.” Instead, he practiced his famous basketball moves for more hours every day than anyone else in the game.
For example, hitting a bucket of gold balls for fun is not practice, which is why most golfers don’t improve. Practice means you hit 300 balls with the same club, with the goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the same spot. And you do this every day.
For an artist, practice means you paint the same flower 300 times until people gasp with pleasure when they look at it.
To succeed as a manager, you need to spend many hours bringing out the best performance possible from each of your employees. Role-playing and practicing will bring success.
Every skill can be practiced and improved: handling shoppers on the phone, doing a technical skill, using computers, managing money…everything.
The intention to improve and the constant practice will bring about the skill and “talent” you need to succeed.
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