People are constantly looking for shortcuts. Whatever they hope to accomplish, they want to accomplish it faster, sooner, and with less effort. Losing weight, acquiring a language, learning a musical instrument, playing a sport, or adding professional skills: we want to do more, better, in less time. There may be some ways we can learn, work, and grow more efficiently and effectively, but watching videos on YouTube and reading articles online about how to do something will only be helpful to a point. You have to practice what you hope to learn. You have to internalize knowledge and skills, and that can only be done through (tens of) thousands of hours of deliberate repetition.
Most people are looking for hacks, shortcuts in the learning and developing process. But that is not usually what is needed. A fascination with hacks is often counterproductive, because time and energy is spent on determining the best way to proceed rather than doing the work necessary to move forward. This is not to say how to do something is irrelevant. We want to be efficient and effective. But no amount of efficiency or effectiveness in design can substitute for doing the work deliberately and consistently over time.
Focus on the fundamentals. View your discipline, project, or activity as a craft to perfect rather than a goal to complete. It may be both, but the former will help you cultivate the mindset and habits most conducive to quality and success. Be determined to master the basics. Never outgrow them. Never look for the shortcut around them. Drill the fundamental movements, skills, and information with concentrated attention, repeatedly and frequently, over a long period of time. Make the repetition a form of meditation. Forget about when you are finished. Put all of your energy into the rhythm and process. You cannot practice this way if you are always looking at the clock, eager to be done.
This advice can help you learn the piano, excel at French cooking, acquire a second language, master a martial art, or become competent at coding in multiple computer languages. But I am writing primarily as a pastor to church members. Think of the application of these ideas in discipleship. This is how you develop a deeper prayer life, learn the doctrines of the Christian faith, express the fruit of the Spirit more consistently, and memorize entire books of the Bible. There are no shortcuts here. You don’t just need a better routine, though routines are important. You need deliberate and consistent practice, focused on the fundamentals of whatever you are seeking to learn, grow, and do. Where would you be as a disciple of Jesus if you devoted one hour per day to learning, immersing, and practicing the disciplines of grace? --JME
