by Bruce Elkin

Did you know that participants in the opening and closing ceremonies at the Turin Olympics practiced their routines 11,000 times?

Or that the figure skaters who competed in Turin had practiced each element in their routines 14,000 times?

Did you know that Buddhist monks who score off the scale for compassion, and who have parts of their neo-cortex that most of us do not yet have, sat in meditation for over 10,000 hours?

There is an awesome power in practice and persistence, and the source of that power is passion. To practice that long and hard, you have to love what you do.

But passion is not enough. Vision without action can be just daydreaming.

It is practice and persistence that translates the power of passion into successful results. And maybe a bit of luck, but luck too comes from practice.

Take Ben Hogan, for example. There's a story about the legendary golfer who was interviewed by a reporter after winning a major tournament.

"Mr. Hogan," said the reporter, "You were under amazing pressure in this tourney yet you consistently hit remarkable shots. How do you do it?"

"Hmm," said the laconic Hogan, "I suppose I'm just lucky."

"Just luck?" said the reporter. "But you practice more than any player on the tour."

"Well," said Hogan, "I guess the more I practice, the luckier I get."

Practice is key to growth and mastery. And mastery is key to consistently producing results that matter. And, says an old Aikido saying, the master is the one who stays on the mat five minutes longer than anybody else.

Although he was rich in natural talent, Wayne Gretzky, the "Great One" of Canadian hockey fame, was first on and last off the ice from the time he started playing until he retired. He translated his talent into success through passion, practice, and persistence.

You can do the same. Maybe not at hockey, but at what you really love.

So, what DO you love?

What brings you fully alive and engaged? Or used to, before you got jaded and tired? What really gives you juice? What do you MOST want to create?

Yes, I know, I have asked these questions before. And maybe it did not help.

People tell me, "I know what I am are passionate about, but I do not know how to go about doing it." Or, "I do not have enough time. Or money. Or confidence." Or, often, "Somebody or something gets in my way."

When asked about passion, many are quick with such "Yeah, but…" comebacks. Is that you? Or someone you know?

If so, it might be because you operate mostly out of a "fixed" mindset, rather than a "growth" mindset.

In her new book, The Growth MINDSET: The New Psychology of Success, Stanford professor Carol Dweck identifies 2 different mindsets (or belief structures) that play critical roles in whether we succeed at what matters to us, or not.

People working with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence, talents, and abilities are fixed traits. You have it or you do not. Nothing can be done to change it.

Because they believe their traits are fixed, people with fixed mindsets focus on proving that they are talented and able. They hide weaknesses from others, and themselves. They close themselves off from learning new ways of doing things, and from growing their talents and abilities focus and effort.

People with a growth mindset believe their intelligence, talents, and abilities can be developed through passion, practice, and persistence. They do not have to prove they are smart or able. They can risk failing and looking foolish because they know growth and change are possible. And that failure is really only feedback.

For them, it is not about looking smart, or grooming an image. It is about learning what it takes to create the results they most want. They are passionate about the results they want to produce, and passionate about learning how to do so.

In short, they believe passion-driven practice and persistence will lead to improved abilities, increased talent, and successful results. And, they're right! They do.

And here is the good news. You, too, can learn to work from a growth mindset.

If you do, you will likely create success far beyond that which you have been able to create so far. And the growth mindset is not hard to learn!

Managers who were taught the growth mindset in 90-minute workshops succeeded in shifting from a fixed to a growth mindset, and sustained their results.

In the workshops, they read an article and watched a video about how the brain changes and grows with learning. Then they were asked to do 4 things:

• Think of 3 reasons why it is important to think that ability can be developed;

• Recall an area where you developed an ability, and explain how you made that change;

• Email a hypothetical protégé about how ability can be developed, and

• Bring to mind times when you saw someone learn to do something you did not think the person could do, and think about how that happened, and what it means.

If you want to succeed at what matters, I suggest you try these 4 techniques yourself. And do not just do it once or twice and quit.

Keep at it until you notice yourself changing, and then keep at it until the growth mindset becomes your new go-to habit.

When it does, you will be able to harness passion, practice, and persistence in the service of your deepest desires and highest aspirations, confident you can learn what it takes to make them a reality.

And I doubt that it will take you 10,00 hours.

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Bruce Elkin is a writer and internationally known Personal, Professional, and Organizational Life/Work Renewal Coach. Get his eNewsletter at http://www.bruceelkin.com/free.html For more info, visit BruceElkin.com and http://createwhatmattersmost.blogspot.com

Labels: commitment, inspired action, perseverance, perspective