Everything You Need to Know to Improve Your Performance at Anything—For Beginners and Experts
你需要知道的一切，以提升你在任何事情上的表現 - 適合初學者和專家
Deliberate practice is the best technique for achieving expert performance in every field—including writing, teaching, sports, programming, music, medicine, therapy, chess, and business. But there’s much more to deliberate practice than 10,000 hours. Read this to learn how to accelerate your learning, overcome the “OK” plateau, turn experience into expertise, and enhance your focus.
刻意練習是在各個領域達到專家級表現的最佳技巧，包括寫作、教學、運動、程式設計、音樂、醫學、治療、下棋和商業。但刻意練習不僅僅是一萬小時。閱讀這篇文章，了解如何加速學習、克服「OK」平臺、將經驗轉化為專業知識，並提升你的專注力。
What is deliberate practice?
什麼是刻意練習？
“Engaged in the creative process we feel more alive than ever, because we are making something and not merely consuming, masters of the small reality we create. In doing this work, we are in fact creating ourselves.” —Robert Greene, Mastery
參與創作過程時，我們感覺比以往更有活力，因為我們正在創造而不僅僅是消費，成為我們所創造的小小現實的主人。在進行這項工作時，我們實際上是在創造自己。 —羅伯特·格林，《精通》
Deliberate practice is what turns amateurs into professionals. Across every field, deliberate practice is what creates top performers and what they use to stay at the top of their game. It’s absolutely essential for expert performance.
刻意練習是將業餘者變成專業人士的關鍵。在各個領域中，刻意練習是造就頂尖表現者的方法，也是他們保持頂尖水準的秘訣。對於專業表現來說，這絕對是必不可少的。
As a general concept, “practice” means preparing. It’s the act of repeatedly performing certain activities with the intention of improving a specific associated skill. We rehearse what to do in low-pressure situations so we’ll be better when we use a skill in situations where something is actually at stake, such as in a competition or in the workplace. Although this definition may seem obvious, it’s crucial to distinguish between doing something and practicing it, because they’re not always synonymous.
作為一個一般概念，“練習” 意味著準備。這是反覆執行某些活動的行為，目的是提高特定相關技能。我們在低壓力情況下排練該如何做，這樣當我們在真正有所損失的情況下使用技能時，比如在競爭或工作場合，我們會更好。儘管這個定義可能看起來很明顯，但區分做某事和練習某事是至關重要的，因為它們並不總是同義詞。
The key distinction between doing and practicing is that we’re only practicing something when we do it in a way that makes us better at it—or at least with that intention.
做與練習之間的關鍵區別在於，當我們以讓自己變得更好為目的進行某事時，我們才算是在練習。
Deliberate practice means practicing with a clear awareness of the specific components of a skill we’re aiming to improve and exactly how to improve them. Unlike regular practice, in which we work on a skill by repeating it again and again until it becomes almost mindless, deliberate practice is a laser-focused activity. It requires us to pay unwavering attention to what we’re doing at any given moment and whether it’s an improvement or not.
刻意練習意味著以清晰的意識練習我們想要提升的技能的具體組成部分，以及確切如何改進它們。不同於一般練習，我們在刻意練習中透過專注的活動來提升技能。這需要我們對當下所做的事情保持堅定的注意力，並判斷是否有進步。
Geoff Colvin summarizes deliberate practice as such in Talent Is Overrated:
在《天賦過譽》一書中，Geoff Colvin 對刻意練習的摘要如下：
Deliberate practice is characterized by several elements, each worth examining. It is activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with a teacher’s help; it can be repeated a lot; feedback on results is continuously available; it’s highly demanding mentally, whether the activity is purely intellectual, such as chess or business-related activities, or heavily physical, such as sports; and it isn’t much fun.
刻意練習具有幾個特點，值得細細探討。這是一種專門設計來提高表現的活動，通常需要老師的幫助；可以反覆練習很多次；持續提供成果反饋；在心智上要求很高，無論是純粹智力活動，如下棋或商業相關活動，或是高度體力活動，如運動；並不是很有趣。
The extraordinary power of deliberate practice is that it aims at constant progress. Practitioners are not content with repeating a skill at the same level. They have metrics for measuring their performance. And they aspire to see those metrics get continuously better.
刻意練習的非凡力量在於它追求持續進步。練習者不滿足於在同一水準上重複技能。他們有衡量表現的指標，並渴望看到這些指標持續改善。
While engaging in deliberate practice, we are always looking for errors or areas of weakness. Once we identify one, we establish a plan for improving it. If one approach doesn’t work, we keep trying new ones until something does.
在進行刻意練習時，我們總是尋找錯誤或弱點。一旦我們找到一個，我們就會制定改進計劃。如果一種方法不起作用，我們會不斷嘗試新的方法，直到找到有效的為止。
Using deliberate practice, we can overcome many limitations that we might view as fixed. We can go further than we might even think possible when we begin. Deliberate practice creates new physical and mental capabilities—it doesn’t just leverage existing ones.
利用刻意練習，我們可以克服許多我們認為是固定的限制。我們可以走得比我們一開始所想像的還要遠。刻意練習創造新的身體和心智能力，而不僅僅是利用現有的能力。
The more we engage in deliberate practice, the greater our capabilities become. Our minds and bodies are far more malleable than we usually realize.
越是執著於刻意練習，我們的能力就會變得更強大。我們的心智和身體比我們通常意識到的更具可塑性。
Deliberate practice is a universal technique, and you can employ it for whatever you’re trying to be the best (or just get a little bit better) at. It’s easiest to apply to competitive fields with clear measurements and standards, including music, dance, football/soccer, cricket, hockey, basketball, golf, horse riding, swimming, and chess.
刻意練習是一種普遍的技巧，你可以應用在任何想要成為最好（或只是進步一點點）的事情上。最容易應用在有明確評量標準的競爭領域，包括音樂、舞蹈、足球、板球、曲棍球、籃球、高爾夫、騎馬、游泳和象棋。
But deliberate practice is also invaluable for improving performance in fields such as teaching, nursing, surgery, therapy, programming, trading, and investing. It can even accelerate your progress in widely applicable skills such as writing, decision-making, leadership, studying, and spoken communication.
但刻意練習對於提升在教學、護理、外科手術、治療、程式設計、交易和投資等領域的表現也是無價之寶。它甚至可以加速你在廣泛應用技能上的進步，如寫作、決策、領導、學習和口語溝通。
The key in any area is to identify objective standards for performance, study top performers, and then design practice activities reflecting what they do. Recent decades have seen dramatic leaps in what people are capable of doing in many fields. The explanation for this is that we’re getting better at understanding and applying the principles of deliberate practice. As a field advances, people can learn from the best of what those who came before them figured out. The result is that now average high-schoolers achieve athletic feats and children advance to levels of musical prowess that would have seemed unthinkable a century earlier. And there’s little evidence to suggest we’ve reached the limits of our physical or mental abilities in any area whatsoever.
在任何領域中的關鍵是確定績效的客觀標準，研究頂尖表現者，然後設計反映他們所做的練習活動。近幾十年來，人們在許多領域所能做到的事情有了劇烈的飛躍。這一切的解釋在於我們越來越擅長理解和應用刻意練習的原則。隨著一個領域的進步，人們可以從前人發現的最佳實踐中學習。結果是現在普通的高中生可以達到運動壯舉，孩子們可以在音樂技藝上取得前所未有的進步，這在一個世紀前是難以想像的。而且幾乎沒有證據表明我們在任何領域的身心能力已經達到極限。
Many of us spend a lot of time each week practicing different skills in our lives and work. But we don’t automatically get better just because we repeat the same actions and behaviors, even if we spend hours per day doing it. Research suggests that in areas such as medicine, people with many years of experience are often no better than novices—and may even be worse.
許多人每週花費大量時間在生活和工作中練習不同的技能。但僅僅因為我們重複相同的行動和行為，即使每天花費數小時進行練習，也不會自動變得更好。研究表明，在醫學等領域，擁有多年經驗的人往往不比新手更好，甚至可能更差。
If we want to improve a skill, we need to know what exactly has to change and what might get us there. Otherwise, we plateau.
如果我們想要提升一項技能，我們需要知道確切需要改變什麼，以及如何達到目標。否則，我們就會達到瓶頸。
Some people will tell you it’s only possible for anyone to improve at anything through deliberate practice, and any other sort of practice is a waste of time. This is an exaggeration. In reality, regular practice works for reinforcing and maintaining skills. It can also help us improve skills, particularly in the early stages of learning something. However, deliberate practice is the only way to:
有些人會告訴你，任何人只能透過刻意練習來提升任何事情，其他形式的練習都是浪費時間。這是一種誇大。實際上，定期練習有助於強化和維持技能。它也可以幫助我們提升技能，特別是在學習某事的早期階段。然而，刻意練習是唯一的方式：
- Reach expert-level performance and enjoy competitive success
達到專家級表現並享受競爭成功 - Overcome plateaus in our skill level
克服我們技能水平上的瓶頸 - Improve at a skill much faster than through regular practice
比起常規練習，更快地提升技能
If you’re just doing something for fun and don’t care about constantly improving at it, you don’t need deliberate practice. For example, maybe you like to go for a walk around a local park in the afternoons to clear your head. Although you’re practicing that walk each time you go, you probably don’t care about increasing your walking speed day by day. It’s enough that the repetitions further ingrain the habit and help maintain a certain level of physical fitness. Not everything in life is a competition! But if you want to keep getting better at something as fast as possible or reach an expert level, deliberate practice is vital.
如果你只是為了好玩而做某事，並且不在乎不斷提升自己，你就不需要刻意練習。例如，也許你喜歡在下午到當地公園散步，讓自己頭腦清晰。雖然每次散步都是在練習，但你可能不在乎每天增加步行速度。重複練習有助於鞏固習慣並保持一定程度的身體健康。生活中並非所有事情都是競爭！但如果你想盡快提升自己或達到專家水準，刻意練習是至關重要的。
Another important point to note is that deliberate practice isn’t just a catchy name we came up with out of thin air. The term is largely attributed to Karl Anders Ericsson, one of the most influential figures of all time in the field of performance psychology. It’s something many scientists have studied for decades. Everything we say here is supported by substantial academic research, particularly Ericsson’s work.
另一個重要的觀點是，刻意練習不僅僅是我們凭空想出來的一個吸引人的名稱。這個術語主要歸功於卡爾·安德斯·埃里克松，他是表現心理學領域有史以來最具影響力的人物之一。這是許多科學家幾十年來研究的東西。我們這裡說的一切都得到了大量的學術研究支持，尤其是埃里克松的工作。
We’ll also debunk the numerous myths swirling around deliberate practice as a concept and reveal some of its significant limitations. So if you’re looking for quick hacks for overnight success, you might want to look elsewhere. If you want a realistic roadmap for improving your performance, read on.
