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Anders Ericsson is the world expert on experts. What he found in his research was that experts practice deliberately every day. The Japanese call this Kaizen – continuous improvement.
Daily Deliberate Practice that leads to proficiency, requires that you practice a specific set of skills every day for two to four hours a day, for ten years.
Daily Analytical Practice, when combined with Deliberate Practice, is what transforms the proficient into Virtuosos in their industry or field.
What is Analytical Practice?
Practicing a skill, or subset of skills, while under the watchful eye of a coach, expert or mentor, who then provides you with critical feedback that helps you improve how you perform that skill.
Virtuosos are leading Experts in their field or industry. Because they are among the top in their field or industry, they command a premium for their services. Virtuosos make the most money in their niche, because they are among the best at what they do.
I read about a virtuoso saxophone player. I believe it was Randy Brecker. He practiced 8 hours a per day. He said it took him 2 hours per day just to maintain his level and not lose skill. Then the remaining time went toward improving.
We can all do the practice on your own… where it gets hard is getting a coach to help w improvement.
Thanks Sam and Mike for both comments – much appreciated! And thanks to the author for the post. I’m interested in learning more and just added Eric Ericson’s book Peak to my Amazon cart.