Responding to the article ("Grit and Mind Shift: A Powerful Combination") below, painter and champion age-group marathoner Sue Gustafson added perspective on deliberate practice (continual practice focused on challenging details and weaknesses with feedback from a coach). According to expertise expert Dr. Anders Ericsson, deliberate practice is essential for achieving excellence and goals in any field. Deliberate practice is, he says, not inherently fun.
Sue knows deliberate practice for long-term goals. At 71, she knows its challenges through the life span. And she adds additional perspective (from her own experience) to Ericsson’s.
Love is also essential for deliberate practice, she says. So is belief in deliberate practice, regardless of our age. Believing that improvement is possible – and that we can achieve our own uniquely defined goals – is essential for success. Goals don’t have to be Olympic goals. In short, goals need to matter just to us and no one else. They give purpose to the unique meaning we give to our lives.
She talked about her experience with deliberate practice applied to painting and running.
“I found an article on deliberate practice for water color painting,” she said . Here is the link: https://channeling-winslow-homer.com/2010/11/18/how-to-make-great-watercolors/.
“Author Richard Rabkin quotes the violinist Paderewski’s views on practice: ‘If I don’t practice for one day, I know it; if I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it; if I don’t practice for three days, the audience knows it.’”
(The article mentions another book on deliberate practice in different fields:
Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed).
Practicing Painting: “Fuzzy Territory”
“Practicing painting is something I’ve been grappling with for years,” said Sue. “It’s such fuzzy territory. How do you know when you have succeeded?
“I’ve been doing brush work practice and the benefits make me realize its importance. Brush work practice is just like practicing scales in music. It can be as simple as drawing wavy lines across a sheet of newspaper to understand brush marks you get with greater or lesser pressure.
“One of Rabkin’s points is that talent is a myth. ‘Athletes love their sweat,’ he writes. “While Rabkin affirms that deliberate practice is important, he says it’s not a question of being fun or not fun. Deliberate practice is consumed by passion,” said Sue.
Love Underlies Deliberate Practice
“What I’ve experienced is that the skill you are practicing becomes automatic. Getting a perfect expressive brush stroke is not a matter of some God-given gift,” said Sue. “It’s a matter of loving the medium and understanding what you are working with – the water, the paint, the brush, the drawing instrument – so well because you have practiced with them and love them so much that they are part of your hand. Love underlies deliberate practice. I suspect that deliberate practice also develops judgment – and certainly confidence.”
Sue said awareness of mind shift also inspired her thinking about painting.
“Many artists look to develop a distinctive style so that someone who walks into a gallery instantly recognizes their work. It’s easy for artists to get locked into that.
“It’s easy to be afraid that your work won’t be as distinctive or as good if you try new things and maybe fail or go through a period where people say ‘Oh! She’s not as great. She has fallen off.” The really great artists just don’t care about that. They just want to grow. And I suspect this comes from passion.”
Goals Don’t Have To Be The Olympics
“The beginner runners story validates the fact that goals don’t have to be the Olympics. Having goals that are important enough to put effort into is something everybody needs – especially through the lifespan.
“It’s harder when you get older to believe that you can grow – that possibilities are still ahead….that you can get stronger, even relatively stronger….and that you can succeed at something you never could before.
“These beginner runners have inspiring open, beginners minds. It’s very easy, especially if you have had some success, to get locked into having turf to defend and to feeling that if you failed you are worth less.
Failing is an essential part of doing something well. Having the luxury to fail is a part of the beginner’s mind that’s so easy to lose.
“One thing I’m gaining from MOVE! running now is being able to relax and focus on setting a pace and not even worry about how fast I am. It helps me apply the effort to the purpose rather than just to the results.
That to me is huge. That applies to running, painting, and I suspect everything.
Sue: Grit, Mind Shift, and Running
Sue started running at 40 and has won her age group in numerous marathons and national championships (including a 3:06:09 marathon at 54 – the equivalent of a 2:35:33 for a young runner). “I used to feel badly if I stepped into a race and didn’t win my age group,” she said.
About a year and half ago, at 70, Sue had her first major setback requiring grit and mind shift. Sciatica prevented her from running for six months.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
She came to MOVE! practice every week, walking around the track in twice the time she used to run. “The support of teammates was unbelievably important,” she said.
Walking became race walking became running and racing. Mile times fell from 15:00 min. per mile a year ago to 14:00 on down. “It was a hard slug and a fight,” she said.
