Practice: Why Habits are More Effective Than Willpower

A topic I have been thinking a lot about over the past few months is the importance of making practice a habit and not something we make happen through our willpower. 

Families who practice daily and have a long-term commitment to learning an instrument often learn this through experience. 

When I conducted research with over 100 practice parents (read more about it here), I asked what the one thing was that made this all work in their family.

56% of participants said being consistent, and having a routine is what made it work for them. 

Here is some of why I think that is:

Habits are automatic:  

• We do them (or at least start them) without much struggle.
• It feels weird if we miss a day. 
• They are part of our life and our daily routine. 

Willpower is finite: 

• We run out of it as the day goes on. 
• We may have the best of intentions but may not have any left to make ourselves practice or practice well.
• It implies we are putting a tremendous amount of effort into getting started and making it happen every single day. 

Benjamin Hardy, in his book Willpower Doesn’t Work, talks about the fact that we need to:  

“Create conditions that make success inevitable.” 

That is what we want to work on. 

It’s up to our children, or students, to do the actual work of practice. Ultimately they have to put in the effort to improve and practice well. 

BUT as parents, we are the practice environment (not the room or what is hanging on the walls) 

We are in charge of creating the environment and conditions in which they are most likely to succeed. 

We are in charge of helping our children create the habit of practice. 

We can encourage developing a practice habit, much like we help our children develop the habit of brushing their teeth or buckling their seat belts. 

Maybe we have to help make it fun or enjoyable so they can be consistent enough to make it a habit. 

Maybe we have to ensure practice happens even when they (or we) don’t feel like it. That way, they are consistent enough to make it a habit. 

And then, eventually, we have a solid habit where we resist getting started less, and we ease into the daily work more comfortably. 

This becomes even more important during times when things are busy, and we have more activities to juggle and manage on a day-to-day basis.

In James Clear’s book Atomic Habits (one of my favorite books from the last year) he says 

“You do not rise to the level or your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” 

Our habits are the baseline of what we will do when things get busy or hard. 

The best thing we can do is to set up systems or habits that help us accomplish our goals – just having the goal is not enough. 

Specifically, our number one goal is to get into the habit of daily practice. Long-term progress depends on it. Don’t rely on your willpower to make it happen! 

How can you take steps to establish daily practice as a habit this week?