The word “practice” can mean many things to different people. We’ve all heard the saying, “Practice Makes Perfect.” My best friend was great at playing the piano, but it infuriated her when her mom made us stop doing what we wanted to do so she could practice. I loved to listen to her play, but she just hated it. At the time, I just didn’t understand why she resented that so badly, because she was very talented. The answer was, she simply hated to practice!
When we enjoy learning a new game, it’s fun, and we get better at it the longer we play. That’s why computer games or games on cell phones are so popular. Getting to the next level on a computer game is very challenging, and this promotes practice until one can move up to higher levels. Many times, school classes are boring, and young people are not motivated to learn, but when it’s fun, they become more interested. The fact is, however, that we can’t be entertained 100 per cent of the time. Being from the old school, we learned reading, writing, and arithmetic by going over and over and over and over it, until we had it down pat. Practice, practice, practice!
You may have noticed that many young persons who work in fast food restaurants or other industries depend on that calculator/cash register to figure the change they owe you. If the electricity goes out, they are in trouble. Please understand, that it is very important that young people grasp the basic fundamentals of math, etc., to get ahead in the world. Knowing how to figure out a problem with paper and pen helps.
Practice can mean drill, and that’s a word that turns folks off. Unless it’s football drills, or other athletic drills, and then young people can’t wait to get out on the field. Practice makes players safer, too. You may have a fire drill at work, and that’s a type of practice, too. (One that is important for your safety.) Musicians must practice every day in order to excel, as well as actors, who rehearse over and over until their performance is (almost) perfect.
So for everyone who works for a living, practice is a very important part of being successful. Practice is necessary to execute ones job with proficiency. Leaders of safety teams must learn the demands of the job first, and then be able to motivate workers to reach attainable goals. Repeated performances mean that the more we do something, the better at it we will become. Technology many times lets us avoid repetition. However, many jobs require us to do it the hard way – through years of experience and finding out what works best to accomplish the goals we have set for ourselves.
When employees work as a team, and share their knowledge with each other, problems can be more easily solved. Once we know what is expected of us in our particular job description, we can accomplish it through hard work and practice. Working with others and keeping each other and ourselves safe through good work practices will allow everyone to achieve their goals.