Running a Successful Race - Lesson 2 - Practice, Practice, Practice A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to run a marathon while visiting New Zealand. During the preparation for, and the running of this race, I learned a number of lessons that apply both to life and to work. The lessons I learned have to do with the ability to establish, put in place, and complete effective goals for my life. The second of these lessons is discussed here. When I first made the decision to run my marathon, I was definitely not prepared. I was in pretty good shape, but not good enough to run over 26 miles in a competitive environment. So I practiced! For me that meant running longer and longer practice runs until fifteen miles seemed a stroll in the park. There were many days that I would run eight miles in the morning, eight miles in the afternoon, and then go on a two mile "sprint" just to release excess energy. Yes, I was probably obsessed by the goal of successfully running this race. But simply running was not enough preparation. I also practiced picking up and drinking out of a small cup while running down the road. It sounds easier than it really is and, quite frankly, I never became proficient at it. The lack of that skill definitely hurt me during the race. I ended up severely dehydrated at the end as a result. There was one area of practice that I neglected, mostly out of ignorance. Most marathoners will tell you that it is always good to go on at least one very long run sometime during your training - preferably one that is close to the projected distance of the race or longer. So even with running about 80 miles a week in preparation of the race, I still lacked two necessary ingredients. So how does this concept apply to setting goals at work or for your personal life? Many times we make a decision that we are going to focus our efforts towards a particular goal and put our efforts towards it. For instance, we decide to improve our customer service and begin to address the particulars of dealing with our customers in different and better ways. Practicing this should provide improvement in that area. However, many times we miss additional practice opportunities that would fully engage our people in the effort and increase the probability of reaching the improvement goals. Where do we practice these customer service skills? My suggestion would be with every person you come into contact with: your employees, your vendors, your family, your neighbors, even those you meet as you go about your business. If you only demonstrate good service skills with your customers it may seem hollow or even fake, especially when you turn to an employee and treat them rudely in front of the customer you are attempting to serve. The same applies to other initiative areas: quality, safety, efficiency, etc. The best path is to have all of your actions reflecting those principles, not just when you are focused on that particular activity. Some say "Practice makes perfect." I say "Perfect practice makes perfect."