Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, Only Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
We often hear comments like, “This person is just lucky, he touches dirt and it turns to gold” or, “He is unlucky, no matter what he touches, it turns to dirt.” These comments are not true to anyone.
If you were to analyse the lives of the lucky and unlucky individuals being commented on, you’d find that the successful person is doing something right in each event and the failure is repeating the same mistake again and again. Practice doesn’t make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect. Practice makes permanent whatever you do repeatedly. Some people keep practicing their mistakes and they become perfect in them. Their mistakes become perfect and automatic.
Cultivating a habit is like harvesting the field. It takes time to grow. Habit generates other habits. Inspiration is what gets us started; motivation is what keeps us on track and habit is what makes it automatic.
The ability to show courage in the face of adversity; show self restraint in the face of temptation, choose happiness in the face of temptation, choose happiness in the face of hurt, show character in the face of despair and see opportunity in the face of obstacles are all valuable traits to possess. But these traits do not just appear, they are the result of constant and consistent training, both mental and physical. In the face of adversity, our behaviour, whether positive or negative can only what we have practiced. When we practice negative traits such as cowardice or dishonesty in small events and hope to handle major events in a positive way, it won’t happen because that’s not what we have practiced.
If we permit ourselves to commit an offence, it is a lot easier to do it a second and third time until it becomes a habit. Success lies in the philosophy of “sustain and abstain.” Sustain what needs to be done and abstain from what is detrimental until this becomes habitual. Human beings are more emotional than rational. Honesty and integrity are the result of both our belief system and practice. Anything we practice long enough becomes ingrained into our system and becomes a habit.
Honesty or dishonesty to self and others becomes a habit. The choice is ours as to what we practice. Whatever response we choose, our thinking pattern becomes harmful. We form habits and habits forms character. Before we realize that we have got the habit, the habit has got us.
Our character is the sum of total habits. If we have positive habits, then we have good character. Conversely, if we have negative habits, others will find our character lacking. Habits are a lot stronger than logic and reasoning. In the life cycle of habit formation, a habit starts by being too weak to be felt and ends up becoming too strong to get out of. Habits can be developed by default or determination. If we don’t decide what habits to form, by default we may end up with bad habits.
Our thoughts lead to actions, actions lead to habits, habits form character and character leads to destiny. Therefore we require to start our perfect practice to generate a great destiny.
Tuhin Hasan is an expert in Internet marketing. He has written several exclusive articles on personal development. Visit www.personaldevelopmentpage.com to receive more free articles on self help.
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