Practice, Practice, Practice

A young man was walking through the streets of New York City, looking for Carnegie Hall. After a while, he decided to ask a stranger for directions. "Pardon me, sir," he said. "Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?"

The stranger, as it turns out, was violinist Jascha Heifitz. He smiled. "Yes, I can. Practice, practice, practice."

This old joke holds a valuable lesson. No matter what it is you do or want to do, you must work at it. Sure, talent, intelligent, and education are important. But it is persistent practice that makes us winners. Practice is the price you pay for improvement, for excellence.

But how many of us, me included, are willing to pay the price? We say we want to be good at this or that, but when push comes to shove, are we doing what we really need to do?

Practice takes commitment, and lots of it. So, no matter what you do, be it sales, customer service, music, sports, auto repair, cooking, practice makes better.

Think about this. If you spend just 15 minutes a day (surely you can find 15 minutes) to practice, to work at what it is you do, that boils down to a mere 1 ¾ hours a week. That's 91 hours a year. Think of the progress you'll make!

Practice, Practice, Practice