我們也將揭穿圍繞著刻意練習的許多迷思，並揭露一些其重要限制。所以如果你正在尋找一夜成功的快速方法，你可能需要找別的地方。如果你想要一個實際的提升路線圖，請繼續閱讀。
The elements of deliberate practice
刻意練習的要素
“Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.” —Jack London
人生並非總是握有好牌，有時候，能夠善用一手爛牌也是重要的。 —傑克·倫敦
In this section, we’ll break down the fundamental elements of deliberate practice and exactly how to incorporate them into your practice sessions. As Ericsson wrote in Peak, “No matter what the field, the most effective approach to improving performance is to follow a single set of principles.” We’ll explain why each component is crucial and how they apply to different fields, and we’ll cover multiple ways to implement them depending on your goals.
在這個部分，我們將分解刻意練習的基本要素，並確切指導如何將它們納入你的練習過程中。正如艾瑞克森在《巔峰》中所寫：“無論在哪個領域，提升表現的最有效方法就是遵循一套原則。”我們將解釋為何每個元素都至關重要，以及它們如何應用於不同領域，並根據你的目標提供多種實施方式。
Deliberate practice is structured and methodical
刻意練習是有結構且有系統的
“Everyone has talent. What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.” —Erica Jong
每個人都有天賦。罕見的是勇氣，去追隨它引領到黑暗的地方。 — 艾麗卡·鍾
As humans, we’re wired to want to do the easiest thing at all times in order to conserve energy. Put more simply, it’s in our nature to be lazy. When we practice something a lot, we develop habits that become almost effortless to enact. While that’s beneficial in many areas of our lives (and helps us survive), it’s something we have to overcome in order to engage in deliberate practice. We can’t expect constant improvement if we keep repeating the elements of a skill we already know how to do with ease. That’s only enough if we’re just having fun or want to reinforce our habits.
作為人類，我們天生就想要在任何時候做最輕鬆的事情以節省能量。簡單來說，懶惰是我們的天性。當我們經常練習某件事情時，我們會形成幾乎毫不費力的習慣。雖然這在我們生活的許多領域中是有益的（並幫助我們生存），但這是我們必須克服的障礙，以便進行刻意練習。如果我們一直重複已經能夠輕鬆做到的技能元素，我們就不能期望持續進步。這只有在我們只是玩得開心或想要強化我們的習慣時才足夠。
Deliberate practice is structured to improve specific elements of a skill through defined techniques. Practitioners focus above all on what they can’t do. They seek out areas of weaknesses impacting their overall performance, then target those. At every stage, they set tailored, measurable goals in order to gauge whether their practice is effective at moving them forwards. Numbers are a deliberate practitioner’s best friend.
刻意練習是為了透過明確的技巧來提升技能的特定元素而結構化的。從事者最重要的是專注於自己無法做到的事情。他們尋找影響整體表現的弱點，然後針對性地加以改善。在每個階段，他們設定量身定制的可衡量目標，以評估他們的練習是否有效地推動他們前進。數字是刻意練習者最好的朋友。
If you want to reach an expert level of performance, you need to begin practice sessions with a plan in mind. You need to know what you’re working on, why, and how you intend to improve it. You also need a way to tell if your improvement efforts aren’t working and if you need to try a new tactic. Once you reach your goal for that particular component of the skill, it’s time to identify a new area of weakness to work on next.
如果你想達到專家級的表現水準，你需要在練習開始前有一個計劃。你需要知道你在做什麼，為什麼，以及你打算如何改進。你還需要一個方法來判斷你的改進努力是否有效，以及是否需要嘗試新的策略。一旦你達到特定技能組成部分的目標，就是時候找出下一個需要改進的弱點領域了。
Having lots of little, realistic goals with a game plan for achieving them makes deliberate practice motivating. There’s a sense of ongoing movement, yet the next step is always a realistic stretch. Day by day, the gains from deliberate practice may feel modest. But when we look back over a longer period of time, small bits of progress compound into gigantic leaps.
擁有許多小而切實際的目標，並制定實現它們的計劃，可以使刻意練習更具動力。這種持續前進的感覺，下一步總是一個切實可行的挑戰。每天，刻意練習所帶來的收穫可能感覺很有限。但當我們回顧較長一段時間時，小小的進步逐漸累積成巨大的飛躍。
How to implement this: Take the skill you’re aiming to improve and break it down into the smallest possible component parts. Make a plan for working through them in a logical order, beginning with the fundamentals, then building upon them. Decide which parts you’d like to master over the next month. Put your practice sessions in your calendar, then plan precisely which parts of the skill you’re going to work on during each session.
如何實踐這個方法：將你想要提升的技能細分為最小的組成部分。制定一個按照邏輯順序進行的計劃，從基礎開始，然後逐步擴展。決定在接下來的一個月內想要精通的部分。將練習時間安排在你的行事曆中，然後精確計劃每個練習中你要專注提升的技能部分。
Don’t expect your plan to be perfect. You’ll likely need to keep modifying it as you discover new elements or unexpected weaknesses. The most important thing is to always go into practice with a plan for what you’re working on and how. Knowing what you’re doing next is the best way to stay on track and avoid aimless time-wasting. That means seeking to keep figuring out what separates you from the next level of performance so you can concentrate on that.
不要期望你的計畫會完美無缺。當你發現新元素或意想不到的弱點時，你很可能需要不斷修改它。最重要的是，總是要有一個針對你正在進行的工作的計畫，並知道如何執行。知道接下來要做什麼是保持正軌並避免浪費時間的最佳方法。這意味著要不斷尋求找出你與表現的下一個層次之間的差異，這樣你就可以專注在那上面。
Deliberate practice is challenging and uncomfortable
刻意練習是具有挑戰性且令人感到不舒服的
“One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one’s greatest efforts.” —Albert Einstein (attributed)
「一定要培養一種直覺，知道透過最大的努力才能勉強達成的事。」—愛因斯坦（被歸屬）
Imagine the world from the perspective of a baby learning to walk for the first time. It’s not usually an easy process. They need to develop a lot of new skills and capabilities. They need to build enough muscular strength to stand upright without support. And they need to learn how to coordinate their limbs well enough to move around. Along the way, a baby needs to develop numerous sub-skills, such as how to grip supports to pull themselves up. It likely takes thousands of attempts to master walking—as well as numerous, falls, collisions, and other mishaps. We might not remember the process as adults, but a baby learning to walk needs to spend many hours challenging themselves and moving incrementally out of their comfort zone.
想像從一個學習第一次走路的嬰兒的角度看世界。這通常不是一個容易的過程。他們需要發展許多新的技能和能力。他們需要建立足夠的肌肉力量，才能在沒有支撐的情況下直立站立。他們需要學習如何協調四肢，足以移動。在這過程中，嬰兒需要發展許多次技能，例如如何抓住支撐物拉起自己。學會走路可能需要數千次嘗試，以及許多次跌倒、碰撞和其他意外。作為成年人，我們可能不記得這個過程，但一個學習走路的嬰兒需要花費許多時間挑戰自己，逐漸走出舒適區。
If we want to use deliberate practice, we could do with learning a thing or two from babies. Deliberate practice isn’t necessarily fun while we’re doing it. In fact, most of the time it’s a process of repeated frustration and failure. We have to fall down a dozen times for every step we take. That’s the whole point.
如果我們想要進行刻意練習，我們可以從嬰兒身上學到一些東西。刻意練習並不一定在進行時很有趣。事實上，大部分時間都是一個反覆挫折和失敗的過程。我們必須每走一步都摔倒十幾次。這就是重點。
Seeing as deliberate practice requires us to keep targeting our weakest areas, it means spending time doing stuff we’re not good at. In the moment, that can feel pretty miserable. But the quickest route to improvement involves stepping outside of our comfort zones.
鑑於刻意練習需要我們持續針對最薄弱的地方，這意味著花時間做我們不擅長的事情。當下，這可能感覺相當痛苦。但提升的最快途徑是走出舒適區。
The reason why people who have spent decades doing something are not necessarily better than newbies is that they’re liable to get complacent and stop pushing themselves. We need to keep attempting to do things that feel out of reach at the moment.
有些人花了幾十年做某件事，並不一定比新手更好的原因是，他們很容易變得自滿，停止挑戰自己。我們需要不斷嘗試做那些目前感覺難以企及的事情。
In his studies of elite violinists, Ericsson asked them to rate different practice activities by how enjoyable they were and how much they contributed to improving performance. Invariably, there was an inverse correlation between the usefulness of an activity and its enjoyability. As Ericsson puts it in Peak:
在對精英小提琴家的研究中，埃里克森要求他們根據練習活動的愉悅程度和對提高表現的貢獻程度進行評分。無一例外，活動的實用性與愉悅性之間存在著反向相關。正如埃里克森在《巔峰》中所說的那樣：
The reason that most people don’t possess these extraordinary physical capabilities isn’t because they don’t have the capacity for them, but rather because they’re satisfied to live in the comfortable rut of homeostasis and never do the work that is required to get out of it. They live in the world of “good enough.” The same thing is true for all the mental activities we engage in.
大多數人沒有這些非凡的身體能力，並非因為他們沒有這樣的潛力，而是因為他們滿足於生活在舒適的平衡狀態中，從不願意付出必要的努力來擺脫它。他們活在「夠好」的世界裡。對於我們參與的所有心智活動也是如此。
Elsewhere in the book, he writes “This is a fundamental truth about any sort of practice: If you never push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you will never improve.” The interesting part is the more time you spend deliberately practicing, the more comfortable you’ll become with being uncomfortable.
在書中的其他地方，他寫道：“這是關於任何練習的基本真理：如果你從不超越舒適區，你永遠不會進步。”有趣的是，你花在刻意練習的時間越多，你將會越習慣於不舒服的感覺。
Daniel Coyle writes in The Little Book of Talent:
丹尼爾·柯爾在《天才小書》中寫道：
There is a place, right on the edge of your ability, where you learn best and fastest. It’s called the sweet spot.…The underlying pattern is the same: Seek out ways to stretch yourself. Play on the edges of your competence. As Albert Einstein said, “One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one’s greatest efforts.”
有一個地方，就在你的能力邊緣，那裡是你學習最好、最快的地方。這就是所謂的甜蜜點⋯⋯底層模式是相同的：尋找方法來挑戰自己。在你的能力邊緣玩耍。正如愛因斯坦所說：“一定要培養出一種直覺，知道自己只能在最大努力下勉強達到的地方。”The key word is ‘barely.’
關鍵字是「勉強」。
A quick way to assess if you’re doing deliberate practice or just regular rote practice is to ask yourself if you ever feel bored or zone out during practice sessions. If the answer is yes, you’re probably not practicing deliberately.
一個快速評估你是在進行刻意練習還是只是普通機械練習的方法是問問自己在練習時是否曾感到無聊或恍神。如果答案是肯定的，你可能並非在刻意練習。
Deliberate practice isn’t boring. Frustrating, yes. Maddening, yes. Annoying, even. But never boring. As soon as practicing a skill gets comfortable, it’s time to up the stakes. Challenging yourself is about more than trying to work harder—it means doing new things.
