The 4 rituals that will make you an expert at anything

The 4 rituals that will make you an expert at anythingThe 4 rituals that will make you an expert at anythingWe hear a lot about 10,000 hurs being what it takes to become an expert. But the majority of people totally misunderstand the idea.So I decided to go to the source and talk to the guy who actually created the theory.Anders Ericssonis a professor of psychology at Florida State University.His book (with Robert Pool) isPeak Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.So what does everybody get wrong? Two things.First, the 10,000 hour rule is elend a rule and its not an exact number. The amount of time varies from field to field. Its an average. But its always a lot and more is better.Heres AndersIn fruchtwein domains its remarkable how much time even the fruchtwein talented individuals need in order to reach the highest levels of performance. The 10,000 hour number just gives you a sense that were talking years of 10 to 20 hours a weekwhichthose who some people would argue are the m ost innately talented individuals still need to get to the highest level.Whats the second mistake? Becoming an expert is not merely doing somethingover and over for 10,000 hours.Theres a right way - and an awful lot of wrong ways - to spend that time.Lets learnthe right way1. Find a mentorThe most important part of deliberate practice issolitarypractice. Hard work. But thats not the first step.The first step is social. You need to know what to do. And thats where mentors, coaches and teachers come in. (To find the best mentor for you, clickhere.)Heres AndersThey need to talk to somebody that they really admire, a person that is doing something in a way that they would like to eventually be able to do. Have this person help you identify what it is that you might need to change in order to be able to do what that other person is doing. einstellungsgesprch that person about how they were able to do it, and then have that person help you identify what is it that you cant do right now and what are the steps towards reaching that desired level of performance.The secret here is mental representations. You want to be able to clearly and specifically visualizethe right way to do something in your head. This is what separates the experts from the chumps.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of ExpertiseWhat sets expert performers apart from everyone else is the quality and quantity of their mental representations. Through years of practice, they develop highly complex and sophisticated representations of the various situations they are likely to encounter in their fields These representations allow them to make faster, more accurate decisions and respond more quickly and effectively in a given situation. This, more than anything else, explains the difference in performance between novices and experts.How good can those mental representations get?Topchess players can play blindfolded.They can see the board in their minds eye. And Anders explains that they dont even tra in to do this, with enough hoursit just occurs naturally.So you need a clear idea of what it is youre trying to do, whether its playing an instrument or performing an appendectomy. The clearer your vision of it, the better youll be able to detect and correct mistakes.Heres AndersWhat a skilled musician does is think about what kind of experience they want to give the audience. Once you have an idea here about what it is that you want to produce, then you can now start working on trying to be able to generate that experience. That requires a representation about what it should sound like. Then, when you try to do it, youre going to find that there are going to be differences between the representation and their performance. Those differences you can now focus on and eliminate. Successively, youre going to be able to produce that music performance that sounds like what you had originally imaged.And you want to keep improving those mental representations as you learn, creating a cleare r and clearer image of every detail.(To learn the four ritualsnew neuroscience research says will make you happy, clickhere.)Okay, you talked to someone who is better than you and youve got an image in your head of how to do things right. Now just do that over and over until you begin crying uncontrollably, right? Wrong2. Its not try harder, its try differentAnders says the biggest problem most people have with getting better at something is thattheyre not actually trying to get better at something.Doing something over and over again does not necessarily make you better at it. If it did, we would all be excellent drivers. Repetition is not expertise.To prove the point (and to scare the crap out of you) Ill mention that this applies to doctors as well. Think your surgeon is better because hes been doing this for 20 years? Nope. Hes probablyworse.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of ExpertiseResearch on many specialties shows that doctors who have been in practice for twenty or th irty years do worse on certain objective measures of performance than those who are just two or three years out of medical school. It turns out that most of what doctors do in their day-to-day practice does nothing to improve or even maintain their abilities little of it challenges them or pushes them out of their comfort zones.To improve, you need to get out of your comfort zone. Anders says this is one of the most critical things to remember. Mindlessly goingthrough the motions does not improve performance.When you try to get better at something is it fun? Yes? Congratulations, youre doing it dead wrong.Anders cites a study where they talked to singers after practice. Who was happy? The amateurs. The experts were pushing themselves. It washard. And they were tired afterwards, not elated.Dan Coylesays you only want to be succeeding in50-80% of your attempts. Less than that and youll get frustrated. More than that and youre not pushing yourself.And you want to be working on your wea k points. Thats how you get better.