The Magic of Continuity in Learning and Mastering Skills

If you are new to any skill, one thing to remember is that there is always room for improvement and no-one was born being a “natural.” To develop your skills, you will need to set aside time each day to practice, review what you have done, and make adjustments for tomorrow. This will ensure that not only are you memorizing the action, but your brain is also committing it to memory for easier recall each time you try it again. So, whether it’s creating lash designs or practicing new techniques to diversify your artistic side, daily practice is the best way to develop new habits.

Deliberate practice is a mindset and a willingness to work on improving your performance, and to keep working on it. If you simply repeat an action over and over, without thinking about what you’re doing, you won’t get the benefits of deliberate practice. Deliberate practice requires you to pay attention to what you’re doing, think about how you’re doing it, and how you can improve. In an experiential setting, where you learn by doing, a teacher or coach can be invaluable in helping you to pay attention to the right things and avoid the pitfalls of “bad habits” as you start. Once you begin to engage in deliberate practice, you start to know exactly how to make progress, and that makes you feel more capable and less anxious.

Similarly, reflection plays a crucial part in the practice. Upon completion of each practice session, it is vital to reflect on what went well and what didn’t, and what changes are needed. Reflection enables the learner to notice any emerging trends, address the repeated areas of difficulty, and the individual accomplishment that they achieve along the way, thus, they will remain motivated. Moreover, the notes they take during reflection can serve as a valuable reference that enables them to retain what they have learned and be used to support their future learning. Practice with reflection helps to develop a positive learning experience in terms of skills acquisition as well as knowledge.

Additionally, regular practice helps individuals develop grit. As people progress in their learning journey, there will be times when they feel like they are not improving, even with effort. Going back to routine practice helps them persist through these times. It helps them learn that skills take time to develop, that their inability to improve immediately is not a failure. This mindset helps them persist and continue to adapt to the challenges that come with each practice session.

The power of consistent practice comes in its capability of turning knowledge into skills. Not only do the students acquire confidence, they also master skills that allow them to be creative. Through repetition, concentration, analysis, and perseverance, the students turn their first attempts to solid expertise. Therefore, the acquisition of consistent practice is an essential first step in acquiring expertise that will guarantee sustained effort and improved performance in the long run.