刻意練習並不無聊。讓人沮喪，是的。讓人發狂，也是。甚至令人煩惱。但從來不會無聊。一旦練習一項技能變得舒適，就是提高要求的時候了。挑戰自己不僅僅是要更努力地工作，而是要嘗試做新的事情。
Pushing ourselves just beyond the limits of our abilities is uncomfortable, yet it’s how we do our best—and indeed, it can be the source of some of our greatest moments of satisfaction. According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, we often experience happiness as a result of entering a “flow” state, which occurs when we intensely focus on an activity that is challenging yet achievable. During moments of flow, we become so immersed in the activity that we lose any sense of time or of ourselves.
推動自己超越能力極限是不舒服的，但這是我們盡力而為的方式，事實上，這可能是我們最滿足的時刻之一的來源。根據心理學家米哈伊·奇克森米哈伊的說法，我們常常因進入「心流」狀態而感到快樂，這種狀態發生在我們專注於具有挑戰性但可達成的活動時。在心流的時刻，我們會如此沉浸在活動中，以至於失去對時間或自己的任何感覺。
Noel Tichy, professor at the University of Michigan business school and the former chief of General Electric’s famous management development center at Crotonville, puts the concept of practice into three zones: the comfort zone, the learning zone, and the panic zone.
諾爾·提奇（Noel Tichy）是密歇根大學商學院的教授，曾是通用電氣著名的克羅頓維爾管理發展中心的主管，他將實踐概念分為三個區域：舒適區、學習區和恐慌區。
Most of the time when we’re practicing, we’re really doing activities in our comfort zone. This doesn’t help us improve because we can already do these activities easily. On the other hand, operating in the panic zone leaves us paralyzed, as the activities are too difficult and we don’t know where to start. The only way to make progress is to operate in the learning zone, which are those activities that are just out of our reach.
大部分時間我們練習時，其實都是在我們的舒適區裡進行活動。這並不能幫助我們進步，因為我們已經能夠輕鬆地完成這些活動。另一方面，在恐慌區域操作會讓我們癱瘓，因為這些活動太難了，我們不知道從哪裡開始。唯一能夠取得進步的方法是在學習區域中進行操作，這些活動剛好超出我們的能力範圍。
Repetition inside the comfort zone does not equal deliberate practice. Deliberate practice requires that you operate in the learning zone and you repeat the activity a lot with feedback.
在舒適區內的重複並不等同於刻意練習。刻意練習需要你在學習區域內進行操作，並且反覆進行該活動並接受回饋。
How to implement this: Each time you practice a component of a skill, aim to make it 10% harder than the level you find comfortable.
如何實踐這個方法：每次練習技能的一個部分時，目標是讓它比你覺得舒適的水準難度提高 10%。
Once per month, have a practice session where you set yourself an incredibly ambitious stretch goal—not impossible, just well above your current level. Challenge yourself to see how close you can get to it. You might surprise yourself and find you perform far better than expected.
每個月舉行一次練習，設定一個非常難以達成的目標，不是不可能，只是遠超出你目前的水準。挑戰自己，看看你能夠接近多少。也許你會驚訝地發現，你的表現比預期的要好得多。
A common deliberate practice mistake is to plan a long practice session, then adjust the intensity of your practice to allow you to engage in a skill for the whole time. It’s far more effective to engage in “sprints.” Practice with the most intense focus you can manage for short periods of time, then take breaks. Seeing as you learn most when you stretch yourself beyond your current capabilities, shorter, more challenging practice periods are the way to go.
一個常見的刻意練習錯誤是計劃一個長時間的練習，然後調整練習的強度，讓你能夠全程投入技能。更有效的方法是進行「衝刺」。在短時間內以你能夠控制的最高度專注進行練習，然後休息。由於當你超越目前的能力時學習效果最佳，較短、更具挑戰性的練習時間是正確的方式。
Deliberate practice requires rest and recovery time
刻意練習需要休息和恢復時間
“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” —Homer, The Odyssey
「說話的時候有很多時候，睡覺的時候也有。」—荷馬，《奧德賽》
Seeing as deliberate practice is so challenging, it’s impossible to do it all day long. Across fields, top practitioners rarely spend more than around three to five hours per day on deliberate practice, at the high end. They may work for more hours than that per day, but few can sustain the mental energy to engage in deliberate practice for eight hours a day. Additional hours often result in diminishing negative returns, meaning more practice makes performance worse because it results in burnout. Geoff Colvin writes:
鑑於刻意練習如此具挑戰性，整天都進行是不可能的。在各個領域中，頂尖的實踐者很少花費超過三到五個小時進行刻意練習，最多也就是這個範圍。他們可能每天工作超過這個時間，但很少有人能夠維持足夠的精神能量來全天進行刻意練習八個小時。額外的時間通常會導致遞減的負面回報，這意味著更多的練習會使表現變差，因為這會導致精疲力竭。Geoff Colvin 寫道：
The work is so great that it seems no one can sustain it for very long. A finding that is remarkably consistent across disciplines is that four or five hours a day seems to be the upper limit of deliberate practice, and this is frequently accomplished in sessions lasting no more than an hour to ninety minutes.
這份工作如此繁重，似乎沒有人能夠長時間堅持下去。跨學科研究發現，每天四到五個小時似乎是刻意練習的上限，而這通常是在持續一小時至九十分鐘的練習中完成的。
Ericsson’s studies of elite violinists found they often took afternoon naps and slept an average of eight hours per night, considerably more than the average person. They were highly aware of the importance of sleep.
愛立信對頂尖小提琴家的研究發現，他們通常會午睡，每晚平均睡眠時間達八小時，遠高於一般人。他們非常重視睡眠的重要性。
Even fitting in a single hour per day of deliberate practice is ample time to make substantial improvements, especially when we’re consistent with committing to it over the long haul. Continuous investments in success compound. In the long run, commitment pays off.
即使每天只花一個小時進行刻意練習，也足以在長期內取得顯著進步，尤其是當我們堅持不懈地投入其中。對成功的持續投資是累積的。長遠來看，堅持會有回報。
Not only do most deliberate practitioners not spend all day at it, they also devote a lot of time to recuperation and recovery. They sleep as much as their bodies need. They nap if necessary. They take frequent, refreshing breaks. Most of us understand that rest is necessary after physical activity. But we can underestimate its importance after mental activity, too. Deliberate practice needs to be sustainable for the long term. How long a person keeps at a skill is often far more important than how many hours a day they spend on it.
大多數刻意練習者不僅不會整天都在練習，他們也會花很多時間休息和恢復。他們會睡足自己需要的時間，必要時會小睡。他們會經常休息，讓自己恢復精神。我們大多數人都明白，在體力活動後休息是必要的，但我們有時會低估在腦力活動後休息的重要性。刻意練習需要長期持續，一個人持續練習的時間往往比每天花多少小時在練習上更重要。
When you’re practicing deliberately, truly practice. When you’re recuperating, truly relax. No one can spend every waking hour on deliberate practice.
當你刻意練習時，真正全心投入。當你休息時，真正放鬆。沒有人能每個清醒的時刻都在刻意練習。
Sleep is a vital part of deliberate practice. Being asleep doesn’t mean you’re not still improving your skill. We consolidate memories at night, moving them from short-term to long-term memory. And we can’t exactly benefit from deliberate practice sessions if we don’t remember what we learn each time. Not only that, but sleep deprivation also results in a plethora of negative cognitive effects that impact performance. If we skimp on sleep, we’re likely to forget far more of what we learn during deliberate practice sessions, rendering them less useful.
睡眠是刻意練習中至關重要的一環。入睡並不代表你的技能就不再進步。我們在夜間會整合記憶，將其從短期轉移到長期記憶。如果我們每次學習後都記不住，就無法從刻意練習中受益。此外，睡眠不足也會導致許多負面的認知影響，影響表現。如果我們睡眠不足，很可能會忘記更多刻意練習中所學到的知識，使其變得不那麼有用。
When you’re not engaging in deliberate practice, your brain is still at work. During deliberate practice, we’re in focused mode. When we let our minds wander freely while at rest, we’re in diffuse mode. Although that time feels less productive, it’s when we form connections and mull over problems. Both modes of thinking are equally valuable, but it’s the harmony between them that matters. We can’t maintain the effort of the focused mode for long. At some point, we need to relax and slip into the diffuse mode. Learning a complex skill—a language, a musical instrument, chess, a mental model—requires both modes to work together. We master the details in focused mode, then comprehend how everything fits together in diffuse mode. It’s about combining creativity with execution.
當你沒在進行刻意練習時，你的大腦仍在運作。在刻意練習時，我們處於專注模式。當我們讓思緒自由漫遊時，處於休息時，我們處於散漫模式。雖然那段時間感覺不太有效率，但正是在那時我們建立連結並思考問題。思考的兩種模式同樣重要，但重要的是它們之間的和諧。我們無法長時間保持專注模式的努力。在某個時刻，我們需要放鬆並進入散漫模式。學習一項複雜技能──語言、樂器、象棋、心智模型──需要兩種模式共同合作。我們在專注模式中掌握細節，然後在散漫模式中理解一切如何組合在一起。這是將創造力與執行力結合在一起的過程。
How to implement this: Make a list of activities you can engage in without too much conscious thought, letting yourself daydream while you do them. Common examples include going for a walk, washing the dishes, taking a shower, free-writing in a journal, playing with a toy like Lego, driving a familiar route, gardening, cooking, listening to music, or just gazing out the window. When you feel yourself getting tired or hitting a roadblock during deliberate practice, don’t keep pushing for too long. You want to be stretching yourself, not exhausting yourself. Instead, switch to one of those more relaxing activities for at least five minutes. You’ll likely come back to practice with new connections or at last feeling refreshed.
如何實踐這個方法：列出一些可以讓你在進行時不需太多意識思考，讓自己可以發呆的活動。常見的例子包括散步、洗碗、洗澡、在日記中自由寫作、玩樂高等玩具、開車走熟悉的路線、園藝、烹飪、聆聽音樂，或只是凝視窗外。當你感覺自己開始感到疲倦或在刻意練習中遇到障礙時，不要持續推動太久。你想要挑戰自己，而不是使自己筋疲力盡。相反，切換到其中一個更輕鬆的活動至少五分鐘。你可能會回到練習中，帶著新的聯繫或至少感覺煥然一新。
Deliberate practice involves constant feedback and measurement
刻意練習包括持續的回饋和評量
“Deliberate practice is hard. It hurts. But it works. More of it equals better performance and tons of it equals great performance.” —Geoff Colvin, Talent Is Overrated
「刻意練習很辛苦。它會讓人感到痛苦。但它有效。越多越好的練習會帶來更好的表現，大量的練習則會帶來出色的表現。」— Geoff Colvin，《天賦過譽》
Practicing something without knowing whether you are getting better is pointless. Yet that is what most of us do every day without thinking.
