By Mike Bossy

I was reflecting this morning on my basketball playing (very limited) and coaching experiences. When coaching, I often made reference to the legendary basketball coach, John Wooden, and I always credited him with the following quote:

“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect”

I only figured out this morning that it was legendary football coach Vince Lombardi that said these words. I apologize to all my players that I may have provided incorrect information to.

This is an interesting subject to think about. What other words describe this? In my research (using my 5-fact finder) I came across the concept of “deliberate practice”. Deliberate practice is defined as follows:

“being effortful in nature, with the main goal of personal improvement of performance rather than enjoyment, and is often performed without immediate reward.”

So deliberate practice involves delayed rewards and one’s full attention for brief periods of time. There will be setbacks. There are only two ways to look at the results. It’s a win or it’s a learning experience. Reflecting on the experiences in my life, I have been fortunate to have many learning experiences. These learning experiences are the raw materials for all progress.