The Science in “Practice”
Background
Haven’t we all heard of the phrase "Practice Makes a Man Perfect"? This phrase had been the "catch word" since time memorial - lucidly summarizing the essence of acquiring any "new skill". This also resonates quite well with our own experience - from the time we are born, and the arduous process involved in our pursuit in learning skills like - "crawling", "walking", "speaking" and even "seeing" (which in itself is a complex process of learning to model the world around us by mapping visualization and its linkage with real experience). These skills get acquired though constant practice, and involves many failed attempts - leading to improvement in expertise as time progresses. The process continues throughout our life, and the ability of acquiring "new skills" varies widely across different individuals. But, have we ever paused to think about the science involved in the process of "acquiring new skills", and why the experience is so diverse across individuals? Let's investigate.
Barriers in Acquiring “New Skills”
Human being are complex self-learning machines. The learning process is driven by our brain. The brain operates in two different modes. The first, is the "subconscious mode" - responsible for functions, which generally are not directly in our control. These are -functioning of the heart, and the process of digestion etc. The second is the "conscious mode" - responsible for driving the process of learning, and acquiring "new skills". Conscious mode of the brain more or less functions at one’s will. Compared to "conscious mode", "subconscious mode" is very efficient and consuming very less energy, and gives one a sense of comfort (body is naturally designed to be in the state of lowest energy to optimize food intake). The process of acquiring "new skills" actives the "conscious mode", and increases the rate of consumption of energy, and thus triggers a "sense of discomfort".
Dealing with “The Sense of Discomfort”
Hence, acquiring any "new skill" is always challenging and unpleasant. One has to make a conscious effort in that direction - resulting in lot of discomfort due to increased rate of energy consumption. However, the good news is that, as we "practice" the "new skill" driven by the "conscious mode" of our brain, the "subconscious mode" of our brain learns it, and trains our muscles to optimize and conserve energy, as the action gets sufficiently repeated. This results in a "muscles memory" - which is more in the control of the "subconscious mind" than that of the "conscious mind".
Thus, the real barrier in acquiring any "new skill" depends upon one’s “will power” to manage the experience of "discomfort", as the "conscious mind" drives the muscles to action, till they are sufficiently trained to replicate them subconsciously.
"Will power’s" ability to manage the "sense of discomfort" while acquiring "new skills", is driven by the "right attitude", and sustained by "motivation" - cajoling the individual to practice, till the "sense of discomfort" disappears, or gets sufficiently reduced. Managing the "sense of discomfort" can be really challenging and demotivating, and is the greatest barrier in the process of acquiring "new skills" - resulting in failures and one prematurely giving up.
Brain’s “Reward System” Triggers “Motivation”
So the real question is how do we activate the "will power" which helps us in overcoming the "sense of discomfort" - a barrier in acquiring new skills? The answer lies in the brains "reward system" - responsible for enabling us to experience the sense of "happiness" and "satisfaction". All our actions, either emanating out of "free will" or on account of "duress", activates the brain's "reward system", to compensate us proportionately. Brain's "reward system" has a unique feature of compensating us for all our actions, even if it does not lead to the process of acquiring of "new skills". The problem though is the sense of "happiness" is ephemeral, in case the actions are merely on account of the act of "consumption" (with little or no discomfort) and does not sustain for a long period of time, and quickly fades away. Moreover, such repetitive "consumption" (without discomfort) diminishes individual skills, and weaken his ability to consume further - resulting in sense of pain and dissatisfaction.
Whereas, positive progress on account of one acquiring “new skills”, triggers the brain's "reward system" to compensation us with "happiness" and "satisfaction", which sustains for a much longer period of time and is the "key motivational factor" which drives individuals towards it (acquiring “new skills”). But, the ability of the "will power" to able to withstand the "sense of dissatisfaction" is also intricately dependent upon how an individual is able to manage the "motivational factors" contributing towards acquiring "new skills".
Managing Motivation is the Key
Managing "motivation" is highly dependent upon the “act of planning" before we progress towards our objective of acquiring "new skills". Planning enables us to set “mile stones”, which helps us in measuring progress and make much needed adjustments, either in the intensity of the goals, or in the method adopted towards acquiring “new skills”. “Motivation” is sustained by the “sense of accomplishment” triggered by the Brain’s “reward system” due to the meaningful progress in meeting “mile stones”, thereby empowering one’s “will power” to withstand the momentary “sense of discomfort” experienced while going through the process of training the “sub conscious mind”.
In Nutshell
“Sense of accomplishment” drives sustained “happiness” and “satisfaction” and can be accomplished by learning “new skills” through the act of “Practice”. This is totally in alignment with the functioning of the Brain’s “reward system”. In case the learning process is stopped, then one gets into a pure “consumption mode”, and the “sense of pleasure” emanating out of it does not last long, and evaporates soon, leading to pain and anxiety.