Passion + Repetition = Improvement
Over the past couple of months, the Empower Leadership team has shared many lessons and resources with regards to personal growth and group/team development, including various goal setting and trust building worksheets, mini-goal tracking guides, and more.
There is a ton of value in completing worksheets focused on goal setting and goal achievement; however, that is only part of the equation. Diligently identifying your goal(s) and the actions that will set you up for goal achievement are defined as the “technical skills” associated with personal and group/team development. Completion of these “pen-and-paper” worksheets will provide a tangible framework for achievement; however, without passion and commitment, our development will be limited to just words on paper!
Passion
Do you ever catch your mind wandering off into a “dreamland” when you are entrenched in a task at work, in school, or at home? This type of mindless engagement happens to us all during a given day or week and is the direct result of doing something that you do not care very deeply about. When engaged in such tasks, we do just enough to get by and move on to the next task – no aspirations for improvement or development, just a desire to achieve task completion. Check enough boxes over the course of the day and your work or school day ends and it is on to the next mindless endeavor.
The scenario above is the quintessential definition of “half-assing” it. Get by a task, move on to the next one, then wash, rinse, and repeat until the clock hits the end of the work/school day. While a half-assed effort may lead to a long list of completed tasks, it will fall short in any sort of serious development.
To put yourself in a position of development or improvement, you either must be engaged in a task that you are passionate about or you must dig deep to find passion when it is lacking. Passion fills our tank with the fuel required to truly grow and achieve. Without passion, we will continue to fall short in the categories of improvement and achievement. As we all know, nothing exceptional comes from taking the easy and/or mindless route in any scenario!
Repetition
If passion is the fuel for achievement, repetition is the tactic for improvement and potential mastery. Improvement, whether it be learning to become a better reader, strengthening your level of physical fitness, learning to cook, or to play an instrument, requires practice. According to Merriam-Webster, practice is defined as “performing or working at something repeatedly so as to become proficient” – with the key word being repeatedly!
While performing a task well one time is a noteworthy accomplishment, improvement or growth requires much more than a “one and done” mentality. Self-discipline and self-accountability are necessary in personal or team improvement. – without the repetition of practice, our ability to achieve proficiency is severely diminished.
Improvement
When an individual or team finds the perfect blend of passion, commitment, and accountability, the result is always going to be positive; meaning that, you will experience improvement when compared to who you were (individual or team) at the start of your journey. Following the equation of “Passion + Repetition = Improvement” does not always lead to goal achievement; however, even in moments when you fall short, you can sleep easy knowing that you made significant progress towards discovering the best version of you and your team!
