Like me, I’m sure you are very familiar with the phrase “practice makes perfect.” While that saying is close, it’s not true. There needs to be a little more clarity “perfect practice makes perfect.” If you practice something over and over the wrong way you will simply get good at doing the thing you practiced wrong.

Living in Tucson, Arizona, (one of the golfing capitals of the world) I’ve had several lengthy conversations with golf instructors over the years. One of the recurring comments I hear them talk about is when they begin to teach someone the proper golf swing, the first thing they have to do is help them unlearn all the wrong mechanics they have practiced and become proficient at. Why? Because, it’s not just practice that makes perfect, it’s perfect practice that makes perfect.

Rather than going through the discipline and pain of unlearning a bad habit in any area of life to relearn it correctly, we often find quick solutions that become more bad habits. It’s like having a poor foundation for a building and trying to fix it with quick fixes other than dealing with the foundation. It may seem slow and take more time in the beginning, but it will save time, be more proficient, and ultimately more pleasurable by getting it right. Redo the foundation!

The more you live in perfect practice the more you will see whatever you are working at become pleasurable. You could say that perfect practice makes pleasurable! It can be with anything like your leadership skills, a job skill, or hobby. Whatever you choose to do in life, whatever you are gifted at doing, it will be more pleasurable to do with perfect practice.

What areas of your life are you living with quick fixes because you have learned some bad habits or practices? Be willing today to be honest about those areas and do the research needed to find out what you need to unlearn so that you can relearn the right way. Make the right habits because life will be more pleasurable, productive and satisfying.