練習某事而不知道自己是否進步是毫無意義的。然而，這卻是我們大多數人每天都在做的事情，卻不自知。
As we saw before, deliberate practice involves continuously stretching yourself to improve on weak areas of a skill. For that to work, practitioners require constant feedback about their current level of performance so they can identify what works for making it better.
就像我們之前看到的，刻意練習包括持續地挑戰自己，以改善技能中的薄弱環節。為了讓這個方法奏效，從業者需要持續的回饋，讓他們了解自己目前的表現水準，以便找出如何讓它更上一層樓。
What gets measured gets managed. To engage in deliberate practice, you need a way of measuring the most instructive metrics related to your performance. Seeing how those metrics change is the sole way to know if practice is working or not. Top performers across fields tend to spend time examining their past performance with care to identify areas for improvement. For example, a tennis player might film themselves playing a match so they can go through the footage frame by frame afterward. This provides valuable feedback, because they can figure out what might have held them back during weaker moments.
衡量的事情才能被管理。要進行刻意練習，你需要一種方式來衡量與你表現相關的最具教導性的指標。看到這些指標如何變化是唯一知道練習是否有效的方法。各個領域的頂尖表現者通常會花時間仔細檢視自己過去的表現，以找出改進的領域。例如，一位網球選手可能會錄製自己比賽的影片，這樣他們之後可以逐幀查看影片。這提供了寶貴的反饋，因為他們可以找出在較弱時刻可能阻礙他們的因素。
In fields such as sports and chess, measuring performance tends to be straightforward. In other areas such as business, measurements are harder to take, and there may be no established markers of success. The influence of random factors may also be stronger, making it less clear whether technique changes are actually having an influence or not. When you engage in deliberate practice, it’s always important to be aware of how strongly correlated your practice and your performance are likely to be.
在運動和象棋等領域，衡量表現往往比較直接。在其他領域如商業中，衡量就比較困難，可能沒有明確的成功標誌。隨機因素的影響也可能更強，使得技術變化是否真的產生影響變得不太清楚。當你進行刻意練習時，重要的是要意識到你的練習和表現之間可能有多強的相關性。
When measuring your performance, beware of vanity metrics. These are numbers that are easy to calculate and feel good to boost. But they don’t actually move the needle towards the real improvements in performance that help you reach your goals. For example, let’s say you’re using deliberate practice to improve the skill of email marketing, as part of the wider goal of getting more customers for your business. The number of email subscribers is a vanity metric; the number of paying customers is a useful metric. It’s completely possible to increase the former without a corresponding increase in the latter.
當衡量你的表現時，要小心虛榮指標。這些數字容易計算且讓人感到振奮。但它們實際上並不能推動實質表現上的改善，進而幫助你達成目標。舉例來說，假設你正在透過刻意練習來提升電子郵件行銷的技能，作為更廣泛目標中獲得更多客戶的一部分。電子郵件訂閱者數是虛榮指標；付費客戶數是有用的指標。完全有可能增加前者，但後者卻沒有相應增加。
How to implement this: Identify the most significant metrics related to performance in your chosen skill and keep a record of them each time you practice. It’s easy to fool yourself without a clear record of how you’re doing. You might want to break the skill down into a few different parts to measure it, but make sure you’re not fixating on vanity metrics.
如何實踐這一點：辨識與你所選技能表現相關的最重要指標，並在每次練習時記錄它們。沒有清晰的記錄，很容易自欺欺人。你可能想將技能拆分為幾個不同部分來衡量，但確保你不要過度關注虛榮指標。
Deliberate practice is most effective with the help of a coach or some kind of teacher
刻意練習最有效的方式是在教練或老師的協助下進行
“The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.” —H.L. Mencken (attributed)
「最好的老師不是知識最豐富的那位，而是最能將知識化繁為簡、呈現出明顯與奇妙結合的人。」—H.L. Mencken（被歸屬）
Deliberate practice is most effective when conducted with some kind of coach who can give feedback, point out errors, suggest techniques for improvement, and provide vital motivation. Although mastering any skill requires a lot of time engaging in solitary practice, working with a coach at least some of the time is incredibly valuable. In some fields such as sports and music, it’s common for a coach to be present all of the time. But most top performers benefit from a combination of coaching and solitary practice.
刻意練習最有效的方式是在有教練指導的情況下進行，教練可以給予回饋、指出錯誤、建議改進技巧，並提供重要的動力。儘管掌握任何技能都需要大量的獨自練習時間，但與教練合作至少部分時間是非常有價值的。在某些領域，如運動和音樂，教練一直在場是很常見的。但大多數頂尖表現者受益於教練和獨自練習的結合。
When we look at the lives of people who achieved great things, we often find that those who did so at a young age or in a shorter time than expected benefited from having fantastic teachers. For example, physicist Werner Heisenberg had the epiphany that led to the formulation of matrix mechanics a mere five years after commencing serious study of physics. But he no doubt benefited from the mentorship of Niels Bohr and Max Born, two of the foremost physicists at the time.
當我們觀察那些取得偉大成就的人生時，我們常常發現那些在年輕時或比預期更短的時間內取得成功的人，都受益於擁有優秀的老師。例如，物理學家維爾納·海森堡在認真學習物理僅僅五年後，就有了導致矩陣力學公式的頓悟。但他無疑受益於當時最傑出的物理學家之一尼爾斯·玻爾和馬克斯·玻恩的指導。
Even people at the most elite levels of performance across fields can benefit from specialist coaching. Engaging in something and teaching that thing are separate skills in themselves. The best practitioners are not always the best teachers because teaching is a skill in itself.
就算是各行各業表現最頂尖的人，也能從專業教練中受益。參與某事和教授該事是兩種不同的技能。最優秀的實踐者並不總是最好的老師，因為教學本身就是一種技能。
Ericsson explained that “the best way to get past any barrier is to come at it from a different direction, which is one reason it is useful to work with a teacher or coach.” We often make the same mistakes again and again because we simply don’t realize what we’re doing. Our performance falls into ruts and we can’t figure out why we’re running into the same problem yet again.
愛立信解釋說：“克服任何障礙的最佳方法是從不同的方向來解決，這也是與老師或教練合作很有用的原因。”我們經常一遍又一遍地犯同樣的錯誤，因為我們根本沒意識到自己在做什麼。我們的表現陷入困境，卻搞不清楚為什麼又再次遇到同樣的問題。
A coach can see your performance from the outside, without the influence of overconfidence and other biases. They can identify your blind spots. They can help you interpret key metrics and feedback.
一位教練可以從外部看到你的表現，不受自大和其他偏見的影響。他們可以找出你的盲點。他們可以幫助你解釋關鍵指標和反饋。
Ericsson went on to say that “even the most motivated and intelligent student will advance more quickly under the tutelage of someone who knows the best order in which to learn things, who understands and can demonstrate the proper way to perform various skills, who can provide useful feedback, and who can devise practice activities designed to overcome particular weaknesses.” An experienced coach will have worked with many people on the same skill so they’ll be able to advise on the best ways to structure practice. They’ll know when you’re just repeating what you find easy, and they’ll be able to push you to the next level.
愛立信接著表示：「即使是最有動力和聰明的學生，在有人指導下，將更快地進步，因為指導者知道最佳的學習順序，了解並能示範各種技能的正確方式，提供有用的反饋，並設計練習活動來克服特定的弱點。」一位經驗豐富的教練會與許多人一起培養同一技能，因此能夠提供建議最佳的練習方式。他們知道當你只是重複做容易的事情時，並能推動你邁向下一個層次。
Teachers or coaches see what you miss and make you aware of where you’re falling short. Geoff Colvin writes:
老師或教練看到你所忽略的地方，並讓你意識到你的不足之處。Geoff Colvin 寫道：
In some fields, especially intellectual ones such as the arts, sciences, and business, people may eventually become skilled enough to design their own practice. But anyone who thinks they’ve outgrown the benefits of a teacher’s help should at least question that view. There’s a reason why the world’s best golfers still go to teachers.
在某些領域，尤其是知識性的領域，如藝術、科學和商業，人們可能最終能夠熟練到設計自己的練習方式。但任何認為自己已經超越老師幫助的好處的人，至少應該質疑這種觀點。世界上最好的高爾夫球手仍然會找老師，這是有原因的。
But what if you don’t have access to a coach? What if you don’t have the means to hire one or one isn’t available for your particular skill? In that case, it’s still possible to apply the same principles that make a coach useful by yourself. Top performers across fields build the skill of metacognition, essentially making it possible for them to coach themselves. Colvin explains:
但如果你沒有機會接觸到教練呢？如果你沒有辦法聘請教練，或者對於你特定的技能找不到教練呢？在這種情況下，你仍然可以自己應用使教練有用的相同原則。各個領域的頂尖表現者都建立了元認知的技能，基本上使他們能夠自我指導。科爾文解釋說：
The best performers observe themselves closely. They are in effect able to step outside themselves, monitor what is happening in their own minds, and ask how it’s going. Researchers call this metacognition—knowledge about your own knowledge, thinking about your own thinking. Top performers do this much more systematically than others do; it’s an established part of their routine.
表現最佳的人會密切觀察自己。他們實際上能夠超然自我，監控自己心中所發生的事情，並詢問情況如何。研究人員稱之為「元認知」——對自己知識的了解，思考自己的思考。頂尖表現者比其他人更有系統地進行這項工作；這已成為他們例行公事的一部分。…A critical part of self-evaluation is deciding what caused those errors. Average performers believe their errors were caused by factors outside their control: my opponent got lucky; the task was too hard; I just don’t have the natural ability for this. Top performers, by contrast, believe they are responsible for their errors. Note that this is not just a difference of personality or attitude. Recall that the best performers have set highly specific, technique-based goals and strategies for themselves; they have thought through exactly how they intend to achieve what they want. So when something doesn’t work, they can relate the failure to specific elements of their performance that may have misfired.
自我評估的關鍵部分是決定造成這些錯誤的原因。一般表現者相信他們的錯誤是由於他們無法控制的因素造成的：對手運氣好；任務太難；我就是沒有這方面的天賦。相比之下，頂尖表現者相信他們對自己的錯誤負責。請注意，這不僅僅是個性或態度上的差異。請記住，最優秀的表現者為自己設定了高度具體、基於技巧的目標和策略；他們已經仔細考慮了他們打算如何實現他們想要的目標。因此，當某事不起作用時，他們可以將失敗與可能出現問題的表現要素聯繫起來。
How to implement this: Don’t expect the same teacher to suit you forever. We usually need different teachers as our skill level progresses because we outgrow them. One attribute of a good teacher is that they know when to tell a student to move on. As we reach expert levels of performance, we need teachers who are themselves experts. If they’re always a step ahead, we can learn from their mistakes instead of making our own.
