One of the things I am working on improving in my business life is changing the way I develop good ideas for new videos and content for my YouTube channel.
I used to look at trends and see what kinds of videos worked well for other channels. That is all very reactive content. I want to be proactive. At first, maybe more videos will flop, but eventually, more will boom.
This new method will be by deliberately practicing and getting better at techniques and software. Better retouching, more skilled sketching, more talent in my illustration work, greater know-how in photography, and more expertise in video editing.
Deliberate practice is generally comprised of four elements:
There is a well-defined goal and the target is clear. –If I accomplish X goal, I will move on to practicing Y thing.
There are periods of deep work, during which you focus on nothing but the practice at hand. No distractions and nothing that take cognitive “bandwidth.” (i.e. no music, background noise, TV in the background, podcasts, email-checking, etc…)
There is feedback I get immediately. –This is where it is good to have somebody who can give you honest feedback about your art. But outside of the art realm, your feedback could be as simple as, “I completed X task during this time period and I did it faster and smoother than before.” I also like to take notes on what I felt comfortable with and what I need to keep working on for a future session.
Finally, there must be a stretching of ability. I do not spend my deliberate practice time doing things that are easy. I poke into more difficult areas where I struggle for at least 30% of my practice session. The remaining 70% can be a mix of easy-to-medium level practice.
A deliberate practice session for practicing the guitar would go like this:
I pick up the guitar with the clear goal of practicing the part of “Fur Elise” that is in the F major key.
I sit with the guitar and the sheet music and nothing else.
I get instant feedback in the form of the music. Am I playing it well, smoothly, and according to the sheet music? If so, good, (but get even better!) If not, keep working.
About 30% of the practice session will be spent on the skills, finger stretches, partial chord structures, and faster finger-plucking to work on the areas I need to refine. 70% will be spent playing through the entire song and the specific part I am working on. I will explore, try different fingerings and speeds and just generally focus on stringing more and more notes together without making a mistake.
While this is cognitively demanding, I believe that this method of deliberate practice can be a great way to improve my skills and discover great ideas for useful and fun videos for my YouTube channel.