How to make a dream come true: the rule of three «P»

It would seem that we did everything right: we chose a goal, assessed resources, analyzed alternatives, made a plan in which everything was very clearly stated. The case for small — for implementation.

But, as practice shows, this is the most difficult stage, at which the majority breaks down. How to make everything work out so that we can realize our dream? The rule of three «P» will help us: consistently, constantly, immersed.

Consistently

Whatever task we set for ourselves, even the most ambitious one, we expect to get the result as quickly as possible: we want everything at once. Therefore, we start abruptly, “take it right off the bat”, try to “give it our all”, but very soon we abandon the work we have begun with excitement.

A story familiar to many: we decided to go in for fitness, bought a subscription and began to visit the fitness club every day. But then urgent matters arose. And so we missed once, twice, and, finally, either quit altogether, or train once a week to a seventh sweat and trembling legs.

And it would be worthwhile to plan right away: “I will visit the club twice a week at the most comfortable time for me. And only if it works, I will do it more often. But these two times I have to study for sure.

If we stick to this schedule, unbeknownst to us, the “obligatory” time will begin to increase, grow due to unscheduled visits. And then they will become a habit. We will not notice how the time for fitness will be freed up “by itself”, and we will certainly not quit training.

Whatever we do, if we don’t want to lose the rhythm or simply “overstrain”, we must act consistently: start small, move from simple to complex. You can’t learn yoga from a headstand, and playing the piano from performing complex pieces — first you need to patiently study the available asanas or learn the scales and only then complicate and improve what we already know.

It is better to work little by little, but more often — it is much more productive and useful than having to work all the time. It is important not to get stuck on the same level. Real professionals are always inventing, creating, creating something new.

Consistency implies constant development: we do not mark time, we do not slide in a straight line, we do not slide down, but we move forward and up the steps of mastery, placing ever higher demands on ourselves and working out the nuances.

Today is better than yesterday, and so step by step. You can’t stop: any stagnation is a regression. Consistency implies both calculation, and desire, and energy, and stubbornness, and inflexibility, and direction — everything that we need to carry out our plans.

It is possible to calculate and write down in advance: what, when and how much we must do in order to reach the given milestone by a certain date — in three years, five or ten years. Such an approach disciplines, helps to gradually build a clear, sometimes even rigid system that will not allow us to sabotage our goal, deviate from the chosen course.

Constantly

This rule is probably the most difficult to follow. We are talking about a direct relationship: spent time — achieved the goal, developed his talent, mastered the skill. Not ready to waste time — do not hope, nothing will work out.

As an illustration, I like to cite the research of the psychologist Anders Erickson in the book Geniuses and Outsiders by Malcolm Gladwell. All violin students of the Berlin Academy of Music were divided into three groups.

The first included «stars» — those who, according to teachers, should become world-class soloists. In the second — those who were rated as promising. And the third group included students who are unlikely to become concert violinists, but rather music teachers at school.

Everyone was asked the same question: “How many hours have you been practicing since you first picked up an instrument?” All students began to learn the violin at the same age — at the age of five. All were considered gifted children and at first they did approximately the same thing — about three hours a week. But further, after eight years, the number of hours spent on music lessons already varies markedly.

The best, that is, students from the first group, practiced six hours a week, then eight. At the age of 14 — already 16 hours, then 30 hours a week or more. By the age of 20, they had accumulated ten thousand hours of classes. The second group had about eight thousand hours by the age of 20. And the «future teachers» — no more than four thousand hours.

Erickson began to test this pattern on other musicians, and it turned out that it works in exactly the same way: among those who have achieved high skill, there was no one who would practice less than their peers. At the same time, among those who worked hard and spent those ten thousand hours, there was not one who did not achieve anything.

It turns out that real masters, virtuosos become as a result of hard work they love — and not from time to time, but constant, systematic, regular. Moreover, these ten thousand hours do not include the study of theory — only practice, practice and more practice.

This “rule of ten thousand” is very bright and revealing. It is worth remembering it every time we start complaining that something is not working out for us again. If you really want to achieve something, you need to work not just more than others, but much more.