如何實踐這一點：不要期望同一位老師永遠適合你。隨著我們技能水平的提升，通常需要不同的老師，因為我們會超越他們。一位好老師的特點是他們知道何時告訴學生繼續前進。當我們達到專家級的表現水平時，我們需要的是那些自己也是專家的老師。如果他們總是走在前面，我們可以從他們的錯誤中學習，而不是犯自己的錯誤。
You get the best results from working with a coach if you show yourself to be receptive to constructive criticism, even if it’s uncomfortable to hear. If you respond badly, you disincentivize them from telling you what’s most useful to know. Top performers know the goal is to get better, not just to hear you’re already great.
與教練合作時，若你展現出對建設性批評的接受度，將會獲得最佳效果，即使聽起來可能令人不舒服。若反應不佳，將使他們不願告訴你最有用的資訊。頂尖表現者知道目標是變得更好，而不僅僅是聽到你已經很棒。
Deliberate practice requires intrinsic motivation
刻意練習需要內在動機
Persisting with deliberate practice despite its innate difficulty and discomfort requires a lot of motivation. But that motivation needs to be intrinsic, meaning that it comes from inside us because we find an activity enjoyable for its own sake. This is in contrast to extrinsic motivation, where we participate in an activity to gain an external reward or avoid a negative consequence. Yet another reason why rest is important for deliberate practice is because it helps sustain motivation.
堅持刻意練習，儘管困難和不適，需要很多動力。但這種動力需要是內在的，意味著它來自我們內心，因為我們發現某項活動本身很有趣。這與外在動機相對，外在動機是指我們參與某項活動是為了獲得外部獎勵或避免負面後果。另一個為什麼休息對於刻意練習很重要的原因是因為它有助於維持動力。
Although deliberate practice can lead to external rewards for using a skill (such as winning a competition or getting a promotion), this should not be the sole reason for practicing it. Extrinsic motivation is unlikely to be enough to get us through the long period of struggle necessary to master a skill. Becoming proficient at anything means spending time failing repeatedly at it, during which there are few external rewards. But if we enjoy getting better for its own sake, we have more of a chance of persevering until our practice starts paying off. We can navigate obstacles because we want to see where the road might take us—the obstacles aren’t roadblocks.
儘管刻意練習可能會帶來使用技能的外在獎勵（例如贏得比賽或晉升），但這不應該是練習的唯一原因。外在動機不太可能足以讓我們度過必要的漫長挑戰期來掌握一項技能。要精通任何事情都意味著花時間不斷失敗，期間很少有外在獎勵。但如果我們喜歡為了自身進步而變得更好，我們就有更多堅持下去直到練習開始有回報的機會。我們可以克服障礙，因為我們想看看這條路可能帶我們去哪裡——這些障礙不是路障。
If you want to use deliberate practice to master a skill, you need to be willing to keep practicing it no matter what. Although brute force and rewarding yourself can be effective in the short run, it won’t work forever. If you’re planning to engage in deliberate practice to reach expert-level performance, make sure it’s a prospect you feel excited about even if it won’t always be fun.
如果你想要利用刻意練習來精通一項技能，你需要願意不論如何都持續練習。雖然強迫和獎勵自己在短期內可能有效，但這種方法不會永遠奏效。如果你計劃進行刻意練習以達到專家級表現，請確保這是一個讓你感到興奮的前景，即使不總是有趣。
Extrinsic motivation isn’t always ineffective, however. People who engage in consistent, sustainable deliberate practice tend to be adept at knowing when and how they need to employ external incentives. It’s important to reward yourself when you make progress in your practice and reflect on how far you’ve come, not just how far is left to go.
外在動機並非總是無效的。那些持續進行有意識的實踐的人通常擅長於知道何時以及如何需要使用外部獎勵。當你在實踐中取得進展時，獎勵自己並反思你已經走了多遠，而不僅僅是還有多遠要走，這一點很重要。
The need for intrinsic motivation is one reason why children who are pushed to develop a skill from a young age by their parents don’t always end up reaching a high level of performance and often quit as soon as they can.
內在動機的需求是為什麼很多被父母從小就推動發展技能的孩子，最後並不一定能達到高水準表現，並且往往會盡早放棄的原因之一。
How to implement this: Make a list of the reasons you want to work on a skill and the benefits getting better at it might bring. Before you begin a deep practice session, reread the list to remind you of why you’re bringing your full focus to something difficult. You could also list some of the benefits you’ve experienced from it in the past or include quotes from top performers in your field you find inspiring. It might feel cheesy, but it can provide a powerful boost during particularly difficult practice moments. Try to focus on intrinsic reasons and benefits, such as feeling fulfilled.
如何實踐這個方法：列出你想要學習一項技能的原因，以及進步可能帶來的好處。在開始深度練習之前，重新閱讀這份清單，提醒自己為何要全心投入學習困難的事物。你也可以列出過去從中獲益的一些好處，或者包括一些你覺得鼓舞人心的頂尖表現者的引言。這可能會讓人覺得有點俗氣，但在特別困難的練習時刻，它可以提供強大的助力。嘗試專注於內在的原因和好處，比如感到滿足。
Keep a “motivation diary” for one week (or longer if possible.) Try setting an alarm to go off every fifteen minutes during each practice session. When the alarm sounds, score your motivation level out of ten (or whichever scale you prefer.) At the end of the week, review your notes to look for any patterns. For example, you might find that you begin to feel demotivated once you’ve been practicing for more than an hour, or that you feel more motivated in the morning, or some other pattern. This information could be enlightening for planning future deliberate practice sessions, even if it may disrupt your focus at the time. Another method is to simply take notes each day, documenting your current level of motivation to work on your chosen skill. Pay attention to any recurring influences. For example, you might feel more motivated to improve your skill after speaking with a more proficient friend, but less motivated after a bad night’s sleep.
保持一週的「動力日記」（如果可能的話，可以更長）。嘗試設定每次練習時每十五分鐘響起的鬧鐘。當鬧鐘響起時，給自己的動力水平打分（十分制或您喜歡的任何尺度）。一週結束時，回顧您的筆記，尋找任何模式。例如，您可能會發現，練習超過一個小時後開始感到失去動力，或者您可能會發現早上感到更有動力，或者其他一些模式。這些信息可能會為未來的刻意練習會話提供啟示，即使當時可能會干擾您的注意力。另一種方法是每天簡單記錄，記錄您當前對於學習所選技能的動力水平。注意任何重複的影響。例如，您可能在與技能更嫻熟的朋友交談後感到更有動力來提升自己的技能，但在經歷一個糟糕的夜晚後感到缺乏動力。
One potent option for sustaining motivation is to find someone who can be a reliable cheerleader for you. In an Ask Me Anything session for Farnam Street members, Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning explained that having a cofounder is vital for entrepreneurs because partnering with someone else helps sustain motivation. It’s rare that both founders feel demotivated on the same day. So if one is struggling, the other can provide the encouragement needed to stay resilient. Having someone to provide extrinsic motivation when you need it can help you persevere at deliberate practice. Your cheerleader doesn’t necessarily need to be working on the same skill themselves. They just need to understand your reasons and be willing to remind you of them when you start to doubt whether the hard work is worthwhile.
一個強而有力的選擇來維持動力是找到一個可以成為你可靠啦啦隊的人。在 Farnam Street 會員的 Ask Me Anything 活動中，特斯拉共同創辦人 Marc Tarpenning 解釋說，對於企業家來說，擁有一位共同創辦人是至關重要的，因為與他人合作有助於維持動力。很少有兩位創辦人在同一天感到失去動力。因此，如果一個人感到困難，另一個人可以提供所需的鼓勵，以保持堅韌。當你需要時，有人提供外在動力可以幫助你堅持刻意練習。你的啦啦隊不一定需要在同一技能上工作。他們只需要理解你的原因，並願意在你開始懷疑辛苦工作是否值得時提醒你。
Deliberate practice takes time and can be a lifelong process
刻意練習需要時間，可能是一生的過程
Although deliberate practice tends to result in much faster progress than normal practice, truly mastering a skill is a lifelong process. Reaching the top of a field can take years or even decades, depending on its competitiveness. As the bar for success in many areas keeps rising, more deliberate practice is required to stand out.
儘管刻意練習通常比一般練習進步更快，但真正掌握一項技能是一生的過程。要在某個領域達到頂尖，可能需要數年甚至數十年，取決於競爭的激烈程度。隨著許多領域成功的門檻不斷提高，需要更多刻意練習才能脫穎而出。
When we applaud the top people in any field, we often fail to appreciate that their success almost always came after many years of deliberate practice, which Robert Greene refers to in Mastery as “a largely self-directed apprenticeship that lasts some five to ten years [and] receives little attention because it does not contain stories of great achievement or discovery.” They may have ultimately benefited from a lucky break, but their extensive preparation meant they were ready for it. Great achievements tend to come later in life or even near the ends of careers. Those who succeeded young started very young.
當我們讚賞任何領域的頂尖人才時，我們常常忽略了他們的成功幾乎總是在經過多年的刻意練習後才來臨，這正如羅伯特·格林在《精通》中所提到的“一個主要由自己指導的學徒期，長達五到十年，卻鮮少受到關注，因為它並不包含偉大成就或發現的故事。” 他們最終可能因為一次幸運的機會而受益，但他們的廣泛準備意味著他們已經準備好了。偉大的成就往往在生命的後期甚至職業生涯的結束時才出現。那些年輕就成功的人從很小的時候就開始了。
Throughout Ericsson’s decades of research, he searched high and low for an example of a true prodigy: someone born with an innate, remarkable talent. He never found a single proven example. Instead, he discovered that people labeled as prodigies invariably put in enormous amounts of deliberate practice—they just often obscured it on purpose or started at a young age.
在艾瑞克森幾十年的研究中，他四處尋找真正天才的例子：那些天生具有非凡才華的人。他從未找到一個確切的例子。相反地，他發現被標籤為天才的人總是付出了大量刻意的練習，只是通常有意掩飾或從小就開始。
Although innate differences count when beginning to learn something (and people who begin with advantages may be more likely to persist), in the long run, deliberate practice always wins out.
雖然天生的差異在開始學習時很重要（而且那些從優勢開始的人可能更有可能堅持下去），但從長遠來看，刻意練習總是會勝出。
David Shenk writes in The Genius in All of Us: “Short-term intensity cannot replace long-term commitment. Many crucial changes take place over long periods of time. Physiologically, it’s impossible to become great overnight.”
David Shenk 在《天才在我們每個人身上》一書中寫道：「短期的強度無法取代長期的承諾。許多重要的改變需要長時間來實現。從生理上來看，一夜成名是不可能的。」
According to psychologist John Hayes, creative genius tends to come after ten years of studying relevant knowledge and developing skills. Hayes referred to this as the “ten years of silence.” In a study of seventy-six composers with sufficient biographical data available listed in The Lives of the Great Composers, Hayes found they almost always created their first notable works (defined as being those for which at least five different recordings were available at the time) at least ten years after commencing a serious study of music. Just three of the five hundred works Hayes included in his sample were composed after less than a decade of preparation—and those were produced in years eight or nine. In additional studies, Hayes found similar patterns for painters and poets.
