What you can learn from world class musicians about the value of practice. Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

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In a world of get rich quick advice, it's an eye-opening journey

to explore the realm of world class musicians who practice an insane amount

of time to get to the level they're at.

Tosin Abasi is one of them.

He's the lead guitarist of the band Animals As Leaders and you

probably haven't heard of him because their music is at times

actually hard to digest for some.

But his unique technique is crazy and he does things on the guitar

that even experienced players wouldn't even consider possible.

When he was asked if he indeed practiced 15 hours a day, yes, you

heard that right, 15 hours a day.

And why?

This is what he replied.

What happens is there's this revelation that if you put in

work on something you can't do at first, eventually, you can do it.

And the first time that happens, it is kind of like an addiction.

You want it to happen again.

And the more it happens, the more you're confident that it can happen.

So you start chasing your potential.

So, for Abasi practice is a drug, a drug that provides him with a feeling

of achievement and possibility.

Through practice, he is able to turn the knowledge that something can

be done into the ability to do it.

At the same time, by pushing the boundaries of what he's able to

do, he also pushes the boundaries of what he knows to be possible.

It's a virtuous circle.

You might not be willing to invest 15 hours a day practicing your craft.

But if there's something you can’t do, but see others doing, it might

just be that they have been willing to invest the time to practice.

Knowing that something can be done is quite different from being able to do it.

The former can be achieved by reading inspirational blogs

or watching YouTube tutorials.

The latter often requires practice.