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of ExpertiseFirst, figure out exactly what is holding you back. What mistakes are you making, and when? Push yourself well outside of your comfort zone and see what breaks down first. Then design a practice technique aimed at improving that particular weakness. Once youve figured out what the problem is, you may be able to fix it yourself, or you may need to go to an experienced coach or teacher for suggestions.And your goals need to be specific. Dont say, I want to be better at business. Say, I want to getbetter at engaging the audience at the beginning of my presentations.(To learn how to be happier and more successful, clickhere.)So youve accumulated the knowledge on whats right, what youre doing wrong and what you need to do to get better. And thats where most people breathe a sigh of relief. And then they fail miserably. Heres whats missing3. Its about doing, not knowingYouve read half this blog post. Are you half of an expert now? No.One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking that knowing equals doing. It doesnt.Watching a lot of football does not make you a great quarterback. 60 years of sitcoms hasnt madepeoplefunnier.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of ExpertiseWhen you look at how people are trained in the professional and business worlds, you find a tendency to focus on knowledge at the expense of skills. The main reasons are tradition and convenience it is much easier to present knowledge to a large group of people than it is to set up conditions under which individuals can develop skills through practice.Once you have the knowledge, you need to focus on building the skills. Remember the three FsFocusFeedbackFix itYou need to concentrate on having your execution match your mental representation. Then you need objective feedback on how well you performed. Then you need to analyze what you did wrong and how to do it better.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of E xpertiseGet outside your comfort zone but do it in a focused way, with clear goals, a plan for reaching those goals, and a way to monitor your progress.(To learn the schedule that the most successful people follow every day, clickhere.)So you know the right system for improving any skill. But a lot of people might say, Im not a violinist oran athlete. This wont help me in my career. Wrong4. Study the past to have a better futureSometimes feedback isnt fast. And this is a big problem for most jobs you want to get better at. Only getting an annual review turns 10,000 hours into something more like 10,000 years.Anders says doctors can improve their skills by looking at older x-rays where the patients outcome is already established.Heres AndersOne way that you could actually train this more effectively is to have x-rays for old patients where they now know what the correct diagnosis was, and now you can guessthese diagnoses and get immediate feedback. That turns out to be a very effecti ve way of actually improving performance, where you can now, maybe in an afternoon, encounter and get as much feedback as somebody might accumulate over a year or even longer.Look at examples of work that has already been evaluated. Can you detect the errors? Or what was done well? This is a good way to develop your mental muscles and improve your skills when feedback is scarce or slow.Whens the best time to do the work needed to get better? First thing in the morning, when youre fresh.Heres AndersOften its ideal to make that the first activity of the day. Then you can basically move over and do whatever else you need to do. I think that constraint of for how long you can actually sustain this deliberate practice, where youre really attending 100% and stretching yourself to really change, that that time is actually limited.(To learn how to get people to like you - from an FBI behavior expert - clickhere.)Okay, lets round up what weve learned about learning and get the happy secret to staying motivatedSum upHeres what Anders says can make you an expertGet help Find a mentor who can help you develop that image in your head of the best way to do something.Its not try harder, its try different Design specific activities to address your weak points.Its about doing, not knowing Remember the three Fs Focus, Feedback, Fix it.Study the past to have a better futureFind examples that have been judged and quiz yourself.Dont worry you do not have to be a genius to become an expert at most things. In fact, Anders says it might be an advantagenotto be a genius.When elite chess players were studied, the ones with lower IQs often worked harder and then did better because they felt they were at a disadvantage.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of Expertiseamong these young, elite chess players, not only was a higher IQ no advantage, but it seemed to put them at a slight disadvantage. The reason, the researchers found, was that the elite players with lower IQs tended to pra ctice more, which improved their chess game to the point that they played better than the high-IQ elite players.Expertise takes a lot of hard, solitary work. That can be difficultto get motivated for. But this is where friends come in. Surround yourself with people who love and support you.FromPeak Secrets from the New Science of ExpertiseOne of the best ways to create and sustain social motivation is to surround yourself with people who will encourage and support and challenge you in your endeavors.When I interviewed Yale professorNicholas Christakis, he talked about just how important the people who love us are in the process of achieving our goalsIts very important for people to understand that when they make a positive change in their lives it doesnt just affect them. It affects everyone they know and many of the people that those people know and many of the people that those people in turn know. If you make a positive change in your life it actually ripples through the social f abric and comes to benefit many other people. This recognition that we are all connected and that in our connectedness we affect each others lives I think is a very fundamental and moving observation of our humanity.Theresan old saying, If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I believe it.Join over 300,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related postsHow To Get People To Like You 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertNew Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You HappyNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulThis column originally appeared at Barking up the Wrong Tree.