I’m inspired by the approximately 2,900 athletes competing in Milan and Cortina this month. Even from my televised view, they obviously put in a lot of time and effort into their practice. They developed their skills for many years, qualified for the 2026 Olympics, and some of them will take home gold, silver, or bronze medals.
Maybe we should all follow their example.
Practice Makes Perfect
I don’t mean that we have to start skating, skiing, or working out for multiple hours a day, every day, but if, as the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect,” we should repeatedly work on our desired craft.
Do you want to be a good cook, a great mechanic, or a published author? Maybe you want to be a successful musician, nurse, teacher, or carpenter. Whatever your goal, whatever career or skill you aspire to, it takes practice and, as my twist on the old saying goes, “Practice makes proficient.”
What is Proficiency?
Proficiency is defined as “a high degree of competence or skill; expertise.” To me, the label “Pro” indicates that you are a professional, that you are proficient and that you adhere to professional standards.
Achieving your proficiency goals takes practice. And, practicing takes time and effort. It takes dedication and focus. It can take training and education. With enough practice, we can develop expertise in our chosen skills.
The Demands of Practice
Today’s Olympic athletes deserve admiration regardless of whether or not they win a medal. They trained for years to get where they are. They gave everything to their sport: time, money, sweat and tears, pulled muscles, torn ligaments, even broken bones.
To be a proficient writer, I don’t need to demand as much of my body as an Olympic athlete does, but I do need to practice. Which is what I’m doing right now as I write this blog post, and every week when I write a flash fiction story for Friday Micro.
Setting Goals
I won’t win an Olympic Gold Medal writing my tiny stories, but as I continue to develop my skills and I become more proficient, publication credits follow. As I practice, you’ll see my work in the best journals and anthologies (bronze medal), as my own published collection (silver medal), and maybe eventually as a novel or novel in flash (gold medal).
Those are my goals. What are yours?