根據心理學家約翰·海斯（John Hayes）的說法，創意天才通常在十年的相關知識學習和技能發展後才會出現。海斯將這稱為「十年的沉默期」。在對《偉大作曲家的生平》中列出的具有足夠生平資料的七十六位作曲家的研究中，海斯發現他們幾乎總是在開始認真學習音樂後至少十年才創作出他們的第一個值得注意的作品（定義為當時至少有五種不同錄音版本的作品）。在海斯樣本中包括的五百部作品中，只有三部是在不到十年的準備時間後創作的，而這些作品是在第八或第九年製作的。在其他研究中，海斯發現畫家和詩人也有類似的模式。
Later research reinforces Hayes’ findings, and any casual survey of the lives of people widely considered to be geniuses tends to show a similar pattern. Making a breakthrough takes time. When it seems like someone was an overnight success, there’s almost always a long period of silent deliberate practice preceding it. Innate talents are just a starting point. If we want to master a skill, we need to commit to working on it for a lengthy period of time, likely with few rewards. While there are no assurances that with struggle comes reward, without it the odds are lower.
後來的研究強化了海耶斯的發現，對被廣泛認為是天才的人生進行任何隨意調查，通常會顯示出類似的模式。取得突破需要時間。當似乎有人一夜之間成功時，幾乎總是在此之前有一段漫長的沉默刻意練習的時期。天賦只是一個起點。如果我們想要精通一項技能，我們需要致力於長時間的努力工作，可能會得到少量的回報。雖然沒有保證努力會帶來回報，但如果沒有努力，成功的機會就更低。
Not only do world-class performers spend a long time getting good at their core skill, those in creative fields tend to produce an enormous quantity of work before gaining recognition. For every piece of work we’re familiar with, there are likely dozens or even hundreds of others few people remember or ever saw.
不僅世界級表演者花費很長時間在他們的核心技能上取得進步，創意領域的人在獲得認可之前往往會製作大量作品。對於我們熟悉的每一件作品，可能還有幾十甚至幾百件其他人很少記得或看過的作品。
For example, British prime minister Winston Churchill was known for his masterful public speaking. One of his best-known speeches “We Shall Fight on the Beaches,” given in June 1940, displayed the extent of his command of oration and helped build morale at the time. But it’s hard to overstate how prolific Churchill was as a speaker, giving an estimated 3,000 speeches during his political career. For every speech—an average of one per week between 1900 and 1955—he used deliberate practice to prepare. He engaged in focused rehearsals in front of a mirror, taking notes as he went to inform modifications. Churchill also left nothing to chance, planning his pauses and movements in advance. As well as devising his own techniques for added impact, he memorized the works of some of history’s most inspiring orators.
例如，英國首相溫斯頓·邱吉爾以其出色的演講技巧而聞名。他最著名的演講之一是在 1940 年 6 月發表的《我們將在海灘上戰鬥》，展示了他的演講技巧，並在當時提振了士氣。但很難過分強調邱吉爾作為演說者的多產，他在政治生涯中估計發表了約 3,000 次演講。對於每一次演講——平均每周一次，從 1900 年到 1955 年——他都進行了刻意練習。他在鏡子前進行專注的排練，一邊進行筆記以便調整。邱吉爾也不留任何事情交給機會，提前計劃了他的停頓和動作。除了設計自己的技巧以增加影響力外，他還背誦了一些歷史上最鼓舞人心的演說家的作品。
Although he doubtless began with a degree of innate talent (his father, Randolph Churchill, was also an admired orator), Churchill clearly used extensive deliberate practice to build upon it. While this impressive resume and history solidified his place on the throne of oratorical excellence, it’s important to note that he wasn’t a “born speaker”—in fact, he made many mistakes. And he learned from them. If you want to produce a masterpiece, you need to accept that you’ll make a lot of less remarkable work first.
儘管他無疑從一開始就具備一定的天賦（他的父親，Randolph Churchill，也是一位受人尊敬的演說家），但邱吉爾顯然利用了廣泛的刻意練習來建立自己的才能。儘管這份令人印象深刻的履歷和歷史鞏固了他在演說卓越之位上的地位，重要的是要注意他並非一位「天生演說家」—事實上，他犯了許多錯誤。而他從中學習。如果你想創作一部傑作，你需要接受你會先做很多不那麼出色的工作。
Deliberate practice requires intense focus
刻意練習需要高度專注
“You seldom improve much without giving the task your full attention.” —Karl Anders Ericsson
「若不全心投入任務，很少能有顯著進步。」— 卡爾·安德斯·艾瑞克森
The deeper we focus during deliberate practice sessions, the more we get out of them. Intense focus allows us to increase skills and break through plateaus. Developing your attention span can have a huge impact on your life. When asked about his success, Charlie Munger once said, “I succeeded because I have a long attention span.”
在刻意練習時，我們越專注，收穫就越多。強烈的專注讓我們能夠提升技能並突破瓶頸。培養你的注意力範圍對生活有著巨大的影響。查理·芒格曾被問及成功的原因時曾說過：“我成功是因為我有著長久的注意力範圍。”
The authors of The Game Before the Game write, “If you can pay attention for only five minutes in practice, then take a break every five minutes. If you can pay attention for only twenty balls, don’t hit fifty. To be able to practice longer and maintain the quality of the practice, train yourself to pay attention for longer periods of time….Productive practice is about how present you can stay with your intention and is measured in the quality of the experience as opposed to the quantity of time used.”
《比賽之前的遊戲》的作者寫道：「如果你在練習中只能集中注意力五分鐘，那麼每五分鐘就休息一下。如果你只能集中注意力二十球，就不要打五十球。為了能夠練習更長時間並保持練習的質量，訓練自己能夠集中注意力更長的時間... 有效的練習取決於你能夠保持意圖的專注程度，並且是根據經驗的質量而不是使用的時間長短來衡量。"
A benefit of getting constant feedback is that it shows you what moves the needle towards improved performance and what is just running in place. Certain practice activities can feel good without having any impact. Top performers prioritize knowing what to prioritize. They always start with the most important thing because anything else is a distraction.
得到持續回饋的好處是，它告訴你如何提升表現，以及哪些只是原地踏步。某些練習活動可能讓人感覺良好，但卻沒有實際影響。頂尖表現者優先考量應該優先處理的事情。他們總是從最重要的事情開始，因為其他事情都只是干擾。
Intense focus is a multiplier of everything else. Keeping an eye on key metrics enables top performers to identify and systematically remove distractions from their lives. To be the best, you need to focus on both the micro and macro level. You need to pay full attention to what you’re doing in the current practice sessions, and you need to know how it fits into the bigger picture of your desired trajectory. Deliberate practice is part of the exploit phase of selecting opportunities.
專注是一切的倍增器。關注關鍵指標讓頂尖表現者能夠識別並系統性地消除生活中的干擾。要成為最好的，你需要同時專注在微觀和宏觀層面。你需要全神貫注於當前的練習，並了解它如何融入你所期望的軌跡的整體圖景。刻意練習是在選擇機會的開發階段的一部分。
As the authors of the International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-Based Learning write, “Practicing the right things is at the core of the theory of deliberate practice.”
正如《國際專業與實踐學習研究手冊》的作者所寫，“專注練習正確的事情是刻意練習理論的核心。”
How to implement this: Put the big rocks in first. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. Figure out which practice activities have the biggest influence on your performance and plan to engage in those first before you even consider activities that offer marginal gains.
如何實踐這個方法：先放大石頭。你可以做任何事，但不可能做到所有事。找出哪些練習活動對你的表現影響最大，並計劃先從這些活動開始，而不要考慮那些只帶來微小進步的活動。
Deliberate practice leverages the spacing effect
刻意練習利用了間隔效應
One reason why consistent deliberate practice sessions over the course of years are more effective than longer sessions for a shorter period of time relates to the spacing effect. We can’t approach learning a skill through deliberate practice in the same way we quite likely approached studying for tests in school. If we better understand how our minds work, we can use them in the optimal way for learning. By leveraging the spacing effect, we can encode valuable knowledge related to our particular skill for life during practice sessions.
一個原因是，持續多年的有意識練習比較短時間的長時間練習更有效，這與間隔效應有關。我們不能像在學校準備考試時那樣對待通過有意識練習來學習技能。如果我們更了解我們的思維方式，我們可以以最佳方式利用它們來學習。通過利用間隔效應，我們可以在練習中將與我們特定技能相關的寶貴知識編碼到生活中。
Memory mastery comes from repeated exposure to the same material. The spacing effect refers to how we are better able to recall information and concepts if we learn them in multiple sessions with increasingly large intervals between them. The most effective way to learn new information is through spaced repetition. It works for learning almost anything, and research has provided robust evidence of its efficacy for people of all ages—and even for animals.
記憶的掌握來自對相同材料的重複接觸。間隔效應指的是當我們在多個學習階段之間以越來越大的間隔學習信息和概念時，我們更能夠回憶信息。學習新信息最有效的方法是透過間隔重複。這對學習幾乎所有事物都有效，研究已經提供了對各個年齡段的人以及動物的有效性的堅實證據。
Spaced repetition is also satisfying because it keeps us on the edge of our abilities (which, as we saw earlier, is a core element of deliberate practice.) Spaced sessions allow us to invest less total time to memorize than one single session, whereas we might get bored while going over the same material again and again in a single session. Of course, when we’re bored we pay less and less attention. The authors of Focused Determination put it this way:
間隔重複學習也令人滿意，因為它讓我們處於能力的邊緣（正如我們之前所看到的，這是刻意練習的核心元素之一）。間隔學習讓我們在記憶上投入的總時間比單一學習會話少，而在單一學習會話中，我們可能會因為一遍又一遍地重複相同的內容而感到厭倦。當然，當我們感到無聊時，我們的注意力就會越來越少。《專注力》的作者這樣說：
There is also minimal variation in the way the material is presented to the brain when it is repeatedly visited over a short time. This tends to decrease our learning. In contrast, when repetition learning takes place over a longer period, it is more likely that the materials are presented differently. We have to retrieve the previously learned information from memory and hence reinforce it. All of this leads us to become more interested in the content and therefore more receptive to learning it.
當資料在短時間內被重複訪問時，呈現給大腦的方式也幾乎沒有變化。這傾向於降低我們的學習效果。相反地，當重複學習發生在較長時間內，材料更有可能以不同方式呈現。我們必須從記憶中檢索先前學到的資訊，因此加強它。所有這些使我們對內容更感興趣，因此更容易接受學習。
We simply cannot practice something once and expect it to stick.
