Whatever it is you do for a living, involves some set of skills.
Most individuals possess ordinary skills, meaning they possess skills almost anyone can replicate in a short period of time.
When you have ordinary skills, you get paid an ordinary income.
But some individuals possess Virtuoso skills. These are unique skills that take many years of daily practice.
Virtuosos are paid a high premium for their skills. Because Virtuosos earn more money than others, they are able to acquire more wealth than others.
Playing the piano is a good example.
Many people know how to play the piano. Some may even be good enough to make a few hundred bucks playing in a local band, at a local pub, every weekend.
But Virtuoso piano players, like Liberace, are so expert at what they do, they create a large contingent of fans who are willing to pay a premium to hear them play.
What transforms an ordinary skill into a Virtuoso skill is how you practice.
Virtuosos Engage in Deliberate Practice
Deliberate Practice involves consistent, focused practice in specific subsets of your skill set which transforms you from ordinary to extraordinary.
Deliberate Practice requires many hours a day of Targeted Practice. Targeted Practice involves practicing specific sub-elements of each aspect of your skill.
Top tennis professionals, for example, will hit 500 backhands down the line from one side of the court. They will then hit another 500 backhands cross court from each side of the court.
The backhand is just one sub element of their overall skills. When they are done with their backhand, they move on to hitting lobs, volleying at net, hitting overheads, etc.
But there’s more to becoming a Virtuoso than Deliberate Practice.
Analytical Practice, when coupled with Deliberate Practice, transforms you into a Virtuoso.
Virtuosos Engage in Analytical Practice
Analytical Practice takes you to the top level, beyond excellent, and into the rarefied category known as Virtuoso status. When you reach Virtuoso status, you are among the very best at what you do in your field.
What is Analytical Practice?
The bedrock of Analytical Practice is something called The Feedback Loop.
All Virtuoso’s have one thing in common – some means by which they are provided immediate feedback after engaging in Deliberate Practice.
This feedback is typically provided by a coach. A coach will analyze how the budding Virtuoso engages in their Deliberate Practice and discuss ways to improve each element of that skill set.
But not everyone has the resources to hire a coach to get them to Virtuoso status.
So, what do you do?
You do what you can.
You seek feedback from people you know who share your skill.
You join Mastermind Groups specific to what you do.
You seek feedback from those you serve with your product or service.
You seek out a mentor, with a similar, albeit more advanced skill set.
You seek out family and friends who share your skill set.
You join Internet groups, specific to your skill set.
Your supervisor can provide feedback.
You can create your own Feedback Loop by evaluating your own performance (videos, review your own work, etc.).
Or you can spend a little bit of money, spread out over many years, to have some expert periodically review and critique what you do.
Becoming a Virtuoso is one of the four paths to wealth (#1 Saver-Investors, #2 Senior Executive at Publicly-Held Corporations, #3 Virtuosos and #4 Dreamer-Entrepreners).
If your desired path to riches is the Virtuoso path, you need to do what Virtuosos do – they engage in Deliberate Practice and Analytical Practice, every day for many, many years.
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About Thomas C. Corley
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