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin believes that it takes exactly ten thousand hours for our brain to form new neural connections, thanks to which we “merge” with our business together. Whoever you take — composers, basketball players, writers, skaters, pianists, chess players — the «magic number» occurs with enviable regularity.

My personal experience as a master of sports of international class in cycling testifies to the same. It is what is achieved by hard, long-term work that becomes weighty and significant. Unfortunately, today it is difficult to find people who are willing to spend ten thousand hours mastering their craft. We are surrounded not only by «hastily cobbled together», but also by «instant» celebrities, from whom many take an example.

Surely someone will say: “Yes, I even spent more time, but nothing came of it …” Of course, there are other components of success. But still, those who are ready to constantly make efforts are much more likely to become true masters of their craft and realize their plans, especially when it comes to a business that we have not chosen by chance, if this is a cherished goal for us. And that’s why it’s worth trying!

submerged

Having decided to do something, we must dive into it as deeply as possible so that nothing distracts us. Immersion, concentration are not easy, because we live in an age of «lack of concentration» — our attention is scattered, and it takes a lot of effort to penetrate, to focus on something even really interesting.

If during work we think not about work, but, say, about the upcoming vacation, about a conflict with a friend, if we constantly wander somewhere mentally, then twenty thousand hours will not help realize our dreams. Therefore, immersion can and should be trained. But how?

Here is one of the options. The algorithm of actions is quite simple. We turn off the phone, computer, TV. We sit on a chair straight, put our legs parallel, put our hands on our knees, close our eyes and take five deep breaths and exhalations.

We follow the breath — the movement of air from the center of the chest to the head and back. It is calming and helps to focus. If we are afraid of the scale of the tasks and we are afraid to start their implementation, we can “deceive” our own brain by doing the simplest and most energy-saving operations first. So we give ourselves time to get involved.

And when easy tasks are already completed, the mechanism of post-voluntary attention often turns on, and we focus on work already by inertia, without constant volitional efforts. If we are not distracted, then the flow will pick us up, and it will be difficult for us to stop.

A large task can be divided into stages or into small time periods. Then we set a timer for a certain time (for example, for half an hour) and completely immerse ourselves in work. All this time we do not eat, do not drink, do not check social networks and mail, do not listen to music, do not answer calls. And then we rest for 5 minutes.

Once we get through three of these gaps (90 minutes is our standard high school “couple”), we can take a longer break. It would seem that only half an hour — but if we concentrate as much as possible, then during this time we will have time for a lot.

True, as practice shows, not everyone can immediately withstand even half an hour. Therefore, it is worth starting with fifteen minutes, then increase the time to 25-30, up to a maximum of 45 minutes. Then you can reward yourself for your efforts: drink a cup of coffee, take a walk, look at Facebook (an extremist organization banned in Russia), talk on the phone.

But what if you don’t have the right attitude? Suppose we decide to write a book. But the day before yesterday there was no inspiration, yesterday we did not sleep well, and today, as luck would have it, there is not a single new idea in my head. Will it be the same tomorrow? In this case, I have a favorite expression: «If you need to write something, sit down and write.»

One of the famous writers said this: “I work from ten to two, every day. Regardless of the state of health, from the state. «But what about inspiration?» they asked him. «It already knows that I’m working, and it comes.»

The main thing is not to be distracted by anything. And we will see that more can be done in an hour and a half than sometimes in a whole day. Then this time can be increased by adding it to your «piggy bank of ten thousand hours.»

The ability to focus, dive comes with experience. When we get used to constant diving, we will be able to stay in such an “activated” state for an hour and an hour and a half, not even in the most convenient conditions.

There is a good way not to be distracted, not to react to all sorts of “temptations” and provocations: you need to mentally surround yourself with a transparent dome and thus isolate yourself from external stimuli.

Of course, success is never guaranteed to anyone, and those who are considered the minions of fate are actually real hard workers. They believe in themselves and in their work, do not despair in case of failures and literally cultivate optimism in themselves. And we, too, will definitely be lucky if we rely not on chance, but on ourselves: it’s not for nothing that they say — “lucky are those who are lucky”!

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