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“He would practice half-an-hour after every training session.
It was a simple route to becoming a complete footballer.
The more you practice the better you become,
and it became a habit for him.”
– Alex Ferguson on Christiano Ronaldo
The above quote came from a question that asked why Ronaldo is so
good. (Manchester United visit Real Madrid this week in the Champions League).
A few of his colleagues also commented at how much he practiced.
I remember the same being said about David Beckham when it came
to his free kicks.
There are so many similarities between sport and business/life and this is one area
that I believe is often neglected.
How many of us set time aside to practice the skills that are going to advance
us? Or do we just ‘practice’ on the job?
Obviously you can’t spend as much time as a professional footballer
practicing your skills. But maybe we can learn from their model?
Maybe we should consider building practice into our work?
If you even spent 2 hours more this week practicing/developing/learning
a new skill…what will that reap you in terms of productivity, results, value?
Some ideas:
– Mental Skills: Relaxation, meditation, imagination etc.
– Sales Skills: Role play, handling objections etc.
– Presentation Skills: Videoing yourself speaking, get feedback from colleagues etc.
– Financial Skills: Set aside time to develop your intelligence
– Awareness Skills: Have someone ask lots of questions, give feedback etc.
To me the process is to:
1. Identify the skills you want to practice
2. Set aside time weekly to develop
After all, the gap between where you are now and where you want to go,
is usually a skills gap. So if we don’t develop our skills, we’ll stay stuck…
Food for thought.