我們不能只練習一次，就期待它會成為習慣。
By engaging in deliberate practice on a regular basis, even if each practice session is short, we leverage the power of the spacing effect. Once we learn something through spaced repetition, it actually sticks with us. After a certain point, we may only need to revisit it every few years to keep our knowledge fresh. Even if we seem to forget something between repetitions, it later proves easier to relearn.
透過定期進行刻意練習，即使每次練習時間短暫，我們可以發揮間隔效應的力量。一旦我們透過間隔重複學會某事，它實際上會牢牢地留在我們心中。達到一定程度後，我們可能只需要每隔幾年回顧一次，就能保持知識的新鮮度。即使在重複練習之間似乎忘記了某事，之後重新學習起來會更容易。
How to implement this: Forget about cramming. Each time you’re learning a new component of a skill, make a schedule for when you’ll review it. Typical systems involve going over information after an hour, then a day, then every other day, then weekly, then fortnightly, then monthly, then every six months, then yearly. Guess correctly and the information moves to the next level and is reviewed less often. Guess incorrectly and it moves down a level and is reviewed more often.
如何實踐這個方法：忘記死記硬背。每次學習新技能的一個組成部分時，制定一個時間表來複習它。典型的系統包括在一小時後複習信息，然後是一天，然後是每隔一天，然後是每週，然後是每兩週，然後是每月，然後是每六個月，然後是每年。猜對了，信息就會移到下一個水平，並且複習的頻率會減少。猜錯了，它就會降級，並且需要更頻繁地複習。
The history of deliberate practice
刻意練習的歷史
Karl Anders Ericsson: The expert on expertise
卡爾·安德斯·艾瑞克森：專業的專家
“Learning isn’t a way of reaching one’s potential but rather a way of developing it.” —Karl Anders Ericsson, Peak
「學習不是實現潛力的方法，而是發展潛力的方式。」— 卡爾·安德斯·艾瑞克森，《巔峰》
The concept of deliberate practice is attributed to Florida State University psychologist Karl Anders Ericsson, who along with his collaborators performed pioneering research in the field of expert performance. Ericsson spent decades seeking to answer the question of what it takes to become really good at something difficult. His research often focused on medicine, music, and sports.
故意練習的概念歸功於佛羅里達州立大學心理學家卡爾·安德斯·埃里克森，他與合作者在專家表現領域進行了開創性研究。埃里克森花了數十年的時間來探討如何才能在困難的事情上表現得非常出色。他的研究常常聚焦於醫學、音樂和運動。
Ericsson’s interest in expert performance kicked off in the late 1970s, when he began working with psychologist Bill Chase at Carnegie Mellon University to study short-term memory. Together, they began a series of experiments to see how many random digits it’s possible to memorize after hearing them once. Ericsson and Chase used an undergrad named Steve Faloon as their guinea pig. For a few hours each week, they read out numbers and Faloon repeated as many as he could recall.
愛立信對專家表現的興趣始於 1970 年代末，當時他與卡內基梅隆大學的心理學家比爾·蔡斯合作研究短期記憶。他們一起進行了一系列實驗，看看在聽過一次後有多少隨機數字是可能記住的。愛立信和蔡斯使用一位名叫史蒂夫·法隆的大學生作為實驗對象。每週幾個小時，他們朗讀數字，法隆盡可能重複記住。
Although the experiment might sound dull, they uncovered something intriguing. In a 1982 paper entitled “Exceptional Memory,” Ericsson and Chase summarized their findings. Previously, researchers believed the average person could hold just seven random digits in their short-term memory. Yet with careful practice, Faloon began to remember more and more numbers. At his peak and after 200 hours of practice, he could recall 82 digits. To assess if this was a fluke, Ericsson tried the same with a friend, Dario Donatelli. Five years later, Donatelli could recall 113 digits. Both he and Faloon went far beyond what seemed to be an immovable ceiling on human performance and blew past existing world records.
儘管這個實驗聽起來乏味，但他們發現了一些有趣的事情。在 1982 年的一篇名為「卓越記憶」的論文中，Ericsson 和 Chase 總結了他們的研究發現。先前，研究人員認為普通人只能記住短期記憶中的七個隨機數字。然而，透過細心的練習，Faloon 開始記住越來越多的數字。在巔峰時，經過 200 小時的練習，他能回想起 82 個數字。為了評估這是否僅是偶然，Ericsson 也試著和朋友 Dario Donatelli 做同樣的實驗。五年後，Donatelli 能回想起 113 個數字。他和 Faloon 都遠遠超越了人類表現上似乎無法突破的天花板，並且超越了現有的世界紀錄。
The experience of seeing two people who started off with ordinary memories enhance their capabilities in such a drastic way inspired Ericsson to further study the effects of practice on skills. Could it be that extraordinary abilities came from extraordinary practice, not just innate ability?
看到兩個起初只有普通記憶的人，如此劇烈地提升他們的能力，啟發了艾瑞克森進一步研究練習對技能的影響。是不是非凡的能力來自非凡的練習，而不僅僅是天賦？
Through his studies of expert performers in a range of fields, Ericsson concluded they practiced their skills in a fundamentally different way than amateur practitioners. Ericsson described this kind of practice as “deliberate” due to its methodical, hyper-conscious nature. He argued that experts become experts largely as a result of the way they practice. They may benefit from innate advantages, but their talents themselves are not innate.
透過對各領域專家表現者的研究，埃里克森得出結論，他們練習技能的方式與業餘從業者有根本不同。埃里克森將這種練習方式描述為「刻意」，因為它具有方法論、超級自覺的特性。他認為專家之所以成為專家，很大程度上是因為他們的練習方式。他們可能擁有先天優勢，但他們的才能本身並非天生。
Ericsson also believed that the standards in many additional fields could be improved far beyond their current level if practitioners employed the principles of deliberate practice. Indeed, many fields have seen remarkable increases in their standards for high performance over time. Today, high-schoolers manage athletic feats that were once Olympic level and children play music once considered world-class. This is possible because of better training and knowledge of what it takes to be the best. The more we improve how we train, the more we expand our range of possible performance.
愛立信也相信，如果從業者運用刻意練習的原則，許多其他領域的標準可以遠遠提高到目前的水準之上。事實上，許多領域隨著時間的推移已經看到高性能標準的顯著提升。今天，高中生能夠達到曾經是奧運水準的運動成就，而孩子們演奏的音樂也曾被視為世界級水準。這是因為有更好的訓練和對成為最好的要求的知識。我們訓練得越好，我們的表現範圍就越廣。
In 2016, Ericsson published Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, a popular science book condensing his learnings from thirty years of research. He also co-edited the 2006 Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance.
2016 年，艾瑞克森出版了《巔峰：從專家新科學中的秘密》，這本暢銷科普書總結了他三十年研究的心得。他還共同編輯了 2006 年的《劍橋專家和專業表現手冊》。
Malcolm Gladwell: The 10,000 hour rule
馬爾科姆·葛拉威爾：一萬小時法則
The widespread awareness of Ericsson’s work outside the scientific community is in part a result of Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book, Outliers: The Story of Success. In the book, Gladwell attributed unusual success in different fields to a mixture of lucky factors (such as when or where a person was born) and around 10,000 hours of practice. He based this figure on research, including Ericsson’s, that suggested top performers tended to have put in about that amount of time before reaching peak performance.
愛立信在科學界以外的廣泛知名度，部分歸功於馬爾科姆·葛拉威爾（Malcolm Gladwell）於 2008 年出版的《異數：成功的故事》一書。在這本書中，葛拉威爾將不同領域的非凡成功歸因於幸運因素（如一個人出生的時間或地點）和約 10,000 小時的練習。他根據研究，包括愛立信的研究，指出頂尖表現者在達到巔峰表現之前通常需要投入大約這麼多時間。
Gladwell showed how the success of Bill Gates, the Beatles, and other outstanding performers is not so much to do with what they are like but rather where they come from. “The people who stand before kings may look like they did it all by themselves,” Gladwell writes. “But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.”
葛拉威爾指出，比爾蓋茲、披頭四等傑出表現者的成功，並非取決於他們的個性，而是取決於他們的出身。葛拉威爾寫道：“站在國王面前的人可能看起來好像是靠自己的努力取得成功，但事實上，他們往往是隱藏優勢、非凡機會和文化遺產的受益者，這些讓他們能夠學習、努力工作，以及以其他人無法理解的方式來理解世界。”
The so-called “10,000 hours rule” caught on. It’s a catchy idea, and many people took it to mean that anyone can master anything if they just put the time in. Ericsson himself disputed Gladwell’s representations of his research, which led to the widespread belief that the time someone spends practicing predicts their success, without emphasizing the quality of their practice.
所謂的「一萬小時法則」廣為人知。這是一個引人注目的概念，許多人認為只要花足夠的時間，任何人都可以精通任何事情。埃里克森本人對葛拉威爾對他研究的描述提出異議，這導致廣泛相信一個人練習的時間預測了他們的成功，而沒有強調練習的質量。
Although the backlash against Gladwell’s calculation has arguably been exaggerated, it’s important to stress that research into deliberate practice emphasizes quality of practice, not quantity. It’s all too possible to spend 10,000 hours engaging in a skill without serious improvements. For example, most of us spend hours per day typing, yet we don’t see continuous improvements in speed and quality because we’re not using deliberate practice.
儘管對 Gladwell 的計算的反彈可能被誇大，但重要的是強調對刻意練習的研究強調練習的質量，而不是數量。很可能花費 10,000 小時來培養一項技能，卻沒有明顯的進步。例如，我們大多數人每天花費數小時打字，但我們並沒有看到速度和質量持續改善，因為我們沒有使用刻意練習。
The useful takeaway from the “10,000 hours rule” is simply that it takes a lot of work to become the best. There’s no magic number of practice sessions, and everyone’s path will look different. Just because successful people in a given field have spent around 10,000 hours practicing their key skill, that doesn’t mean every person who practices that skill for 10,000 hours will become successful.
從「一萬小時法則」中可以得到的實用觀念就是，要成為最好需要付出大量的努力。沒有一個神奇的練習次數，每個人的路徑都會有所不同。成功人士在某一領域花費約一萬小時練習他們的關鍵技能，並不代表每個練習該技能一萬小時的人都會成功。
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The limitations and downsides of deliberate practice
刻意練習的限制和缺點
Part of us wants to believe expert performance is something innate and magical so we can recuse ourselves from hard work. The other part of us wants to believe that it’s something earned through blood, sweat, and tears—that we too could achieve amazing performance, if only we could devote ourselves to something.
我們內心一部分想相信專家表現是天生的神奇，這樣我們就可以逃避辛苦的工作。另一部分想相信這是通過血汗淚換來的，只要我們全心投入某件事，也能取得驚人的表現。
Deliberate practice, in reality, is far more complex and nuanced than many people would have you believe. It’s not a panacea, and it won’t solve all of your work- and art-related problems. Let’s take a look at some of the limitations of deliberate practice.
