The Power of Repetition

“Walk Slowly But Never Backward” - is the title of a chapter in James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” - a book I’ve been reading slowly over the past few months.

In it, he quotes a photography class experiment, in which the students were divided into two groups:

Quantity and Quality.

The Quantity group students would be graded on the sheer number of photos submitted during the semester.

100 photos would rate an A; 90 photos a B, 80 photos would earn a C, and so on.

While the students in the Quality group had to submit only 1 photo for the same semester.

To get an A grade, that photo had to be an almost perfect image.

The surprising twist?

The "Quantity Group" students submitted the best photos!

All semester long, they had been taking photographs, experimenting, making mistakes, learning, and honing their skills.

While those in the Quality group had been so busy speculating about perfection and unverified theories that they ended up submitting one mediocre-quality photo.

The first lesson here is that we tend to become so focused on the best approach for the best results that we actually never start taking real action.

The second is that the reason for not taking action is probably the fear of failure.

We tend to avoid criticism. No one likes to be judged publicly. That goes for me as well.

So we hesitate and dilly-dally and end up producing mediocre work.

But if we buckle down to the tasks at hand, begin doing, and learn from the mistakes, while improving gradually, the end result would be Grade A material.

This is the power of repetition.

Earl Nightingale was an American motivational speaker and author, known as the "Dean of Personal Development”.

Earl highlighted how our thoughts and beliefs shape our reality, and if we consistently focus on positive thoughts and emotions, we can manifest our desires.

For me, the line “nourish with repetition” in the above quote is the key that unlocks the door to our desired outcomes.

The saying "Practice makes perfect" tells us something we all know: doing something over and over again helps us get better at it.

In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus, the first researcher to carry out a prolonged series of experiments on human memory proved that when you study something more times, you remember it better.

Tennis is another example.

We see tennis players receive hundreds of balls from a ball machine in practice. They hit groundstroke after groundstroke working on various shots.

After this repetitive skill work, they will then work in live-play scenarios.

Even when tennis players are in the middle of their competitive season, they still devote a percentage of their practice time to repetitive shot reproduction.

In music, repetition is a common technique often used by drummers.

This requires rehearsing patterns, exercises, or rhythms repeatedly until they are ingrained in their skill set.

As drummers persistently revisit these patterns, they experience improvements in their timing, coordination, speed, and precision.

The power of repetition.

Lessons on the Power of Repetitions

John Wooden is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in the history of college basketball.

He coached the UCLA Bruins to an unprecedented 10 NCAA national championships in a 12-year period, including a record seven consecutive championships from 1967 to 1973.

Coach Wooden practically built his entire success around his philosophy of learning which heavily emphasised repetition.

On the flip side though, repetitive tasks can become excessive, purposeless, or lacking in diversity.

Early in my working life, this was my problem - the sheer monotony of work, being stuck in a never-ending cycle of uninteresting tasks.

Nevertheless, when a definite goal was set in sight - in my context, a promotion, these repetitive tasks suddenly gained meaning and purpose.

The prospect of a rewarding outcome at the journey's end serves as a powerful motivator.

Reaping the Benefits of Repetitive Tasks:

When I dive into activities I'm truly passionate about, like trekking, writing, photography, playing football, and managing my finances, the entire experience becomes electrifying.

These are things I genuinely love, not just chores I must complete.

Likewise, for the past 5 months, I have managed to keep my target of publishing this newsletter every Friday.

I observed minuscule changes within myself:

• Increased Mastery

• More Efficiency

• Higher Productivity

• Better Focus and Concentration

• A Feeling of Achievement and Satisfaction

Final Words

• Repetition is like a mental training tool.

• It ingrains our goals in our minds, boosting motivation and commitment.

• Earl Nightingale stressed the importance of regularly revisiting goals, and cultivating purpose.

• It extends beyond thoughts to actions; daily purposeful actions, when repeated, become success-driven habits.

• Repetition makes reaching goals easier, a potent force for realizing dreams with less effort.

How to Begin

Start Small.

• If you want to write, start writing 1 sentence.

• If you want to walk, start walking for 5 minutes.

• If you want to read, start reading for 2 minutes.

• If you want to study, do it for 10 minutes.

Review.

Push the limits incrementally.

Take your time.

Remember to “Walk Slowly But Never Backward” 😀 

Note:

If this has piqued your curiosity, Earl Nightingale’s book is available here as well!

Till next time.😃 

Jude

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^{*If you’re feeling inspired and benefitting from this read, I would be mighty glad if you could buy me a coffee. It helps support my work. Thank you!}