What is a skill you want to develop?  This weekend I read No Easy Day which is a first-hand account of the capture of Osama bin Laden (this is a story that will keep you turning the pages).  The level of proficiency of the team that carried out the raid was amazing – all of them were skilled professionals.  The author writes, “Every single contingency was practiced to the point where we were tired of it” (p. 175).

As I read this story I thought of Daniel Coyle’s excellent book on building and improving your skills entitled, The Little Book of Talent (here is a link to my review of Coyle’s book).  Coyle writes, “When U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 mounted its May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, it prepared by constructing full-scale replicas of the compound in North Carolina and Nevada, and rehearsing for three weeks. . . . They used the power of repetition to build the circuitry needed for the job” (p. 97).

When is the last time you have diligently trained several weeks for a task?  As I pondered this question I thought of those times in my life of intense preparation, although they were difficult, they were times of my greatest skill development.  Repetition is often viewed as a laborious chore but it is an essential tool in building a skill.  Martial artist Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times.”

The Apostle Paul gives us similar advice,

The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.  (Philippians 4:9)

He encourages us to practice these things.  How is your practice of those skills you want to develop?  One of mentor’s, Stephen Olford, used to say, “Discipline not desire determines destiny!”  Keep on practicing . . .

Dr. Rick Higgins

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University