刻意練習在現實中比許多人所認為的更複雜且微妙。它並非萬靈丹，也無法解決你所有工作和藝術相關的問題。讓我們來看看刻意練習的一些限制。
First of all, deliberate practice is a necessary but insufficient part of becoming a world-class performer. You can’t rise to the top without it. But it’s not enough on its own to be the absolute best in any field. Once you reach higher echelons for any skill, everyone is engaging in a lot of deliberate practice.
首先，刻意練習是成為世界級表現者所必需的一部分，但並不足夠。沒有刻意練習，你無法躋身頂尖。但單靠刻意練習本身並不足以成為任何領域中的絕對佼佼者。一旦你在任何技能上達到較高層次，每個人都在進行大量的刻意練習。
If you’re aiming at expertise or just really good performance, deliberate practice will most likely get you there. But the higher you rise, the more luck and randomness end up mattering. However much you engage in deliberate practice, you can’t control the chance events (good or bad) that dictate a great deal of life.
如果你的目標是專業或者只是表現得很好，刻意練習很可能會讓你達到目標。但你越往上爬，運氣和隨機性就變得更加重要。無論你多麼努力地進行刻意練習，你無法控制那些決定生活很大一部分的機遇事件（好或壞）。
When we look at the lives of top performers, they often benefited from specific backgrounds or opportunities, in addition to engaging in deliberate practice. For example, if you’re trying to become a champion chess player, it’s a big boost if your mother was a champion chess player. Not only will you have potential genetic advantages, you’ll have also likely grown up hearing about chess, been encouraged to practice it from a young age, and have someone to turn to for advice.
當我們觀察頂尖表現者的生活時，他們通常受益於特定的背景或機會，除了進行刻意練習。例如，如果你想成為一名冠軍象棋選手，如果你的母親是一名冠軍象棋選手，這將是一大助力。你不僅可能具有潛在的遺傳優勢，還可能在成長過程中聽過有關象棋的事情，從小就被鼓勵練習，並有人可以求教。
Seeing as it takes years of consistent deliberate practice to master a skill, people who begin early in life have an advantage over those who start later on. That doesn’t mean you can’t become exceptional at something you discover well into adulthood (just look at Julia Child or check out the book Guitar Zero). But it does mean that people who begin deliberate practice as kids are more likely to enjoy the success that makes it possible to keep committing to it. If you’re trying to master a skill while also having to work an unrelated job, care for your family, and deal with the other myriad responsibilities of adult life, you likely will have less room for it than a ten-year-old.
鑑於精進一項技能需要多年的持續刻意練習，那些從小開始的人比後來才開始的人有優勢。這並不意味著你在成年後才發現某項技能就不能成為專家（看看茱莉亞·查爾德或閱讀《吉他零基礎》這本書）。但這意味著，從小開始刻意練習的人更有可能享受成功，這使他們能夠持續投入其中。如果你試圖在同時工作於無關的工作、照顧家人和應對成年生活的其他無數責任的情況下精進一項技能，你可能比一個十歲的孩子有更少的空間。
People who discover they want to master a skill or are encouraged to do so by others early in life have an advantage. Once the opportunity for practice is in place, the prospects of high achievement take off. And if practice is denied or diminished, no amount of talent is going to get you there.
在生命早期發現想要精通一項技能，或受到他人鼓勵的人，具有優勢。一旦有練習的機會，高成就的前景就會腾飛。如果練習被拒絕或減少，再多的天賦也無法讓你成功。
In addition to lucky circumstances, high performers benefit from a combination of deliberate practice and innate talents or physical advantages. However much you practice, certain physical limitations are insurmountable. For example, if you’re 165 centimeters tall, you’re unlikely to become a professional basketball player. There are some physical abilities, such as particular kinds of flexibility, that can only be developed at a young age when a person’s skeletal structure is still forming. It’s important to be realistic about your starting point and be aware of any limitations. But that doesn’t mean you can’t develop workarounds or even use them to your advantage.
除了幸運的情況外，高表現者受益於刻意練習和天賦或身體優勢的結合。無論你練習多少，某些身體限制是無法克服的。例如，如果你身高 165 公分，你不太可能成為職業籃球運動員。有些身體能力，如特定類型的靈活性，只能在一個人的骨骼結構仍在形成時的幼年時期發展。重要的是要對自己的起點保持現實，並意識到任何限制。但這並不意味著你不能發展解決方法，甚至利用它們來獲得優勢。
Another downside of deliberate practice is that the level of focus it requires can mean practitioners miss out on other parts of life. Top performers often devote almost every waking hour to practice, recuperation from practice, and support activities. For example, a professional dancer might spend several hours a day on deliberate practice with all of the remaining hours going toward sleep, low-impact exercise, stretching, preparing nutritious food, icing his feet, and so on. There is enormous satisfaction in the flow states produced by deliberate practice, but practitioners can absolutely miss out on other sources of happiness, such as spending time with friends.
另一個刻意練習的缺點是，它需要的高度專注可能意味著練習者錯過了生活中的其他部分。頂尖表現者通常幾乎每個清醒的小時都用於練習、從練習中恢復、以及支持活動。例如，一位專業舞者可能每天花費數小時進行刻意練習，其餘時間用於睡眠、低強度運動、伸展、準備營養食物、給腳敷冰等。刻意練習產生的流動狀態帶來巨大滿足感，但練習者絕對可能錯過其他幸福來源，例如和朋友共度時光。
Deliberate practice is part of the exploit phase of new opportunities. Yet sometimes we can end up having too much grit. We can keep persevering with the skill we’re practicing right now, remaining overly passionate, past the point where it serves us. We can wear ourselves out or get hurt or fail to realize when it’s no longer worth practicing a skill. For example, a new technology might mean our skill is no longer valuable. If we keep on deliberate practicing due to sunk costs, we’ll be unlikely to see many long-term benefits from it. A crucial skill in life is knowing when to pivot. Focusing too much on our goals can blind us to risks.
刻意練習是新機會開發階段的一部分。然而，有時候我們可能會變得太過執著。我們可能會持續堅持練習目前的技能，保持過度熱情，超越對我們有益的點。我們可能會耗盡精力、受傷或無法意識到不再值得練習某項技能的時機。例如，一項新技術可能意味著我們的技能不再有價值。如果我們因為已投入的成本而持續刻意練習，我們將不太可能從中獲得長期利益。生活中一項至關重要的技能是知道何時轉變方向。過度專注於我們的目標可能會使我們對風險視而不見。
In some fields, expertise is hard to quantify or measure, which makes it less clear how to structure practice. There may be no single target to hit or universal rule for what improves performance.
在某些領域，專業知識很難量化或衡量，這使得如何組織實踐變得不太清晰。可能沒有一個明確的目標或普遍規則來提升表現。
A final limitation to keep in mind is that, as Ericsson explained, “the cognitive and physical changes caused by training require upkeep. Stop training and they go away.” If someone can’t practice for a period of time, such as due to an injury or having a child, they’re likely to see the skills they developed through deliberate practice deteriorate.
請記住的最後一個限制是，正如 Ericsson 所解釋的那樣，“訓練所引起的認知和身體變化需要維持。停止訓練，這些變化就會消失。” 如果有人因為受傷或生小孩等原因無法練習一段時間，他們很可能會看到透過刻意練習所培養的技能惡化。
Summary 摘要
Deliberate practice isn’t everything, but if you want to keep improving at a skill or overcome a plateau, you’ll benefit from incorporating the principles mentioned in this article. To recap:
刻意練習並非萬能，但若想在某項技能上持續進步或突破瓶頸，將受益於本文提到的原則。總結一下：
- Deliberate practice means practicing with a clear awareness of the specific components of a skill we’re aiming to improve and exactly how to improve them.
刻意練習意味著以清晰的意識練習我們想要提升的技能的具體組成部分，以及確切如何改進它們。 - The more we engage in deliberate practice, the greater our capabilities become.
愈多我們投入刻意練習，我們的能力就會變得更強大。 - Our minds and bodies are far more malleable than we usually realize.
我們的心靈和身體比我們通常意識到的更具可塑性。 - Deliberate practice is structured and methodical.
刻意練習是有結構且有系統的。 - Deliberate practice is challenging because it involves constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
刻意練習具有挑戰性，因為它需要不斷地讓自己走出舒適區。 - Deliberate practice requires constant feedback and measurement of informative metrics—not vanity metrics.
精進的練習需要持續的回饋和評量有意義的指標，而非虛榮指標。 - Deliberate practice works best with the help of a teacher or coach.
刻意練習最好在有老師或教練的協助下進行。 - Continuing deliberate practice requires a great deal of intrinsic motivation.
持續進行刻意練習需要極大的內在動力。 - Deliberate practice requires constant, intense focus.
刻意練習需要持續、高度的專注。 - Deliberate practice leverages the spacing effect—meaning a consistent commitment over time is crucial.
刻意練習善用間隔效應，意味著長期堅持是至關重要的。 - If you’re content with your current level of skill or just doing something for fun, you don’t necessarily need to engage in deliberate practice
如果你對自己目前的技能水準感到滿意，或者只是為了好玩，你不一定需要進行刻意練習 - Deliberate practice is best suited to pursuits where you’re actively aiming for a high level of performance or to break beyond some kind of supposed limit.
刻意練習最適合於追求高水準表現或突破某種所謂極限的領域。
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Books about deliberate practice (further reading)
關於刻意練習的書籍（進一步閱讀）
“A world in which deliberate practice is a normal part of life would be one in which people had more volition and satisfaction.” —Karl Anders Ericsson, Peak
「如果刻意練習成為生活中的一部分，那麼這個世界將會讓人們擁有更多主動性和滿足感。」— 卡爾·安德斯·艾瑞克森，《巔峰》
If you’d like to learn more about the art and science of deliberate practice, check out any of these books:
如果你想更深入了解刻意練習的藝術和科學，可以參考以下任何一本書：
- Talent Is Overrated, Geoff Colvin
天賦被過度評價，喬夫·科爾文 - The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle
《天才代碼》，丹尼爾·科爾 - The Little Book of Talent, Daniel Coyle
《天才小書》，丹尼爾·科爾 - Mastery, Robert Greene 精通，羅伯特·格林
- Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell
異數：成功的故事，馬爾科姆·葛拉威尔 - Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success, Matthew Syed
彈跳：莫札特、費德勒、畢卡索、貝克漢姆，以及成功的科學，馬修·賽德 - The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin
學習的藝術，喬許·韋茲金 - Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck
心態：成功的新心理學，卡羅爾·杜威克 - Teaching Genius: Dorothy Delay and the Making of a Musician, Barbara Lourie Sand
教學天才：多蘿西·迪雷與音樂家的塑造，芭芭拉·勞瑞·桑德 - Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth
毅力：激情與毅力的力量，安吉拉·達克沃斯