Few years ago we were in Montreal, Canada for vacation. It was Saturday and while we were visiting Old Montreal we noticed that there was a show by Cirque du Soleil, one of the most famous circus groups in the world. We became very excited and bought two tickets for the show. Our seats were in front rows and therefore we were able to see the performers very well. Their performance was amazing. It seemed like that some of the performers did not have any bone. They could bend their body in any way they wanted. Their moves were extra ordinary and the team work was brilliant. They were not only athletes but also actors, dancers, entertainers, and artists. Many of them were slim yet strong. Honestly, I could not imagine myself doing even one of those brilliant moves.
We saw a similar show performed by a circus group from Shanghai few months later in Edmonton, Canada. I could not believe how these small Chinese athletes could perform such wonderful moves. You could see one standing on the head of the other, one holding two others on a bike which its wheels were placed on top of a drum, a girl performing balanced moves on top of 10 chairs, girls rotating 10 plates each on a stick while performing balanced moves at the same time. Overall, it was an amazing show full of creative acrobatic moves through brilliant team work. Their performance stunned the audience and made them wow.
After watching these shows, I thought about how such moves are developed. They don’t come out of nowhere. Sure, the performers are very talented but the individual moves and the combination of moves by the team are impossible without lots of practice prior to the show. A performance cannot be brilliant unless the performer puts lots of practice and preparation into her program and pushes herself to move from good to brilliant.
In a similar way, outstanding performance in any kind of work environment and generally in day to day activities cannot be achieved without continuous practice and willingness to become better every time we do something over and over. Never underestimate the power of practice as it is one of the core foundations of success. Always challenge yourself to do a task better whenever you repeat that task. Eventually, you become master in that task and perform it brilliantly.