She won her age division in a road race a few weeks ago and recently ran the mile in 8:09. She’ll soon be running it under 7 minutes and change.
Sue knows deliberate practice for long-term goals. At 71, she knows its challenges through the life span. And she adds additional perspective (from her own experience) to Ericsson’s.
Love is also essential for deliberate practice, she says. So is belief in deliberate practice, regardless of our age. Believing that improvement is possible – and that we can achieve our own uniquely defined goals – is essential for success. Goals don’t have to be Olympic goals. In short, goals need to matter just to us and no one else. They give purpose to the unique meaning we give to our lives.
She talked about her experience with deliberate practice applied to painting and running.
“I found an article on deliberate practice for water color painting,” she said . Here is the link: https://channeling-winslow-homer.com/2010/11/18/how-to-make-great-watercolors/.
“Author Richard Rabkin quotes the violinist Paderewski’s views on practice: ‘If I don’t practice for one day, I know it; if I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it; if I don’t practice for three days, the audience knows it.’”
(The article mentions another book on deliberate practice in different fields:
Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed).
Practicing Painting: “Fuzzy Territory”
“Practicing painting is something I’ve been grappling with for years,” said Sue. “It’s such fuzzy territory. How do you know when you have succeeded?
“I’ve been doing brush work practice and the benefits make me realize its importance. Brush work practice is just like practicing scales in music. It can be as simple as drawing wavy lines across a sheet of newspaper to understand brush marks you get with greater or lesser pressure.
“One of Rabkin’s points is that talent is a myth. ‘Athletes love their sweat,’ he writes. “While Rabkin affirms that deliberate practice is important, he says it’s not a question of being fun or not fun. Deliberate practice is consumed by passion,” said Sue.
Love Underlies Deliberate Practice
“What I’ve experienced is that the skill you are practicing becomes automatic. Getting a perfect expressive brush stroke is not a matter of some God-given gift,” said Sue. “It’s a matter of loving the medium and understanding what you are working with – the water, the paint, the brush, the drawing instrument – so well because you have practiced with them and love them so much that they are part of your hand. Love underlies deliberate practice. I suspect that deliberate practice also develops judgment – and certainly confidence.”
Sue said awareness of mind shift also inspired her thinking about painting.
“Many artists look to develop a distinctive style so that someone who walks into a gallery instantly recognizes their work. It’s easy for artists to get locked into that.
“It’s easy to be afraid that your work won’t be as distinctive or as good if you try new things and maybe fail or go through a period where people say ‘Oh! She’s not as great. She has fallen off.” The really great artists just don’t care about that. They just want to grow. And I suspect this comes from passion.”
Goals Don’t Have To Be The Olympics
“The beginner runners story validates the fact that goals don’t have to be the Olympics. Having goals that are important enough to put effort into is something everybody needs – especially through the lifespan.
“It’s harder when you get older to believe that you can grow – that possibilities are still ahead….that you can get stronger, even relatively stronger….and that you can succeed at something you never could before.
“These beginner runners have inspiring open, beginners minds. It’s very easy, especially if you have had some success, to get locked into having turf to defend and to feeling that if you failed you are worth less.
Failing is an essential part of doing something well. Having the luxury to fail is a part of the beginner’s mind that’s so easy to lose.
“One thing I’m gaining from MOVE! running now is being able to relax and focus on setting a pace and not even worry about how fast I am. It helps me apply the effort to the purpose rather than just to the results.
That to me is huge. That applies to running, painting, and I suspect everything.
Sue: Grit, Mind Shift, and Running
Sue started running at 40 and has won her age group in numerous marathons and national championships (including a 3:06:09 marathon at 54 – the equivalent of a 2:35:33 for a young runner). “I used to feel badly if I stepped into a race and didn’t win my age group,” she said.
About a year and half ago, at 70, Sue had her first major setback requiring grit and mind shift. Sciatica prevented her from running for six months.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
She came to MOVE! practice every week, walking around the track in twice the time she used to run. “The support of teammates was unbelievably important,” she said.
Walking became race walking became running and racing. Mile times fell from 15:00 min. per mile a year ago to 14:00 on down. “It was a hard slug and a fight,” she said.
She won her age division in a road race a few weeks ago and recently ran the mile in 8:09. She’ll soon be running it under 7 minutes and change.