Trying vs Practicing

This week, my son and I went to see the new Karate Kid movie that recently came out. It featured the original Karate Kid, "Daniel-san," who has now become the teacher and master. The movie also included Jackie Chan, who played the character "Mr. Han" in the newer version of Karate Kid before this one.

I noticed that throughout all of the Karate Kid movies—and in all martial arts—they called it "the practice." The practice of martial arts. No matter whether it was the student or the teacher, white belt or black belt, master or rookie, they all called it the practice.

If you think about it, some of the most important people we rely on in our lives call their professions a "practice": practicing medicine, law practice, medical practice. They all say they are just practicing. This made me think about the definition and what it really means to practice.

To practice doesn't mean you don't know what you're doing. It means that you are continually improving the frequency and quality of a thing. At first thought, you might want someone who is so good they no longer need to practice. But on second thought, I’d definitely take the person who practices continually! (Think Kobe Bryant.)

There is a big difference between practicing and trying. Trying is merely attempting, while practicing is doing. Trying is thinking about taking the shot—and not taking it. Practicing is taking the shot, missing some, and making some. Trying is being paralyzed by fear. Practicing is moving forward and learning how to use fear as fuel. Trying can lead to overthinking before you make a move. Practicing helps you think about how to move better.

Trying is sharpening and measuring too many times before cutting. Practicing is learning how to measure and cut better while cutting—then sharpening after.

What are you in the practice of? Let us never confuse practicing with merely trying!

#personaldevelopment